Basmati (Hindi: बासमती, Urdu: باسمتى) is a variety of long grain rice, famous for its fragrance and delicate flavour. Its name means “the fragrant one” in Hindi, and sometimes the “soft rice. Through mostly rice paddy field farming India is the largest cultivator and exporter of this rice, followed by Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh with the causes of paddy field farming.
Traditional Basmati rice is not only in demand in its domestic markets, but is also seen in the menu of connoisseurs world wide, creating a billion-dollar export market. Authentic Basmati rice cultivation is confined to the Indo-Gangetic plains of the Indian sub-continent. Consumer preference for the traditional Basmati label not only brings along high returns but also receives duty exemption in some markets.
Traditional Basmati plants are tall and slender, and their stems are prone to breaking in high winds. They have a relatively low yield, but produce high-quality grains and command high prices in both Indian and international markets.
Basmati Rice is a non-glutinous rice that has been cultivated at the foot of the Himalaya ranges in India for thousands of years. The rivers Yamuna and Sutluj irrigate the Basmati paddy fields in Haryana and Punjab respectively. Basmati is an aromatic, fragrant, long grain, slender rice, and has a nutty flavor. ‘Basmati’, when literally translated from Hindi, means ‘queen of fragrance’. It is the world’s best rice one can use for cooking and has been exported all around the world for centuries. Many of the traditional rice dishes in the Arab countries are cooked with long grained Basmati rice imported from India. To obtain the correct aroma and flavor of Basmati rice, proper ageing is required toreduce its moisture content.
The best quality Basmati rice comes from the old Karnal district, known as the ‘rice bowl of India‘. Basmati is now grown in Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Ambala districts of aryana. It is also grown in Punjab, Dehradoon region of Uttarakhand and Jammu region of Jammu & Kashmir.
According to Ayurveda, Basmati is the king of all varieties of
rice; is saatvic or pure, is nourishing for the body tissues and is easy to digest. Ayurveda recommends avoiding rice that is par boiled, instant or pre-cooked because it has less prana in it. Rice is generally good for balancing Vata and Pitta. Desserts made with rice and milk are particularly cooling and balancing for Pitta.
Cooking: Boil it in water for perfumed rice dish or just add ghee to the water to enhance its nutty aroma and double your rice dinning experience. Add some whole spices, nuts, dried fruits, vegetables and beans (or meats) to the rice and make a rice dish into a main meal.
Dishes: Pulao (Pilafs), Biryani, and plain boiled white rice are used for the main course. Kheer, Sweet Saffron Rice and Phirni are prepared as desserts.
Contents
- Introduction to Basmati
- General Characteristics
- Flavour
- Varieties and hybrids
- DNA markers thwart basmati adulteration
- Patent battle
- Global Scenario
- India Scenario
- Basmati Rice Cultivating Districts of India
- World Trade
- List of exporters refused by FDA
- Factors that affects Basmati rice prices
- Glycemic index (GI)
- See also
- External links
- References
General Characteristics
- Basmati rice, known as the ‘King of Rice’ is the gift of India and Pakistan to the World.
- Basmati rice is priced for its characteristic long-grain, subtle aroma and delicious taste.
- The grain elongates on cooking giving it a characteristic grain shape and integrity.
- Basmati rice can be equated with champagne among wines and ’scotch’ among whiskies.
The grain of uncooked Basmati rice should be about 7 mm length and 2 mm
breadth. When cooked the grains elongate (70-120 per cent over the pre-cooked grain) more than other varieties. This rice should not gel and its amylose content should be from 24-32 per cent.
Flavour
Basmati rice has a typical pandan-like (Pandanus amaryllifolius leaf) flavour caused by the aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.
Varieties and hybrids
A number of varieties of basmati rice exist. Traditional ones include Basmati-370, Basmati-385 and Basmati - Ranbirsinghpura (R.S.Pura), while hybrid basmati varieties include Pusa Basmati 1 (also called ‘Todal’, because the flower has awns). Fragrant rices that are derived from basmati stock but are not considered true basmati varieties include PB2 (also called sugandh-2), PB3 and RH-10.
The Rice Research Institute at Kala Shah Kaku (Pakistan)has been instrumental in developing various variates of basmati rice, including the popular variety of Super Basmati. Dr. Majeed is the scientist who developed this variety of basmati rice in 1996.
Scientists at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi took the traditional basmati and genetically modified it to produce a hybrid which had most of the good features of traditional basmati grain elongation, fragrance, alkali content) and the plant was a semi-dwarf type. This basmati was called Pusa Basmati-1. PB1 crop yield is higher than the traditional varieties (up to twice as much).
World’s longest rice grain
- Indian Basmati 1121: average length before cooking 8 mm, average length after cooking 18 mm
List of approved varieties
Kasturi(Baran,Rajasthan),Basmati 198, basmati 217, basmati 370, basmati 385, basmati 386, Super basmati, Kernel (basmati Pakistan), Bihar, Dehradun, Haryana, Kasturi, Mahi Suganda, Punjab, Pusa, Ranbir, Taraori. Some non-traditional aromatic crosses with basmati characteristics are marketed under a Sugandh designation.
