IRRI plans massive black rice production in Assam

India being a predominantly rice producing nation, has a plethora of varieties, each having different nutritional properties, characteristics, and climatic preferences. Amongst the many varieties now available in the market, black rice has the market demand in different parts of the country. The black rice is well suited for Assam soils and weather conditions which carries a huge opportunity for its commercial production.

IRRI in collaboration with Govt. of Assam under the World Bank funded Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation project (APART) has started its production by introducing new black rice varieties from different States of India. In this Sali season IRRI under APART provided 60 kg of Manipuri black rice, 30 kg of Kalamalifula and 22 kg of Kalavati amongst few selected farmers of Goalpara district in Assam.  The Manipuri black rice variety is introduced from Manipur whereas other two black rice varieties namely Kalamalifula and Kalavati were introduced from Odisha.

The seeds of these varieties were sown on a total area of 17.6 bighas of land comprising of Manipuri black rice in 10 bigha, Kalavati in 3.6 bigha and Kalamalifula in 4.0 bigha. The crop is expected to be harvested within next one week.

These demonstrations are aimed to link the farmers with the buyers for higher returns and to make available of good quality seed for future use. With the current demand of the black rice segment in the markets due to its high nutritional value and health benefits, IRRI under APART aims at increasing areas under black rice production in coming days.

“IRRI has also introduced the crop cafeteria of the premium quality rice (PQR) varieties along with the indigenous rice varieties for comparative analysis, evaluation and selection. The purpose of crop cafeteria is to provide an opportunity to the farmers and extension functionaries to select the best performing varieties of their preference for further adoption on their fields.”  told by Dr. Kanwar Singh, Resident Coordinator & Senior Associate Scientist-II. IRRI.