Notwithstanding the Covid 19 pandemic that hit global economy, India emerged as the largest ever supplier of rice in the world in 2020-21.

Exports of grain saw an increase of over 80 per cent in 2020-21 compared to the previous year. Between April and February, India exported 11.9 million tonnes of non-basmati rice and 4.1 million tonnes of basmati.

The All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) said while the official export data for March is yet to come, internal assessment indicates that outbound shipment of non-basmati rice would touch 13 million tonnes—a whopping jump of about 129 per cent over the previous year. Exports of basmati went up by about 14 per cent.

Even as recent trends showed that exports of rice have thinned amid the Covid 19 induced restrictions across the country, India is on course to remain the largest exporter of the grain in 2021-22.

“There has been some reduction in demand of rice from global markets and this is primarily because of the mini lockdowns and other restrictions but we are on course to remain the largest exporter even in the current financial year,” Vinod Kaul, executive director, AIREA told India Narrative.

Kaul said there has been “some drop” in demand for basmati rice from the middle eastern countries and Europe, the main markets where for the fine grain.

According to Statista, a data collation portal, India had the highest export volume of rice worldwide, at 15.5 million metric tons as of 2020- 21. Vietnam was the second largest rice exporter, with about 6.4 million metric tons of rice worldwide in that year. India along with Vietnam and Thailand topped the list of the global rice exporters.

India’s new markets in 2020-21

Apart from other countries, India has also increased supply of rice to neighbouring countries such as China and Bangladesh. China has already placed an import order of 100,000 tonnes for broken rice from India for the December to February period but sources said that the requirement for the staple grain could continue through the year. In the last few months, India entered many new markets in Africa and South America besides increasing supply to several southeast Asian countries, where rice is a stable food.

Broken rice is also used in several southeast Asian countries to make noodles.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s public foodgrain stocks have dropped to a three year low. Last year, Bangladesh placed an order of 150,000 tonnes of non Basmati rice in a government to government deal with India. However, reports suggested that India is willing to increase supply even through private suppliers.

“We are expecting good production of rice in India with monsoon, there is enough stock for domestic consumption, which includes a substantial quantity required for public distribution system. We are therefore in a position to meet export demands,” Kaul said.