History of Rice

Basmati – India’s GI Heritage

Basmati rice is a prized Geographical Indication (GI) product cultivated exclusively in the foothills of the Himalayas across:

Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, and three districts of Jammu Division (J&K).

Basmati remains India’s premium agri-export identity, celebrated for aroma, grain length, cooking quality, and global consumer trust.

Rice is the seed of grasses Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima and is the world’s most important staple food.

Cultivated rice originated about 8,000–10,000 years ago in South and Southeast Asia, with India among the earliest domestication centers.

Over 3 billion people depend on rice, which provides more than 20% of global caloric intake.

Rice ranks as the third-largest agricultural commodity by production after sugarcane and maize.

Asia dominates global rice production and consumption.

Rice grows in flooded paddies as well as rain-fed uplands and terraced hills.

There are tens of thousands of rice varieties differing in grain size, color, and culinary properties.

India is the world’s largest rice exporter, ahead of Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and the United States.