Haryana urges Centre to lift ban on export of PUSA1121 paddy varie

New Delhi, Aug 10 (UNI) Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today urged the Centre to immediately lift the ban on the export of PUSA 1121 variety of paddy.

Mr Hooda met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath separately and urged them to lift the ban on the export of the particular variety of paddy.

He has also written letters to this effect to the Prime Minister and both the Union Ministers.

In his letters, Mr Hooda stated that PUSA 1121 has been categorised as super fine but the characters of this variety were similar to the Basmati group.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture had also recommended this variety to be notified under the Basmati group.

Mr Hooda informed Dr Singh that an area of two lakh hectares has been covered under PUSA 112 variety in Haryana during the current Kharif season and a production of six to seven lakh metric tonnes of paddy of this variety was expected in the state.

The Chief Minister further informed the Prime Minister that PUSA 1121 variety was mainly exported on premium to Gulf and West Asian countries.

Mr Hooda had got the ban lifted on the export of PUSA 1121 variety last year also. He had cut short his foreign tour to the US and returned to India to pursue this case with Dr Singh.

With the lifting of the ban, PUSA 1121 variety was sold at Rs 2000 to Rs 2200 per quintal in the market, giving much-needed relief to the farmers.

Mr Hooda has now argued that the lifting of the ban on PUSA 1121 variety would not only strengthen the economic condition of the farmers but also encourage them to grow more foodgrains.

''It is due to hard labour of our farmers that we are now not only supporting our huge population of 125 crore but are also exporting foodgrains, when we use to import foodgrains while our population was only 30 crore,'' he added.

The lifting of the ban on PUSA 1121 variety would not affect the interest of the common man as this variety of paddy was not used by the poor man, Mr Hooda opined.

Meanwhile, Mr Deepender Singh Hooda, MP from Rohtak was also making all out efforts to get the ban lifted on the export of PUSA 1121 variety as he was also a member of the Standing Committee of Lok Sabha for determining prices of agriculture produce.

The Rohtak MP, with some of his colleagues, also met Dr Singh and apprised him of the benefits accruing to the farmers with the lifting of the ban on the export of this variety.

The Chief Minister has not only recommended to lift the ban on the export of PUSA 1121 variety but also demanded not to impose any ban on the export of this variety in future.

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