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1121 Basmati Sella (premium parboiled export grade)
What it is
The dominant export specification in Indian basmati. Pusa 1121 is a variety prized for extreme grain elongation on cooking; sella refers to parboiling before milling, which hardens the grain, cuts breakage and improves cooking tolerance
Golden sella is the darker parboiled variant. Together these grades account for the bulk of shipments to West Asia, the largest destination
Impact on industries
- The single most valuable specification in the category, commanding a consistent premium and defining the price benchmark other grades are quoted against
- Parboiling raises head-rice recovery and reduces breakage, so processing economics improve alongside realisation
- Concentration risk runs deep - one variety and one destination region, so a West Asia disruption or a varietal disease problem hits the export book directly
- Pakistan competes in the same grades to the same buyers, so pricing is set in a two-supplier market where policy actions on either side move share quickly