Delegation of Indian Rice Exporters to Visit

A delegation of Indian rice producers headed by President of All-India Rice Exporters Association Mohinder Pal Jindal are scheduled to visit Tehran on January 27 to pave the way for increased rice exports. Iran is one of the biggest consumers of rice and imports the product from India as well as Pakistan and Uruguay.  In 2015-16, Iran’s basmati rice imports from India almost halved compared with a year before to stand at $571 million, IRNA reported. During the first half of 2016, India exported around $356 million worth of the product to Iran, according to the India-based Economic Times. Iranians consume about 3.2 million tons of rice a year while domestic production stands at around 2.2 million tons. Therefore, there is a need for around 1 million tons of imports every year. The government periodically places a ban on imports during the harvest season to support local farmers. The two northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran are home to a majority of Iran’s paddy fields.