Non-basmati rice exports surge in FY21 due to global demand, savvy pricing

India responded quickly to opportunities thrown up by the pandemic, and the hiccups faced by competing nations to put up a sterling performance in non-basmati shipments abroad

Amid the gloom surrounding the India economy due to the second Covid-19 wave, one area that has done commendably well in the farm sector is the export of non-basmati rice.

While basmati exports have traditionally been India’s forte, of late the non-basmati varieties have also picked up and financial year 2020-21 has been a stellar one for them.

Data sourced from the department of commerce shows that in FY21, non-basmati rice exports totaled around $4800 million, up 136.11 per cent over the same period last year.

In comparison, basmati rice exports during the same period totaled around $4,018.65 million, or