The blanket ban on export of non-basmati rice is having an adverse impact on the organic paddy farmers in Kerala, according to the Vadakkenchery Padasekhara Samithi (VPS), an organisation of organic farmers.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, RN Ramakrishnan, treasurer of VPS, said 55 tonnes of paddy was lying at the storage facilities of VPS even though the next harvesting season was around the corner. Harvesting in 150 acres at Vadakkenchery in Palakkad district of the state is expected to begin in a couple of weeks.
He said the Poabs group, which is marketing the rice in India and abroad, was finding it difficult to sell the product, priced at Rs 35 a kg, in the domestic market.
Kerala started organic farming of traditional ‘Matta’ rice three years ago. Around 300 acres of paddy field in Palakkad and Kuttanad taluk of Alappuzha district had been converted to organic farms.
The farmers have tied up with the Poabs Group, which owns multicrop organic plantation at Nelliampathy in Palakkad district, to market the rice. The company has inked a buy back scheme at 25 per cent premium price for the paddy over and above the market price.
According to Thomas Jacob, director of the group, the yearly export of organic rice is hardly 200 tonnes and is a premium product which would not have serious impact on the food security of the country. “This grade of rice cannot be equated with non-basmati rice varieties. On the one side, the government is promoting organic farming, but on the other it shut down the marketing avenues of such products,” he said adding this would force the growers to withdraw from organic farming as this is a very costly affair, compared with inorganic farming.
Poabs has, however, started sales through supermarkets and shopping malls in major cities and towns. He said discussions were on with Natures Basket, the organic product marketing division of Godrej, to sell the traditional Kerala rice through their outlets.
Meanwhile, VPS is awaiting C-2 certification for its organic farm, stretching 23.24 hectares. Poabs has also agreed to give 50 per cent premium once VPS gets C-3 certification, which is very important in marketing the product in EU and US markets. Seeking a change in the export policy, the farmers here have decided to extend the farming to 500 acres in a phased manner. VPS has been awarded the Kerala government's Nelkathir award for best organic farms this year.
