The Hindu Business Line : Pusa-1121 proves a major hit with farmers

Top draw
Average realisations this time, at Rs 2,000-2,200 a quintal, are much more than the Rs 1,500-1,600 levels of last year.
Pusa-1121 yield’s 19-20 quintals of paddy per acre against 9-10 quintals for traditional tall basmati cultivars.

Harish Damodaran

New Delhi, Dec. 27 Farmers who have sown Pusa-1121, an evolved (hybrid) basmati rice variety, have made a huge killing on the back of increased production and higher price realisations.

At the start of the current season around October 20, Pusa-1121 paddy was being sold at the yards of major mandis in Punjab and Haryana for Rs 1,800 to Rs 1,900 a quintal. By December 15, when the bulk of marketing was complete, prices had touched Rs 2,400. Currently, they are ruling at Rs 2,600 a quintal.

Average realisations

“Average realisations this time, at Rs 2,000-2,200 a quintal, are much more than the Rs 1,500-1,600 levels of last year. Moreover, we reckon production of Pusa-1121 this year at 12.5-13 lakh tonnes (lt), against the 5-6 lt of 2006. That translates into an extra income of almost Rs 2,000 crore for the farmer this year,” said Mr Anil Kumar Mittal, CMD of KRBL Ltd, the country’s largest basmati exporter.

Higher yields

Pusa-1121, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) here and released for commercial cultivation in kharif 2003, has been a major hit with farmers, both in view of its higher yields as well as remunerative prices. The newly-bred variety gives 19-20 quintals of paddy per acre, against 9-10 quintals for traditional tall basmati cultivars such as HBC-19 (Taraori) and 14-15 quintals for CSR-30 (an improved selection, which is shipped out as ‘traditional’ basmati). Although Pusa-1121’s yields are marginally below the 20-21 quintals per acre for Pusa Basmati-1 (the original evolved basmati bred by IARI), it scores over the latter in terms of aroma, greater elongation upon cooking and less chalky grain content.

Change in trend

As a result, the trend over the last couple of years has been to replace Pusa Basmati-1 with 1121 and HBC-19 with CSR-30 (which, while having grain traits similar to traditional basmati varieties, is relatively high-yielding and also tolerant to saline and sodic soils).

In the current season, an estimated 50 per cent of the country’s basmati area will be under Pusa-1121, with CSR-30 and Pusa Basmati-1 accounting for 25 per cent. That leaves just five per cent for the traditional tall cultivars. Pusa Basmati-1 paddy is now selling at Rs 2,300 a quintal, while prices for CSR-30 have hit Rs 3,000 (having started at 2,300-2,400 in this season).

EXPORT DRIVEN

The demand for Pusa-1121 is being driven mainly by exports, expected at 5-6 lt this fiscal compared to the 2-2.5 lt of 2006-07. The market for Pusa-1121 is largely Iran, which alone is slated to buy three lt this year. Parboiled Pusa-1121 is now fetching $1,350 a tonne, cost &freight Dubai, having climbed from the $1,075-1,100 a tonne at the start of the new marketing season. This is more than the $1,200 a tonne for Pusa Basmati-1 and about $100 a tonne below that of CSR-30/traditional basmati.

Traders say export realisations for Pusa-1121 would go up further the moment it is officially notified as basmati. The absence of formal basmati status has shut down markets such as Europe, which offers duty derogation for only the seven notified varieties of basmati. While Pusa-1121 is already being sold as basmati in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other West Asian countries, this is not possible in Europe, where labelling norms are more stringent.

BEST THING

“Pusa-1121 is the best thing that has happened to the paddy farmer. He is enjoying a cotton-like situation, where, too, higher prices are being accompanied by higher output,” Mr Mittal said.