Ludhiana, Sept. 21 -- The West Asia conflict threatens to cast a pall over Punjab's Basmati harvest as disrupted shipping routes, soaring freight costs and uncertainty over overseas markets force exporters and millers to scale back purchases from mandis.

According to Bal Krishan Garg, president of the Basmati Exporters' Association Punjab, India exports around five lakh tonnes of Basmati rice every month, and Punjab accounts for nearly a third of these exports.

"Exporters from Punjab exported around 1.6 lakh tonnes of Basmati every month before the war broke out in West Asia this February. This has fallen significantly as shipping lines have limited and freight rates have shot up around 10 times of what they used to be pre-conflict," Ga...