Success Story : Bengal Aromatic Rice
Diversity in Aromatic Rice
The long history of cultivation and use of the non-Basmati type traditional aromatic rice varieties in the society of Bengal have been documented in ancient manuscripts (punthi), district gazetteers, books, etc. during the period of last 500 years. The state of West Bengal has precious wealth of genetic diversity in aromatic rice.Among them, Gobindabhog, Tulaipanji, Kalonunia, Radhunipagal, Kataribhog, Badshabhog, Radhatilak, etc. are very popular in domestic markets due to their excellent quality features and pleasant aroma. These are used for preparation of scented table rice, payesh(dessert), bhog, polao, biryani and pitha (home-made cakes). It is estimated that about 2.5–3.0 lakh tonnes of premium scented rice is produced every year during kharifseason from 90,000-1,00,000 ha. land in West Bengal.
| Aromatic Rice | District | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Gobindabhog and Radhatilak | Bardhaman, Hooghly, Nadia, Bankura, Birbhum, North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Howrah, etc. | Golden-yellow coloured grain, short-bold type white kernel, pleasant aroma |
| Tulaipanji | Uttar Dinajpur, DakshinDinajpur and Plains of Darjeeling | Yellow coloured grain with long awn, medium-slender type white kernel, pleasant aroma |
| Kalonunia | Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Coochbehar | Black coloured grain with occasional awn, medium-slender type white kernel, pleasant aroma |
| Radhunipagal | Birbhum, Bankura, Nadia, Bardhaman, Hooghly, etc. | Straw coloured grain having purple spot at tip, short-bold type white kernel, strong aroma |
| Kataribhog | Malda and DakshinDinajpur | Straw-yellow coloured grain, medium-slender type white kernel, medium aroma |
| Kalojira | Nadia, PurbaMedinipur, etc | Purple-black coloured grain, short-bold type white kernel, pleasant aroma |
| Radhatilak | Nadia, Hooghly, PurbaMedinipur, etc | Yellow-straw coloured grain having reddish brown spot at tip, short-bold type white kernel, pleasant aroma |
| Harinakhuri | South 24 Parganas, PurbaMedinipur and North 24 Parganas | Straw coloured grain having purple spot at tip with occasional awn, medium-slender type white kernel, medium aroma |
| LalBadshabhog | Bankura, PaschimMedinipur, Purulia and Jhargram | Reddish brown coloured grain, short-bold type white kernel, mild aroma |
RKVY Project on ‘Bengal Aromatic Rice’
A multi-Institutional RKVY Project on ‘Bengal Aromatic Rice’ is implemented through a well-organized consortium comprising Bidhan Chandra KrishiViswavidyalaya (BCKV) as lead centre, Uttar BangaKrishiViswavidyalaya (UBKV) as co-operating centre and Paschimbanga Agri. Marketing Corporation Limited as collaborator since February, 2009. The work programme of the Project is designed to develop or up-grade ‘production-based marketing system’ model for premium aromatic rices of West Bengal.
Contact
Dr Mrityunjay Ghosh
Professor and Principal Investigator,Department of Agronomy
Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya
PO: Krishiviswavidyalaya, Mohanpur,
Nadia, West Bengal, India, PIN:741252
Mobile: 8902711929
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.