Overseas and domestic demand pushed up prices of aromatic varieties rice further in the market on Monday. But prices of non-basmati varieties remained almost unchanged on account of steady demand-supply situation.

Buying interest pushed aromatic varieties further up, said Mr Amit Chandna, proprietor of Hanuman Rice Trading Company. Demand for aromatic rice has improved in domestic and overseas market over the last few days, he said. Traders expect these varieties may rule steady as the market sentiment is still positive, said Mr Amit.

The area under aromatic varieties has increased this year. Following lower rainfall and expectations of better returns, the area has increased, said market experts. Basmati varieties fetch better returns, requires less water and can be sown late – these are the factors that led to rise in the area, said experts.

The area under basmati varieties in Punjab may rise to 7,50,000 hectares this crop year, while in Haryana it may rise to 8,00,000 hectares, up 2.5 per cent.

In the physical market, Pusa-1121 (steam) increased by Rs 150 and quoted at Rs 6,600-6,650 a quintal, while Pusa-1121 (sela) sold at Rs 5,600, up Rs 100 from previous level.

Pure Basmati (raw) went up by Rs 80 and quoted at Rs 6,680, while pure basmati (sela) ruled around at Rs 5,450 a quintal, up Rs 50 from previous level. Duplicate basmati went up by Rs 100 and quoted at Rs 4,900-5,100 a quintal.

For the brokens of Pusa-1121, Tibar sold at Rs 3,550; Dubar was at Rs 2,800-3,000 and Mongra at Rs 2,100-2,325 a quintal.

On the other hand, non basmati varieties continued to rule firm at previous levels. PR-11 (sela) went for Rs 2,850 a quintal, while PR-11 (Raw) was at Rs 2,700-2,850. Permal (raw) sold at Rs 2,000-2,250 a quintal while Permal (sela) went for Rs 1,900-2,200. PR-14 (steam) went for Rs 2,650-2,800 a quintal.

Sharbati (steam) quoted at Rs 3,800-3,900 while Sharbati (sela) sold at Rs 3,500-3,675 a quintal.

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