APEDA assisted Udaya Agro Farm plans to increase volume of exports of ‘village rice’ in the coming months.
In a major boost to India’s non-basmati rice exports potential, two consignments 4.5 MT of patented ‘village rice’ sourced from Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu by a start-up Udaya Agro Farm was exported to Ghana & Yemen via air & sea routes.
Enriched with protein, fibre, and a variety of minerals, ‘village rice’ is sourced directly from farmers of Thanjavur, also known as rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. APEDA assisted Udaya Agro Farm plans to increase volume of exports of ‘village rice’ in the coming months.
During the 2020-21, the shipment of non-basmati rice witnessed an impressive spike. The non-basmati rice exports were Rs 35,448 crore (4796 US$ Million) during April-March, 2021 against Rs 14,400 crore (2020 US$ Million) reported during April-March, 2020 period. The exports of non-Basmati have witnessed a growth of 146 per cent in Rupee terms and 137 per cent $ terms in 2020-2021.
Earlier this month, a consignment of rice was exported from the Paradip International Cargo Terminal, Odisha to Vietnam. This was for the first time in recent years, non-basmati rice was exported from Paradip Port.
In March, 2021, the first consignment of ‘red rice’ from Assam was exported to the USA. Iron rich ‘red rice’ is grown in Brahmaputra valley of Assam, without the use of any chemical fertilizer. The rice variety is referred as ‘Bao-dhaan’, which is an integral part of the Assamese food.
Non-basmati rice exports to African and Asian countries are undertaken from various ports of India such as Kakinada, Vishakhapatnam, Chennai, Mundra and Krishnapatnam. Paradip will soon emerge as one of the major rice-exporting port of the country.
The sharp spike in rice exports especially during a phase where globally the COVID19 pandemic has disrupted supply changes many commodities, has been attributed to the government taking prompt measures to ensure exports of rice while taking all the COVID19 related safety precautions.
