West Bengal government to help farmers to grow 800 varieties of rice

West Bengal government has firmed up plans to provide assistance to farmers to enable them to grow 800 varieties of aromatic rice, many of which are rarely grown nowadays.

Among the aromatic varieties identified for special treatment are kanakchur, randhuni, chandrachur, radhatilak, badshahbhog and kerala sundari. Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya in Kalyani is playing a major role in identifying the varieties of rice, as well as finding out ways for growing them on a large scale so that the seeds can be distributed among farmers.

To collect seeds for these varieties and culture them, officials of the agriculture department are visiting farmers across Bengal and in some neighbouring countries too.

The state government is also taking initiatives to convince farmers to grow these less-known varieties of rice by making them realise the commercial value of these varieties.

For the last few years, the government has been actively promoting tulaipanji aromatic rice. It has set up stalls at several key places, including at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. It has even sent this variety of aromatic rice to the 2012 London Olympics for promotion and sale.