Activities and Achievements

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 home-made cakes. It is estimated that about 2.5–3.0 lakh tonnes of premium scented rice is produced every year during kharif season from 90,000 – 1,00,000 ha. land in West Bengal.

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 Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV) as lead centre and Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya (UBKV) as co-operating centre 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.

Team of RKVY Project on ‘Bengal Aromatic Rice’

A multi-Institutional team involving the scientists of both B.C.K.V. and U.B.K.V. have been working for more than 9 years. Dr Mrityunjay Ghosh, Professor, Department of Agronomy is the Principal Investigator along with Co-PIs, namely Dr. Amitava Biswas, Dr. Souti Mukherjee, Dr. Debasis Mazumdar, Dr. Amitava Bhattacharya, Dr. Krishna Karmakar, Dr. Biren Nath Panja, Dr. Susanta Kumar Pal, Dr. Bikash Chandra Partra, Dr. Goutam Mondal, Dr. Sibajee Banerjee Dr. Raman Kumar Kole, Dr. Bijay Kumar Senapati, Dr Prasanta Kumar Biswas, Dr. Krishna Kishore Goswami and Dr. Anjan Chowdhury, and Research Fellows (Dibyendu Mahata, Ashish Kumar Pal, Subrojit Dolui and Jaladhar Garain), Office Assistant (Goutam Ganguly) and Project Assistants (Rahidul Mondal and Saibal Roy). Dr Tulsi Saran Ghimiray, Professor, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding & In-Charge, RRS, OAZ acts as CCPI along with Scientists / Technical Persons as Co-PIs, and Project Assistants at U.B.K.V.

Acknowledgement

Our University is thankful to the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Marketing / Paschimbanga Agri Marketing Corporation Limited, Government of West Bengal for fund support under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojona as well as to the Patent Information Centre under Department of Science and Technology, Government of West Bengal; Directorate of Inspection and Marketing, Government of India and Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights Authority, Government of India for related technical works.

Enrollment of Farmers’ Organization under PAMCL and Sufal Bangla

A total of 90 Farmers’ Organizations / Farmers’ Groups / Farmers’ Clubs associated with RKVY Project on ‘Bengal Aromatic Rice’ of both B.C.K.V. and U.B.K.V. have already been enrolled under Paschimbanga Agri. Marketing Corporation Limited (PAMCL) and Sufal Bangla under Department of Agricultural Matrketing, Government of West Bengal during 2015-2017 for supply of aromatic rice (Gobindabhog, Tulaipanji, Radhatilak, Lal Badshabhog, Harinakhuri, Radhunipagal, Kalonunia and Kataribhog) as and when required as per related terms and conditions.

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