A rice variety sourced from Assam may soon change the cooking pattern of rice in the country. Termed as soft rice or komal chawl, this rice has low starch content. It does not need boiling, and becomes eatable after being soaked in water for less than an hour.

Scientists from Cuttack-based Central Rice Research Institute, affiliated to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), which has been conducting field trials in Orissa, has found it to be suitable for the state’s hot and humid condition.

Scientists have studied the rice named Aghonibora and has found that it retains quality. ?It takes 140-145 days to mature, measured 90 cm in height and per hectare yield is about 4.5 tonne in preliminary testing,? SG Sharma, head of biochemistry division, plant physiology and environmental sciences, CRRI, told FE. Sharma said if found suitable for other predominantly rice-eating parts of the country such as Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh, etc, it would result in huge savings in cooking fuel.

According to the CRRI, a number of rice varieties of Assamese origin–Aghonibora, Bhogalibora, Chakua and Misiri–classified as ?soft? rices or komal chawl, are low in amylose (a kind of starch) content. Grains of these varieties do not require cooking in boiled water, as they become fit to eat just after being soaked in normal water for less than an hour. “These would be useful for farmers working in the field who find it difficult to afford fire wood, coal and cooking gas,” Sharma said.

Scientists say that the northeast region has very rich sources of rice germplasm, which can be used to develop a variety of rice-based value added commercial products. The CRRI has also introduced a flood-resistant paddy variety, Swarna Sub1, with a gene sourced from Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Swarna Sub1 can withstand floodwater for close to two weeks. Following extensive field trails across many districts in Orissa, the state seed sub committee released Swarna Sub1 in April 2009 for flood prone areas of coastal Orissa.

Swarna-Sub1 was also tested in Assam, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and eastern Uttar Pradesh under the Eastern India Rainfed Lowland Shuttle Breeding Network, coordinated by CRRI, during the last three years.

ICAR and IRRI have entered into an agreement to support and facilitate rice research in India over the next three years with an aim to boost production. They have announced the details of the new ICAR work-plan agreement (2009-2012), which would ensure India’s continued access to advanced rice research from around the globe and the technologies subsequently developed.

The agriculture ministry said that while area under rice cultivation remained static at around 35 million hectares since 1997-98, production has gone up from 82.53 million tonne during 1997-98 to 99.37 million tonne during 2008-09.

However, kharif rice production is likely to decline significantly this year owing to deficient southwest monsoon. As per the latest data released by the ministry on Friday, paddy has been sown in around 30.2 million hectares, down by 63 lakh hectares as compared to 2008.