Erratic rains put potato and rice on hot plate
Erratic rains have disrupted rice and potato cultivation, causing an increase of up to 12% in prices of these two essential staples of Indian households over the past month.
Even though the government has banned exports of non-basmati rice, prices have shot up by 15% amid increased demand from south India where patchy rains in Karnataka have reduced kharif rice production.
On the other hand, unpredictable rainfall in October has impacted sowing of the new potato crop, which will delay the arrival of the new crop, pushing up prices of the old stock of potatoes.
Southern states are increasingly buying rice from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, inflating prices across the country. The Centre had banned exports of non-basmati rice from July 20 to ensure adequate supply in the domestic market and to control prices.
Basmati rice prices have also shot up by 10% due to robust export demand from the Middle East.
Suraj Agarwal, CEO of RiceVilla, a rice marketing and exporting company said, «Non-basmati rice prices have gone up as there was scarcity of rains in southern India leading to a shortage in supply.»
He added that prices may remain firm over the next three to four months due to the expected impact of El Nino till the next summer crop in April 2024.
According to the first advance estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, India's rice production has been pegged at 1,06.31 million metric tonnes, a 3.7% dip from the same season of last year.
Interestingly, the decline is despite an increase in the area under kharif paddy production.
