Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan renews claim for basmati's GI tag

Madhya Pradesh has claimed GI tag for rice grown in districts as basmati on par with that from Punjab and Haryana

With the state going to polls in the next few months, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched a strong defence of his state’s claim for GI tag for basmati rice grown in the state, which was rejected few days back by the Central Registry.

Chouhan who has been camping in the national capital since the last two days met with host of senior ministers of the Narendra Modi government including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to seek central intervention on an issue which can impact the livelihoods of  almost 80,000 farmers largely concentrated in 13 districts of Morena, Bhind, Sheopur, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri, Guna, Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Hoshangabad, Narsinghpur and Jabalpur. 

Madhya Pradesh has claimed GI tag for rice grown in these districts as basmati on par with that from Punjab and Haryana and five other northern states largely concentrated on the foothills of Himalayas. 

But the Geographical Indicator (GI) Registry last week rejected the state’s claim on the grounds that Madhya Pradesh does not fall within the ‘Indo-Gangetic Plain’ and it does not enjoy popular perception with respect to basmati cultivation.

The immediate fallout of the decision was that basmati rice grown in around 200,000 hectares by almost 80,000 farmers in the state lost the premium it commanded in the market which could erode their incomes.

With MP facing a slew of protests from farmers due to fall in prices of agriculture commodities, this was a decision the state could ill-afford, more so when it faces a tough electoral battle in few months. 

The state government has decided to challenge the order in Madras High Court where the GI Registry operates under the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.

Officials said the petition not to grant MP, GI tag for basmati grown in the state was filed on the behest of Punjab and Haryana based rice millers who feared that inclusion of rice grown in other areas would impact its premium quality and pull down prices. 

The GI tag was for PUSA-1 and PUSA-1121 basmati rice varieties cultivated in Madhya Pradesh.

Chouhan meanwhile, in his discussion with top Central Ministers said that MP merits inclusion of basmati grown in the state under GI as there is documentary evidence to show that farmers in the state have been cultivating basmati since the last 105 years, it has established the suitability of agro-climatic conditions and quality of basmati produced in the state using lab reports. 

He said the Central government itself has been supplying basmati breeder seeds to the state since 1999 while prominent basmati rice exporters and producers source their rice from MP.

He also countered the claim that the inclusion of basmati rice grown in the state will weaken India’s claim in the international market on the grounds that India is answerable to only itself under GI Act as far as grant of GI is concerned.

“Instead of protecting the legitimate rights of Indian basmati farmers of the state of MP, unfortunate export perceptions are being catered to at the expense of the rights of Indian farmers,” Chouhan wrote in a letter addressed to Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu.

He said it is ‘indeed’ surprising that farmers who have been contributing around Rs 30 billion annually towards foreign exchange through basmati exports throughout the world have been deemed unworthy of inclusion in GI when even a state like Delhi which never had any history of basmati rice cultivation has been included in the same GI.