Madhya Pradesh and Punjab CMs spar over GI tag to basmati rice

Exporters say granting GI tag to basmati grown in MP will lower its value in the global market, while MP contends its inclusion will help lakhs of farmers get better price

The spat between Madhya Pradesh and Punjab over the GI tag to basmati rice flared up again today with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan calling Punjab’s Amarinder Singh’s opposition to MP getting the tag ‘politically motivated’ and a move that hurts farmers.

Amarinder Singh, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi written few days back, had opposed Madhya Pradesh’s bid to acquire the GI tag for basmati stating that any move to disturb the status quo will not only harm the interests of farmers and basmati exporters of India, but could also help Pakistan, which also produces basmati as per GI tagging in the international market.

Taking to Twitter, Chouhan alleged that the Punjab Chief Minister's letter was "politically motivated". 

Countering Singh’s argument, Chouhan said, "The case of Apeda (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) with Pakistan has no relationship with Madhya Pradesh's claim as it is under the GI Act of India. It is not connected to inter-country claims of basmati rice."

He asserted that GI tagging was a matter of pride for farmers and recognition of their years of toils.

"The matter should not be turned into a Punjab-versus-Madhya Pradesh tussle. GI tagging will provide stability to basmati prices in international markets and bolster our exports," the MP CM said.

The Punjab chief minister has alleged that MP's move infringes the GI tagging procedure and laws.

However, Chouhan said, "Madhya Pradesh has a written recorded history since 1908 of basmati production in 13 districts. Records of supplying seeds to farmers in MP in the year 1944 was recorded in the records of Scindia State."

He said that the Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad, had recorded production of basmati rice in their Production Oriented Survey Report for the last 25 years.

"Basmati exporters of Punjab and Haryana are procuring basmati rice from MP. This is also supported by Government of India data of export from the Mandideep (industrial area), Madhya Pradesh," he added.

In June, Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel had said that the state government would move the apex court to challenge a Madras High Court's ruling in the matter of not providing the tag to MP's basmati-growing regions.

The MP government and a basmati growers' association had lost two separate cases in the court filed in 2016 to challenge the exclusion of the districts from a map submitted by the APEDA for the tags.

Apart from Punjab, other states that already have GI tagging for basmati are Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, western UP, and select districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Madhya Pradesh has sought inclusion of its 13 districts for GI tagging for basmati.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan had been fighting for cause in his previous term as well. He recently met, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and pleaded the state’s case.

Exporters say granting the GI tag to basmati grown in Madhya Pradesh districts will lower its value in the international market, while MP contends its inclusion will benefit lakhs of farmers in getting better price for their produce.