The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : New variety of low glycemic rice launched

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

New variety of low glycemic rice launched

Staff Reporter

Need to improve quality of rice: Swaminathan

MOTIVATING CHANGE: Rajya Sabha member and agriculture visionary M.S. Swaminathan launched `Moolgiri - low glycemic rice' in Chennai on Monday. P. Murari, adviser to the FICCI president, is in the picture. — PHOTO: S.S.KUMAR

CHENNAI: India's rich biodiversity and the developments in biotechnology could be used to develop sound businesses, Member of Parliament and agriculture visionary M.S. Swaminathan told students and researchers here on Monday.

He congratulated S. Chellaiah, chairman of Tajmahal Agro Industries, and his team on adhering to the best agricultural practices while developing Moolgiri, a new variety of low glycemic rice, considered good for diabetics.

"There is enormous need for improving quality of rice and other products. India grows over 50,000 varieties of rice in over 40 million hectares. Recently, there has been an attempt towards genetically enriched varieties. In Taramani, we have developed good strains rich in iron and zinc," he told a gathering of researchers, students and officials of the company.

He urged them to consider developing newer strains of enriched rice, combining the best qualities found in the various strains. Home Science and Nutrition students must take up quality literacy movement to educate farmers on the quality and infections that could affect crop strains, he said. "Agro and food processing is the key to economic development," said P. Murari, advisor to the president of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

`Moolgiri' was developed after intense research and tested for glycemic index, said G. Sivaraman, head, research and development of the company. The research work was conducted with technical support from the University of Madras, tested at the GI labs in Toronto and certified by GI Symbol Programme of the University of Sydney, Australia.

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