Preparations begin to send the first consignment of Sona Masuri brown rice to Europe

09-Aug-2024 11:15 AM

Chennai. A leading exporting firm is making all the necessary preparations to send the first consignment of Sona Masuri brown rice from India to Europe.

The Managing Director of the company says that if everything goes as planned, it will be shipped by the end of the current month (August).

An attempt has been made to keep the amount of pesticide chemicals in this rice within the limit of the highest residue level (MRL) so that its consignment can be easily accepted in the importing country.

According to the Managing Director, there are some special varieties of rice whose price can be even higher than Basmati rice, but the government has included it in the non-Basmati category and hence its export is not possible.

It is known that the commercial export of non-Basmati white rice has been banned since July 2023. According to the Managing Director, apart from Sona Masuri brown rice, some consignments of Ponni rice can also be shipped.

Both these varieties of rice are produced on a large scale in Tamil Nadu and the rules and conditions related to MRL are being fully followed. For this, a quality control program driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used.

If no policy hurdles are created by the government, the export of this rice can increase to over 1.50 lakh tonnes in the next five years.

According to the Managing Director, data technology can bring about a huge change in the agricultural system and business activity of rice (paddy). Climate change is an emerging risk but the company is working on controlling it.

Tamil Nadu produces some special varieties of rice which are in great demand in the country and abroad. People from South India live in large numbers in Europe and America and like Sona Masuri and Ponni rice a lot.