Kota: The Isreal-Hamas war is taking its toll on the rice business of Kota, which exports 90 per cent of rice to Gulf countries. The rice growers and exporters of this Rajasthan town are staring at uncertainties following the war which has played a spanner in their plan to earn a good amount through the export of the produce.
Prakash Chandra Paliwal, a businessman associated with rice trading in Bhamashah Agricultural Produce Market, said a big shipment of rice was supposed to go to Iran but the plan had to be canceled.
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"If the situation remains similar, farmers will get lower prices for rice this time. Ninety per cent of goods from India are exported to Gulf countries such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and some other nations. Apart from this, some rice is also sent from here to UK and USA," he said.
Kota is known for Hadoti, an aromatic variety of basmati rice. Bharatiya Kisan Sangh's publicity in-charge Roopnarayan Yadav said the government has opened the export of rice priced at more than $1200 per tonne. Cheaper variety rice is produced at Hadoti and some areas of adjoining Madhya Pradesh.
"In such a situation, our demand is that rice export should be opened up to $850 per tonne. Our farmers are going to benefit from this only. If it doesn't happen, then our farmers won't get the price of rice. Due to open export, last year we got good prices," he said.
According to Paliwal, at the beginning of last year, the price of paddy variety 1509 was Rs 3,000 per quintal. It increased from Rs 3,800 to Rs 4,200 in the months of November and December.
The average price during the year was around Rs 3,600 per quintal. Whereas the average price of variety 1718 last year was Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,400 per quintal.
Paliwal said at present, only 1509 variety of paddy is arriving in the market. Its price starts from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3200 per quintal. The situation has not improved much. The demand is more but there is no increase in prices.
The government's ban on exports is one of the major causes of farmers' crisis, he said. "Farmers will suffer a direct loss due to this and will also have to face problems. Every year, 1.25 crore bags of rice are received," market secretary Jawaharlal Nagar said.
Due to fair trading, farmers from MP and UP also come here, he added. Nagar said people from Madhya Pradesh like Guna, Shivpuri, Ashok Nagar, Sheopur, and Gwalior come here to sell the goods. Farmers from Jhansi and Prayagraj, who come to Kota to sell their goods, get higher prices than other places.
