Fibre & protein rice ‘village rice’ from Tamil Nadu exported to Ghana & Yemen

Non-basmati rice exports witnessed an impressive growth of 146 per cent during 2020-21

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 today 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 ₹ 35,448 crore (4796 US$ Million) during April-March, 2021 against ₹ 14,400 crore (2020 US$ Million) reported during April-March, 2020 period. The exports of non-Basmati have witnessed a growth of 146 % in Rupee terms and 137 % Dollar 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.

APEDA is working with various stakeholders such as farmers, entrepreneurs, exporters and importers across the globe to harness India’s non-basmati rice exports potential.

APEDA has promoted rice exports through collaborations with various stakeholders in the value chains. The government had set up the Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF), under the aegis of the APEDA. REPF has representations from rice industry, exporters, officials from APEDA, ministry of commerce and directors of agriculture from major rice producing states including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Export promotion: non-basmati rice shipments expand under APEDA support, aided by export forum and supply chain measures. Non-basmati rice exports expanded markedly with specialty consignments-patented fibre and protein 'village rice' and iron rich 'red rice'-shipped to multiple international markets from a growing set of Indian ports. APEDA provided assistance to exporters and has promoted export growth through stakeholder collaboration and the Rice Export Promotion Forum, coordinating industry representatives, state agriculture directors and commerce officials to enhance export facilitation, port diversification and supply chain resilience.