Events & Issues

New Delhi, 5 May 2009

‘Year of Basmati’

BOILING CONTROVERSY SPOILS AROMA

By Radhakrishna Rao

The breach of trust between India and Pakistan appears to have boiled down to the patenting of the Basmati rice and making a mash of better earnings from exports for both the countries. The long-grained, aromatic Basmati rice grown in the Himalayan foot hills spread across parts of India and Pakistan continues to be in great demand in the global commodities market. Not long back India had successfully fought the plan to copy the Basmati brand by the US-based Rice Tec by naming the rice grown in Texas as “Taxmati” and the rice grown in Kansas as “Kasmati”. 

In fact, trade sources in India have all along been driving home the point that Saudi Arabia and the Green and Free Trade Association of the United Kingdom, the two leading importers of this premium quality rice of Indian and Pakistani origin, use the term Basmati only for the scented and long grained rice grown in parts of the two neighbours.

However in a development of significance, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), functioning under the Ministry of Commerce has approached the High Court of Sind in neighbouring Pakistan to get the trademark granted by Karachi’s Registrar of Trademarks to the Basmati Growers’ Association of Lahore for Basmati rice nullified.

The Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh, had particularly noted that the somersault by the Pakistanis constitutes a serious breach of trust and mutual understanding even as both the countries have been discussing the possibility of jointly marketing this premium quality rice and protecting it through the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The minister also made it clear that APEDA would immediately take up the case of Basmati rice and file applications for the registration of trademarks.

Against this backdrop it is little surprising that New Delhi has decided to  put on hold all joint initiatives with Pakistan for a common registration of “Geographical Indication” for Basmati rice in Europe. As it is, not long back, Islamabad had suggested that 2009 should be celebrated as “Year of Basmati” with a view to create global awareness about its uniqueness.

India earns around US$700-million per year through the export of Basmati rice, as per statistics available. Under the Export of Basmati Rice (Quality Control and Inspection) Act of 2003, the Commerce Ministry has notified the key qualities of exportable variety of Basmati as “long grain, cooking quality aromatic” strain. As such virtually all scented rice strains cultivated in the sub-Himalayan stretches of North India should pass as Basmati and fit for export. This would help expand the export net of this variety of rice. .

Currently, the rice varieties grown in the Gangetic plains legally qualify as Basmati only if one of its parents is a repository of natural genes without being tampered genetically at any point of time. Clearly, the traditional Basmati strains happen to be the repositories of genetic variability and well-suited to the local soil type and environmental conditions.

Moreover, New Delhi-based Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) continues to insist that the Basmati definition should include the requirements of being recognized under the Indian Seeds Act. As pointed out by Dr Mangala Rai, Director General of ICAR “The enormous contribution of IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute) to improving Basmati rice varieties has put the country on such a great strength that it is extremely competitive in Basmati trade at the global level”. According to APEDA, while Pakistan continues to export super Basmati to European countries and enjoys a good market, India is mainly exporting the Pusa variety and not the super variety, which is grown in some parts of the country.  The father of green revolution, Dr M.S Swaminathan, and currently Chairman of the National Farmers Commission has called for the setting up of an experts group with a view to review the definition of Basmati rice and put an end to the controversies surrounding this premium quality rice variety.

According to All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) patenting rice grains as Basmati is misleading. Any company was free to put out aromatic rice, but the same should not confuse the consumers for Basmati. Accordingly, Gene Campaign, a New Delhi-based organization campaigning against gene piracy, notes that Basmati, the most expensive rice variety in the world, is as much unique to India and Pakistan as Champagne is to France.

Meanwhile, analysts of rice trade in the country have driven home the point that New Delhi should give quickening impetus to the research into Basmati varieties—both traditional and genetically bred—so that the confusion over the definition becomes a thing of the past and the Indian Basmati is protected under geographical indicator.

As things stand now, among the six traditional Indian Basmati strains, only Taraori Basmati continues to be in great demand from across the world. However ICAR is concerned that the Commerce Ministry in a hurry to attract more foreign exchange through exports will broaden the definition of the Basmati rice that could in the long run harm the prospects of this premium rice variety in the global market.

As such ICAR has driven home the point that “the provision of the Seed Act 1966 be retained in the case of Basmati rice also like all other crop varieties of the country so that the seed quality, distribution and production is regulated”. This is so because by diluting the definition, we would only allow our main competitor Pakistan to gain an advantage.

For many years now, environmentalist groups from across the country have been campaigning to protect the traditional crop varieties from the “bio-pirates on the prowl”. Way back in 2006, a writ petition field in the Kerala High Court by the Nature Lovers Movement based in Tiruvankulam, Ernakulam district had sought effective steps by the authorities concerned to prevent gene robbery and bio-piracy. In fact, the growing public awareness about the rich and diverse genetic wealth and its vulnerability to piracy seems to have forced the powers-that-be to initiate action to safeguard the biological resources and genetic wealth of the country. When will they succeed? –INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)