Country's non-basmati rice exports have plunged by 79 per cent in volume terms during April 16 to September after the government banned shipments of the commodity.
Basmati rice exports, however, recorded a marginal fall in exports volumes despite high MEP.
According to the official data, only 0.59 million tonnes of non-basmati rice have been exported between April 16 and September this year, compared to 2.75 million tonnes in the year-ago period.
Basmati rice exports dipped to 0.47 million tonnes between mid-April and September compared to 0.49 million tonnes in the same period last year due to high minimum export price (MEP) at $1,200 per tonne and an export duty of Rs 8,000.
However, the government has allowed exports of PUSA 1121 non-basmati rice of this kharif crop with effect from September 16 to "ensure remunerative prices to farmers".
Further, the rice procurement during kharif season 2007-08 stood at 279.05 lakh tonnes till September 24 against that of 251.07 lakh tonnes in the entire season last year, posting a rise of 11.14 per cent, an official statement said.
The government expects the wheat stocks to touch 60.04 lakh tonnes by April 1 next year, compared to the buffer norms of 40 lakh tonnes whereas rice stocks is likely to reach 64.52 lakh tonnes as on October 1 this year, it said.
The availability of non-levy sugar in September is likely to be about 20-21 lakh tonnes, which would be sufficient to meet the demand for sugar in the ensuing festival season, it said.
