India: Exporters Call For Early Notification On Pusa 1121 Variety

The All-India Rice Exporters Association has requested the Indian Agriculture Ministry to release early notification of Pusa 1121, more than a month after the Agriculture Ministry had brought evolved basmati rice varieties into the definition of basmati rice for export purposes.

But the advent of Pusa 1121 has also abated and addressed food security concerns, as land for production of ordinary and non-basmati rice was not abridged.

The sources further caution that if farming of Pusa 1121 is not appreciated by way of due recognition and notification, the basmati rice farmers would be compelled to adopt low-yielding notified basmati rice varieties, which might encroach upon non-basmati rice land too.