Amazing Variety Basmati | non-Basmati

Rice is the most important cereal food crop of India, occupying one-fourth of the gross cropped area of the country. A hot and humid atmosphere is a must for its cultivation. In India country, the crop is mainly grown as a Kharif crop (usually sown at the beginning of the first rains in June during the advent of the south-west monsoon season, and is harvested at the end of the monsoon season, October–November) in rainfed areas that receive heavy annual rainfall. 

Rice-based farming is the main economic activity for hundreds of millions of rural farmers in the region. India is well-known for both basmati and non-basmati rice production. India is one of the largest exporters of rice globally. The cultivation of high-yielding rice varieties such as IR 64, CR 2301, and others make India the second-largest rice producer in the world after China, with more than 11.0% of the global production share. The major rice-producing states in India are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Bihar.

Basmati Rice: the King of Rice

Indian Basmati rice is considered to be one of the best varieties of rice in the world, for its sleek, slender, tapering grains with unique aroma and taste and its grain elongation quality upon cooking. Export of the premium variety from India has an 85% share in the basmati export market. The areas of basmati rice production in India are the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir. According to APEDA, as of 2018-19, Indian exports accounted for 65% of the overseas basmati rice market, while Pakistan accounted for the remainder. Many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops; however, basmati is geographically exclusive to select districts of India and Pakistan, making it a very vital export commodity for India.