Rising temperature affected India’s wheat yield in North-Western plains in 2021-22I varieties gain, Government tells Rajya Sabha.

By BL Mangaluru Bureau

A new tariff line regime for rice-based on process (parboiled, others) and on variety (rice recognised by the Geographical Indication Registry, Basmati, others) will be implemented by the Centre from May 1 for the cereal’s export, Minister of State for Commerce Jitin Prasada told Parliament on Friday.

“This will benefit the more than 20 GI varieties of rice, as defined and recognised by the Geographical Indications Registry under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, which are grown in more than 10 States/UTs of India,” he said in a written reply.

The new tariff items have been created by amending the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, effected through the Finance Act 2025, passed on March 29, 2025, he said.

To a question on the classification of basmati and non-basmati rice, Prasada said the move would enable focused policy formulation and specific interventions for the growth of commerce and trade of GI varieties of rice, in addition to Basmati.

The Minister said to distinguish Basmati from other rice varieties, the government in 2008 notified the standards and qualifications of rice varieties for rice to be eligible as Basmati. For policy purposes and to accurately capture the international trade of Basmati rice, a separate tariff item with an 8-digit HS Code for Basmati rice was notified by the government. A further sub-classification was made. 

Heat impact

A 2021-22 study conducted by the ICAR – Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) showed there was a significant rise in maximum temperature by 5.50 degrees Celsius in the North- Western Plain Zone (NWPZ) compared to 2020-21. It led to an average yield loss of 5.6 per cent in wheat under high temperature stress conditions.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Bhagirath Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said studies to assess the effect of rising temperatures and heat stress on wheat yield and grain quality were conducted by ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal. The studies conducted in NWPZ and North Eastern Plain Zone (NEPZ) during 2021-22 (one of the heat stress years) revealed that there was a significant rise in maximum temperature and it led to yield loss under high temperature stress conditions.

“However, due to variation in temperature rise, stage of wheat crop and deployment of heat-tolerant varieties, there was no reduction in average productivity of wheat at the national level during 2021-22 (3537 kg per hectare) in comparison to 2020-21 (3521 kg per hectare). With the deployment of heat tolerant varieties during past 10 years, more than 60 per cent area of wheat is cultivated with heat tolerant varieties in the country,” he said.

Compulsory jute packaging

To a question on jute, Pabitra Margherita, Union Minister of State for Textiles, said in a written reply that the Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act, 1987, provides for the compulsory use of jute packaging material in the supply and distribution of certain commodities in the interests of production of raw jute and jute packaging material, and of persons engaged in the production thereof, and for matters connected therewith.

Under the provisions of JPM Act, the Central government has mandated packaging of 100 per cent foodgrains and 20 per cent sugar in jute bags over the last seven years. The total purchasing of jute bags for packaging of foodgrains by State procurement agencies and Food Corporation of India constitutes 81 per cent of the total production of the jute goods.

Corn imports

Asked if the government has permitted import of Dent Corn through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Jitin Prasada said in a separate written reply that the government allowed import of 4.98 lakh tonnes of Dent/Flint corn under the Tariff Rate Quota Scheme through NAFED as well as state cooperative marketing federations in line with the Public Notice dated June 26 2024 of the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). “As on date, NAFED has not imported any variety of corn under the said notification, since the market prices are not favourable,” he said.

Low cashew output

To a question on low production of cashew in Konkan of Maharashtra, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said the average productivity of cashew in the country is 674 kg per hectare while the productivity in Maharashtra is 1003 kg per hectare, which is higher than the average productivity of the country.

“However, All India Coordinated Research Project on Cashew under ICAR – Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR), Puttur, informed that severe occurrence of fog in the Konkan Region in current year leads to lesser fruit set and consequently low production in cashew,” he said.

ICAR-DCR, Puttur, has developed and released cashew varieties such as Nethra Jumbo-1, Nethra Ubhaya and Nethra Jumbo-2, specifically suited for the agroclimatic conditions of Konkan region, he added. Comments

Published Date: April 4, 2025