China Buys Indian Rice For First Time In Decades – Free PDF Download

What has happened?

• China has started importing Indian rice after a gap of two years and placed orders for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice,
• Due to competitive prices offered by India compared to other nations,
• According to the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA).
• Remember,
• China buying rice from India comes at a time of heightened border tensions between the two nations.

After 30  

• In 2006, China was given market access for Indian rice but shipments took place only during the 2017-18 fiscal.
• “Although market access was given in 2006, China imported about 974 tonnes of non-basmati rice in 2017-18 fiscal.
• Now after a gap of two years, we have started receiving enquiries…,“
• AIREA Executive Director Vinod Kaul told .

Biggest exporter & Importer

• India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and China is the biggest importer.

So why china doesn’t import from India?

• Beijing imports around 4 million tonnes of rice annually,
• But has avoided purchases from India, citing quality issues.

So, what has changed suddenly?

• China has started showing interest in buying rice from India,
• Because the neighbouring nation is facing tight supply situation,
• Amid likely fall in output and trade curbs in the wake of COVID-19 from its other importing destinations like Thailand and Vietnam.
• That apart, India is offering competitive prices when compared to other nations in the world at present.
• China’s traditional suppliers, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan, have limited surplus supplies for export.
• They were quoting at least $30 per tonne more compared with Indian prices.

India’s total export of rice

• As per the AIREA, India has exported 2.8 million tonnes of basmati rice and
• 1 million tonnes of non-basmati rice during the April-October period of the current fiscal.
• In 2019-20 fiscal, total basmati rice exports were at a record 4 million tonnes and non-basmati rice at 5 million

Export to China

• Less than 150 tonnes of basmati rice has been exported till October of the 2020-21 fiscal.
• In last two months, China has placed orders for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice called broken rice from south India.
• Broken rice is used for making noodles as well as in the wine industry.
• Indian traders have contracted to export 1 lakh tonnes of broken rice for Dec-February shipments at around $300 per tonne
• Growth in Agriculture Export
• India’s agricultural exports are up 4.6% year-on-year in dollar terms during April-September.

Rice on Top

• The star performer has been rice, with the value of shipments increasing by well over a third to $4.08 billion in April-September.
• The growth has come more from the non-basmati rather than basmati segment.
• Total exports this fiscal are expected to surpass the previous record of 12.7 million tonnes ($7.8 billion) achieved in 2017-18.

• India exports basmati rice largely to the West Asian countries (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Yemen), besides the US and UK.
• The destinations for non-basmati are mainly West Africa (Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Guinea and Senegal), East Africa (Somalia and Djibouti), UAE and Nepal.

Q) Which of the following statements regarding cultivation of Rice is correct?

1. It is a kharif crop which requires high temperature and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm.
2. About one-fourth of the total cropped area in India is under rice cultivation.
3. West Bengal is the largest producer of rice.

1. 1 & 2 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 & 3 only
4. All of the above

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