Pak declares 'war' on rice fields along border; shelling may destroy crops worth Rs 125 crore

The sound of the tractor instantly invites the sounds of the gun from across the other side of the International Border (IB). The area is RS Pura, the "rice bowl" of India, in the Jammu area.

Today, 40,000 acres of basmati stands unattended in Jammu and Kashmir as they are under heavy threat from Pakistani soldiers. Firing and shelling from Pakistani soldiers have caused rice farmers to flee, ensuring that crop cultivation of basmati rice on the Indian side of the International Border (IB) is next to impossible.

Locals claim here that this firing every October-November is an annual ritual. It is meant to attack the Indian farmer, hurt India's basmati rice crop, and ensure that Pakistan's rice crop flowers. As a result, farmers working on the fields have been made to vacate the area, ensuring that long spreads of mature paddy stands neglected.

A local farmer who asked not to be named says: "The paddy crop on the other side of the IB has been sowed earlier and they harvested a couple of weeks before us. The recent firing from across the border has been planned so as to disrupt and damage our crop. The early sowing gives them an edge," says a local farmer. "If there is no one to harvest, the crop will die in 10-12 days," he says.

Most area in and around the RS Pura region is extremely fertile and best suited for basmati cultivation. For the past three years, the land and the crop have been getting destroyed from shellings/firings from the other end. If this continues, farmers will not be able to cultivate. This will have a strong impact on the Indian economy as basmati is a huge foreign exchange earner.

Figures illustrate the problem. Each hectare of this fertile land produces no less than 20 quintals of basmati. A quintal of good quality basmati rice is sold for Rs 3,200-3,500 in the market. Rough estimates suggest that if the crop remains uncultivated, India would lose approximately Rs 125 crore (the figure varies according to exchange rates) as this is what the revenue basmati rice in the area brings.

India is especially important for the basmati rice market, as 65 per cent of the produce comes from here. Ashok Malhotra, Director of Agriculture, Jammu and Kashmir, feels that the government must counter the Pakistani aggression by taking urgent steps to protect the rice farmer and to save the country's prized possession.

"For some time now, we have been asking the government to provide protection to the farmers," he says. "Also, there is no compensation/insurance for crops or for farmers in these vulnerable areas. Other state governments provide full compensation to farmers if the crops get destroyed, but this is not the case in Jammu and Kashmir."

It is not just Jammu that is suffering. Around 800 farmer-families are being affected by the cross-border shelling. But Swaran Lal, Sarpanch, Suchetgarh, a village in Jammu, says that Pakistan is no just the problem. "We have been demanding incentives from the government for so long. If this continues, we will move to other places, never to return."

"The BSF's presence in the area do not allow us to use machines in the fields. As a result, manual harvest will take a much longer duration, as at least 20 per cent of the crop will get destroyed," he said.

A long aromatic rice, basmati is one of the best qualities in the world. There are several varieties and traditional Indian types include basmati 370, basmati 385, and basmati Ranbirsinghpura (RS Pura) 1121 Extra Long Grain Rice. India exports most of these to the US and Europe, but the high-quality rice from RS Pura is especially in high demand in the American market.

Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, J&K Agriculture Minister, confirmed that there will be loss of crops this year. "Some of the crops are bound to get destroyed as there isn't enough time to manually harvest all the fields. We have announced that the farmers will be given full protection so that they return to their fields. Also, we will try to arrange compensation as well," he said. "We are starting the Prajapati Beema Yojana scheme to insure crops from next year," he said.