GI News: Kaipad Rice, Nagpur Oranges, Dharmavaram Sarees and more

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The month of August has seen a lot of GI excitement. As the Hindu reports (here and here), the Kaipad rice of Kerala, Nagpur oranges and the Dharmavaram Saris of Andhra Pradesh received clearance for

inclusion in the GI registry. A four month period for objections has been provided after which these GI’s will be notified in the Register.

If on the one hand GI are being doled out, on the other, GI holders are trying to combat the manufacture and sale of fake products. As the Economic Times reports, GI holders of the famous Kashmir Pashmina shawls are attaching micro chips in every shawl to ensure authenticity. Each of these micro chips carries invisible nano particles known as taggants, with a unique code that can be read under infrared light (similar to forensic technology used in defense establishments!). This is a whooping Rs. 4.40 crore initiative by the Pashmina Testing and Quality Certification Centre sanctioned by the Assistance to State for Infrastructure Development of Exports (as reported here). As claimed, this initiative is aimed not only to foster increased sale of genuine Pashmina but also to incentivize the creation of traditional hand woven shawls. 

Coming back to the new GIs, the Kaipad system of rice cultivation is an integrated organic farming system of of Kerala where rice cultivation, in tracts of brackish water, occurs along with aquaculture. Clearance for GI protection followed a presentation by a delegation which included three framers before a team of experts under the Controller of Patents in Hyderabad. As reported, much merriment followed this development as it is seen as a step forward for small and marginal Kaipad farmers to enhance their livelihood. 

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Not to be negative or to spoil the gaiety, it is important to realize that there is lack of evidence to show that GIs actually benefit the informal economy in developing countries (See Paper by Cerkia Bramley here and Amit Basole’s Dissertation paper which consists of a case study on GI and Banarasi Saree Weavers here). Limited studies that have been undertaken have shown that it is the traders and not the producers that maximize benefits from GI protection. And even within the producers it is the state agencies that are usually the ‘authorized proprietors’ and hence they benefit. Only if there is any ‘trickle-down’ will the small and marginal workers actually reap any benefit.