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The vulnerabilities caused by the COVID-19 crises have hurt almost all the sectors, leaving them with no choice other than to innovate and make optimum use of the available resources. However, the Indian Non-Basmati Rice Industry has performed exceedingly well in FY2020-21 with a growth of 122.6 percent in Rupee terms and 111.81 percent in Dollar terms.

India exports non-basmati rice to markets like Nepal, UAE, Africa, and many other countries in Asia and Europe. In FY 2020-21, rice alone contributed to 44 percent of India’s total Agri and allied products export ($20 Billion). During the year, India exported non-basmati rice worth $4.8 Billion, a 137 percent rise over FY 2019-20 whereas Basmati rice exports which have traditionally been India’s strength have slipped by 8 percent.

Non-Basmati and Basmati rice were India’s top two agricultural export items of last fiscal, followed by buffalo meat ($3.17 Billion), miscellaneous processed items ($0.86 Billion), and fresh fruits ($0.77 Billion).

What led to a robust Non-Basmati Rice Export?

Export of agricultural and allied products segment grew by 24 percent in FY2020-21 over the previous year. Few factors which were responsible for a record-breaking 13.09 million MT of non-basmati rice export volume for FY Apr’20-Mar’21 are as follows:

1. A Healthy Monsoon season.
2. Stocking of rice in major importing countries like Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Middle East.
3. The surging COVID-19 situation led to panic buying and stockpiling to avoid a health crisis.
4. Crop failure in Neighboring countries who are also major exporters of this variety like Thailand and Vietnam.

Conclusion

India is the largest producer of rice and attracted huge demand from the international market.

Because of the hard work of the farmers, we were able to produce and supply high-quality rice during these unprecedented times. All the above-mentioned factors have worked to the advantage of India and helped to produce good quality rice and export it to other countries.