Basmati sells for Rs 2,800 per quintal, farmers stare at losses

In order to get better price for their basmati produce, the farmers are ferrying their crop from one mandi to another.

Last year, the crop that fetched Rs 5,000 per quintal was being purchased by traders at Rs 2,800 per quintal. So far, traders have procured around 4 lakh MT produce in Amritsar district.

The area under basmati cultivation had witnessed an increase as 80 per cent this season. Most of the farmers have sown 1509, 1692, 1121, 1718 and 1885 basmati varieties.

Sukhdev Singh Sahansra, a farmer activist, said, “We received Rs 5,000 per quintal last year. Now, we are not getting more than Rs 2,500 per quintal.” According to officials, 5.50 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has arrived in the mandis of the district. Of this, 4.10 lakh MT is basmati.

The procurement agencies have purchased 1.40 lakh MT non-basmati produce and lifted 74,768 metric tonnes out of it.

District Mandi Officer Amandeep Singh said, “The early sown basmati 1509 and 1692 has been procured. Non-basmati varieties will arrive in mandis till October end. The late sown basmati varieties will reach mandis in the first week of November.”

Unlike paddy glut witnessed in other mandis across the state, procurement and lifting has been going on smoothly in Amritsar district.