Taste test: Lab hunt for the best rice for Bengal palate

KOLKATA: The state government is running tests on all hybrid varieties of rice grown in Bengal to find the best three that suit the Bengali palate.Bengalis cannot compromise when it comes to their plate of steaming rice - the grains must be fine and aromatic and they must not stick. But since the high yielding hybrid varieties of rice are generally sticky and lack the aroma, they find few takers in the state.No wonder, hybrid varieties like IR8 lose out to their local competitors - gobindabhog, chamormoni, tulaipanji and sitashal - despite a nearly 80% higher yield.The state government has increased the areas under hybrid rice cultivation, in tune with the recommendations of the central government, but with few takers among its own people, the state's plans have fallen flat.This has prompted the government to select the three kinds of hybrid rice that will be cultivated in larger quantities.The criteria: Not sticky, aromatic and high yield.There are three kinds of rice available in the state. The first are traditional kinds like gobindabhog, chamormoni, tulaipanji, sitashal. Though they have a comparatively lower yield, they are the best in terms of taste, and hence sell more.The second kind is the high yield variety like satabdi, swarna, parijat and lolaat - the yield being 40% to 50% higher than the local ones. In terms of taste, this rice is somewhat average, definitely not as good as the local kind.The third type with the maximum yield - about 80% higher yield than the local variety - are the hybrid ones. However, many kinds of hybrid rice are sticky and lack the aroma and flavour. Researchers at Cornell University in the US have found that high yield verities like IR8 cannot give higher produce without chemical fertilizers.IR8 gave 5 tonnes per hectare without fertilizer and 10 tonnes per hectare with chemical fertilizers. This is way higher than the yield of the traditional varieties - 1 to 2 tonnes a hectare. But recent tests prove that some traditional varieties such as gopalbhog have a fairly high yield.Fiound The tests reveal that dwarf varieties of rice called high-yielding varieties or HYVs like IR 8 produce better yield only with the application of chemical fertilizer.With the markets being flooded with different kinds of this seed from government and private companies, farmers are clueless about which one to choose. This is the main reason why farmers don't get buyers for hybrid, even if the government wants this variety - with the maximum yield - to be produced more in the state."If tests are done to select the best three of the lot, the farmers can easily pick the best," said Madhab Chandra Dhara, rice agronomist in the Rice Research station of Hooghly's Chinsurah.Tests are on to increase production for four out of the six agro-climatic regions: Hills, Terai-Teesta flood plain, Bindha alluvial zone, new alluvial zone, red and laterite zone and coastal saline zone. The results will be out in November this year. The situation will improve remarkably next year, the state government hopes. Bengal does not have shortfall of rice - its demand is 142 lakh tonne against last year's production of 154 lakh tonne. This year, the target is 156 lakh tonne, and area under cultivation has been increased from 42 lakh hectare to 42.9 hectare this year. However, production has to increase so that there is no gap between the demand and the supply in the next few years, and the country's food security is maintained. There is also the plan to give a major boost to the production in the country's eastern region for the eastern green revolution."China produces 80% hybrid rice, so the production is much higher. In China, however, stickiness in rice is not an issue, and moreover people eat with chopsticks. For Bengalis however, lack of stickiness is very important," Dhara said.In Bengal - like most of the other rice producing belts in the country - the maximum rice producing area is under the "high yielding variety". The local variety is 5-10% and the hybrid variety is as little as 2%.Once the tests results are revealed, the cultivation for the hybrid variety is likely to increase, the more the state's yield will increase. This should be good news for both the government as well as for consumers who don't want to compromise on the taste.Nothing can come in the way of the Bengali and his plateful of steaming rice. And the grains of rice must be long but not sticky and sometimes, with aroma. So surely there is a problem for the Bengal government when the extremely high yielding "hybrid" varieties such as IR-8 have few takers compared to the more popular, traditionally grown local rice like gobindabhog, chamormoni, tulaipanji, sitashal and so on.The hybrid varieties of rice are of nearly 80% higher yield than these kinds of rice. And it is part of the strategy of the Bengal government - following the Central government recommendations - to increase areas under hybrid rice cultivation to increase the total production of rice.However, the official claim has come under scanner following tests with diverse rice samples conducted at Cornell University in the US. The tests reveal that dwarf varieties of rice called HYVs like IR8 produces better yield only with the application of chemical fertilizer. The IR8 variety gave 5 tons per hectre without fertilizer and 10 tons per hectre with chemical fertilizers. This is much above the yield of the traditional varieties that have a low yield of 1 to 2 tons a hectare. But recent tests bear out that some traditional varieties such as Gopal Bhog has a fairly high yield that can match the local HYVs.For this, the state government is now conducting tests in different laboratories on all hybrid varieties of rice available throughout Bengal, in order to pick the top three kinds that farmers may be asked to use subsequently. The criterion: not sticky, aromatic and the highest yielding. The purpose is to combine taste and aroma with productivity.Rice in the state are of three kinds - the traditional, "local" kinds like gobindabhog, chamormoni, tulaipanji, sitashal - that have compratively low yield. In terms of taste, they are the best.The second kind is the "high yielding" variety like satabdi, swarna, parijat, lolaat - the yield being 40-50% higher than the local ones. In terms of taste, this is somewhat average, slightly less tasty than the local kind.Third, the type with the maximum yield - about 80% higher yield than the local variety, the "hybrid" variety. However, what one has to compromise is the taste - many kinds of hybrid rice are less tasty and somewhat sticky. The markets are flooded with different kinds of this seed from both government and private companies, and the farmer is clueless which one to choose.This is the reason why farmers don't get buyers for hybrid, even if the government wants this variety - with the maximum yield - to be produced more in the state."There are several varieties of hybrid rice like PHB-71, PAC-835, KRH-2, DRRH-2 and so on. Some are from private companies, and rest produced by the state. If tests are done to select the best three of the lot, the farmers can pick any one from these," said Madhab Chandra Dhara, rice agronomist in the Rice Research station of Hooghly's Chinsurah.The tests are on for increasing production for four out of the six agro climatic regions: the hills, Terai-Teesta flood plain, Bindha alluvial zone, new alluvial zone, red and laterite zone and coastal saline zone.The results will come in November this year, and from next year, the situation will improve remarkably, the state government hopes. Bengal does not have shortfall of rice - its demand is 142 lakh tonne against last year's production of 154 lakh tonne. This year, the target is 156 lakh tonne, and area under cultivation has been increased from 42 lakh hectare to 42.9 hectare this year. However, production has to increase so that there is no gap between the demand and the supply in the next few years, and the country's food security is maintained. There is also the plan to give a major boost to the production in the country's eastern region for the eastern green revolution."China produces 80% hybrid rice, so the production is much higher. In China, however, stickiness in rice is not an issue, and moreover people eat with chopsticks. For Bengalis however, lack of stickiness is very important," Dhara said.In Bengal - like most of the other rice producing belts in the country - the maximum rice producing area is under the "high yielding variety". The local variety is 5-10% and the hybrid variety is as little as 2%.The more the hybrid variety is cultivated, the more the state's yield will increase. And that should be good news for both the government as well as for consumers who don't want to compromise the taste.