You would have seen photos and videos of thousands of NRIs in the United States standing in long queues and taking huge stock of rice from grocery stores. As per the statistics, on an average, 6,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice is exported from India to the USA every month. India’s Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry on 20th July 23 banned the export of non-basmati white rice, with immediate effect.
The retail rice prices increased a lot in a month due to the heavy rains or not rains which caused significant damage to crops. Heavy rain in northern parts of India over the last few weeks has damaged newly planted crops in states including Punjab and Haryana. Farmers had to wait for waters to recede so they could replant. In other major rice-growing states, there is no growth due to inadequate rainfall. Hence in order to ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the Indian market and to stabilize the price rise in the country, the ministry banned the exports.
According to reports in the US, rice bags of all varieties sold off the shelves quickly as anxious Asian communities, for whom rice is a staple, thronged the stores. Especially Indians rushed to ‘panic buy’ white rice. All varieties of rice including basmati were sold out in a few hours. Though basmati rice has not been banned. In response to the escalating demand, many stores in the USA and Canada imposed restrictions on the number of rice bags customers can purchase. Numerous stores have put up notices stating "only one rice bag per family" to manage the situation and ensure fair distribution. However, there are concerns that some may stockpile rice and attempt to sell it at significantly higher prices through online forums. Some NRIs have hoarded 100-200 kgs of rice per family. And few are now selling it on FB marketplace.
Even though the authorities and experts have said that there is enough stock for the next 6 months, many NRIs complained about the sky rocketing prices in grocery stores in the US that is caused because of short supply and higher demand. Due to the high demand, the price of a 9.07 kg rice bag which was earlier quoted at $16-18, has now doubled and in some places, the price went up to as high as $50.
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