♦ Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India has facilitated the export of 25 metric tonnes of Assam’s GI-tagged Joha Rice to the United Kingdom and Italy.

♦ The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the ministry of commerce & industry enabled the shipment.

♦ An indigenous variety cultivated in Assam, the aromatic Joha rice, which received the GI tag in 2017, had been earlier exported to Vietnam and five West Asian countries — Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

♦ Joha Rice is cultivated in about 21,662 hectares with a production of approximately 43,298 metric tonnes (FY 2024-25).

♦ The leading districts in Joha rice production are: Nagaon, Baksa, Goalpara, Sibsagar, Majuli, Chirang and Golaghat.