APEDA

APEDA

Context:

Non-basmati exports to countries in West Asia and some in the African continent have risen over the past few months as they have been building a reserve stock of the cereal, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, anticipating a global food scarcity.

Concept:

Basmati Rice:

• It is one of the best known varieties of rice all across the globe.
• It is long grain rice which has its origin from India and some parts of Pakistan.
• It has a unique position in the rice world due to its price, fragrance, grain morphology as well as quality.
• Basmati rice has a unique fragrance and flavour caused due to the presence of a chemical called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.
• This chemical is found in basmati rice at about 90 parts per million (ppm) which is 12 times more than non-basmati rice varieties.
• Basmati rice needs specific climatic conditions to grow which is why it is cultivated in selected regions of India.
• It is cultivated in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and kashmir and western Uttar Pradesh.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry expects a “major boost” in India’s rice exports potential, with APEDA’s promotion of these cereal grains through collaborations with various stakeholders in the value chain.

Non-basmati and basmati rice form a major portion of APEDA’s export basket, with non-basmati accounting for 22.52 per cent and basmati around 20.99 per cent of the authority’s total exports.

India recorded $2.62 billion in exports of the livestock product between April-January 2020-21, down 5.62 per cent from the $2.78 billion it had shipped during the same period in 2019-20.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA):

It was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act, passed by the Parliament in December, 1985.

It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is the apex organization engaged in work related to the development of export of agricultural products and processed food from India.

It is responsible for putting in place a system for administration of GI and authentication of the product in India and abroad.