DNA markers thwart basmati adulteration
Evolved basmati varieties developed by breeders to adopt intensive cultivation fell short of quality traits of traditional basmati and hence fetch a lower price. In addition, the rice market also has relatively inferior non-aromatic long grain rice varieties. Difficulty in differentiating genuine traditional basmati from pretenders and the significant price difference between them has led fraudulent traders to adulterate traditional basmati. To protect the interests of consumers and trade, a PCR-based assay similar to DNA fingerprinting in humans allows for the detection of adulterated and non-basmati strains. Its detection limit for adulteration is from 1% upwards with an error rate of ±1.5%. Exporters of basmati rice use ‘purity certificates’ based on DNA tests for their basmati rice consignments. Based on this protocol, which was developed at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Labindia, an Indian company has released kits to detect basmati adulteration.
Patent battle
In September 1997, a Texas company called RiceTec won a patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,663,484) on “basmati rice lines and grains.” The patent secures lines of basmati and basmati-like rice and ways of analyzing that rice. RiceTec, owned by Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein, faced international outrage over allegations of biopiracy. It had also caused a brief diplomatic crisis between India and United States with India threatening to take the matter to WTO as a violation of TRIP which could have resulted in a major embarrassment for the United States.Both voluntarily and due to review decisions by the United States Patent Office, RiceTec has lost most of the claims of the patent, including, most importantly, the right to call their rice lines “basmati.” This was a huge victory for Indian farmers who could have faced enormous economic losses from the patent.
Exporters refused by FDA
- Evergreen Exports
Global Scenario
- Global rice production in the recent years has fluctuated between 375-400 million tons. Consumption at around 410 million tons has been above production inthe recent years.
- Global ending stocks, which had average above 120 million tons in the 1990’s is currently getting reduced to 80 million tons.
- Asia is the biggest rice producer, accounting for 90% of the world’s production and consumption of rice.
- Per capita rice consumption has declined in recent years in many of the wealthier rice-consuming countries, such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, because rising incomes have enabled people to eat more varied diet.
- Although rice is widely grown and consumed, less than 6% of world production (20-24 million tons) is traded annually.
- Major importing nations of rice are West Asian countries and African countries. Apart from it countries like Japan, Malaysia, and Brazil also figuresin top 10 importing country. In West Asia and Middle East Basmati rice is favourite and India is the major supplier in this category.
- Though Rice is cultivated largely in Asia its export mostly originates from other continents. Major rice exporters are Thailand, United States, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, Italy, Uruguay, Australia, China and Argentina.
- The Western countries are not major producers, but at the same time their consumption is negligible. Thus, a significant portion of their produce is exported.
Indian Scenario
- India is the largest producer and exporter of basmati rice in the world. The annual production in the
country hovers at around 10-15 lakh tons a year, of which around two-thirds is exported. The remaining is consumed, within the country. - Basmati rice is grown exclusively in
the northern part of Western Punjab (on both sides of the
Indo-Pakistan border), Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.
Haryana accounts for around 50% of the area under basmati
rice in India, followed by Uttar Pradesh (including Uttarkhand) with 25% and Punjab
with 18%. - The productivity of basmati paddy in
India is around 1400-2100 kg a hectare against the yield
of non-basmati paddy of 4500-500 kg a hectare.
Basmati Rice Cultivation Districts in India
World Trade
- In the international market rice is traded under two main categories such as Fragragrant and Non Fragrant. In case of fragrant rice, India dominates the trade with its Basmati Rice followed by Pakistan.
- Basmati rice is the leading aromatic fine quality rice of the world trade and it fetches good export price in the international markets.
- Basmati exports from India peak during March-April period and the November-December period.
- In 2001-02, Basmati rice accounted for 0.89 % of India’s total exports, 6.24% of agricultural exports,
36.96% of food grain exports and 58.14% of rice exports. - Gulf region is the major market for Indian basmati rice and inside Gulf, Saudi Arabia accounts for the major chunk of basmati imports from India.
- During 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01, total quantities of basmati rice exports from India were 5.98 lakh tons, 6.38 lakh tons and 8.52 lakh tons in which the percentage share of Asia was 85.69%, 82.12% and 73.38% respectively.
- European Union is the next important market for Indian basmati. The EU buys roughly around 1-1.5
lakh tons of basmati rice on an average. - The export to North America has increased from 1.39% during 1998-99 to 5.28% during 2000-01.
- Pakistan is the sole competitor for India in the international market for basmati rice.
Factors that affects basmati rice prices
- Weather has profound influence production and monsoon plays key role in its production and productivity.
- Since Basmati Rice has big export orientation, import demands from other countries do affect price considerably.
- Overall sentiments in the rice market do affect Basmati price trends.
- Government export import policy.
- Economic performance of importing countries and other fragrant rice from other country too influence
the market. - Domestic demand and consumption pattern.
Glycemic index (GI)
According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, basmati rice has a Medium glycemic index (GI) of between 56 and 69, thus making it more suitable for diabetics as compared to certain other grains and products made from white flour.
See also
External links
- FDA import warning
- About patent dispute
- agricoop
- agrimarknet.nic
- imd.ernet.in
- agriwatch
- commodityindia
- clfmaofindia
- fas.usda.gov
- fao.org
- futuresource.com
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