New Basmati variety to boost exports

India's Basmati export is bound to get a boost with the launch of an improvised version of the Pusa Basmati-1 variety.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute launched the new version recently and hoped that it will increase Basmati availability for exports.

Pusa Basmati-1 has been the mainstay of Indian basmati exports for nearly 15 years. The new variety has relatively higher yield potential and disease-resistance.

The Improved Pusa Basmati-1 was formally approved for commercial cultivation at the 42nd

Annual Rice Group meeting held in Hyderabad.

India exports around 1.2 million tonnes of basmati rice every year, and Pusa Basmati-1 accounts for 60 per cent of it.

The Improved Pusa Basmati-1, which is referred in plant breeders' parlance as Pusa 1460 (IET 18990), has been evolved through molecular breeding by incorporating blight-resistance carrying genes Xa13 and Xa21 into the Pusa Basmati variety.