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The grain story

Meena Menon

In a small, musty room, men and women sort small piles of paddy and put them into long brown envelopes. Each rice grain is carefully examined before it is sorted. Under the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP), on-farm samples are being collec ted, which is what is being sorted out at the Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur.

Banners in Hindi in the crowded room proclaim that the rice varieties of Chhattisgarh have enough capacity in them to satisfy the rice demands of the entire nation. In an adjacent room, green steel cupboards with small drawers house a veritable tre asure of rice germplasm, collected by the late Dr. R. H. Richharia, a former director of the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack, and one of the foremost rice scientists of the country.

Though much of Dr. Richharia's work seems to have been forgotten, the germplasm bank is what he is best remembered for. There are 22,500 accessions of rice at the rice germplasm bank at the Indira Gandhi Agricultural University (IGAU), near Raip ur and a majority of them are from Madhya Pradesh itself. Chhattisgarh, when it was still a part of Madhya Pradesh, was called the rice bowl of Madhya Pradesh. Rice is grown over more than 70 per cent of the area but irrigation is available in les s than 20 per cent and productivity is therefore low. Every third year is a drought year and rainfall is erratic, according to scientists at IGAU.

One of Dr. Richharia's many books talks about the rich diversity in rice in Madhya Pradesh. He speaks of a variety called Chikko in the tribal area of Bastar which is preferred because it can be ground into soft flour which can be rolled out to make c happatis. Another variety called khowa was popular because it tasted like milk after it was boiled. There are super long varieties which are popular for making puffed rice and bold varieties which are used to make flattened rice (poha). Many va rieties are high-yielding and resistant to pests, he noted in his research. The IGAU collection also has 210 varieties of wild rice.

G.R. Sahu, Technical Assistant at the germplasm bank, who has looked after the collection since 1982, said that earlier the collection was maintained at Baronda farm near Raipur where block level registers were maintained. All samples h ad been characterised for morphological and some for agronomical characteristics, he added. Now the rice varieties are arranged alphabetically. Dr. Richharia's collection was called the Raipur collection and is the second largest in the world. It is the biggest collection in India.

The Raipur collection was at the centre of a storm after it was alleged that the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at Philippines took away samples of these varieties. Dr. R.S. Tripathi, Director (Research), IGAU, did not wish to co mment on this issue. However at a conference in Malaysia in 1986, Dr. Richharia, in a paper, said, ``Pressure was brought about by the World Bank to close the activities of this Institute (MPRRI) in lieu of offering a substantial financial ass istance as I had refused to pass on the entire rice germplasm to IRRI without studying it.''

At present, the IRRI has more than 80,000 accessions of cultivated rice, and 3,000 accessions of wild species. In recent years, in India, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) deposited nearly 42,000 germplasm accessions in the National Gene Bank.

Every year since 1971, all the accessions at IGAU are grown on a small plot of land measuring seven acres in the University and their seeds are sorted, packed and stored. A catalogue of the accessions is under preparation but not yet finalised, according to Dr. N.K. Motiramani, Senior Scientist, in charge of the germplasm bank.

Dr. Motiramani shows off the small boards hanging on the walls of the sorting room where rice varieties are on display. There is Jag Phool which with a 4-mm long grain is the smallest variety of rice and Dokra Dokri, with its long grain measuring 14mm , is the longest rice grain. There are varieties of rice which have two grains in one floret or Hathi Panjara (literally elephant's leg) which is the boldest grain.

There are a variety of scented rice and also medicinal rice varieties which were once popular in the area of Chhattisgarh. There are special rice types such as the Tulsi Manjari from Bihar, which are used to make kheer and some are eaten t o relieve joint pains or headaches. Madhya Pradesh had the largest number of scented rice varieties which are also high yielding.

The original samples collected under the supervision of Dr. Richharia over thirty years ago cannot germinate now but they are kept to tally the samples which are grown every year. Since August last year, about 5,000 accessions are kept in a medium term cold storage module outside the Department of Plant Breeding at IGAU at temperatures of 4 degrees Centigrade. ``Here the germplasm is safe and remain viable for five to ten years,'' Dr. Motiramani said.

``Every year, we will add 5,000 accessions to the cold storage,'' Dr. Motiramani said and after five years, the first batch will be taken to the field for germination. ``In this way we don't have to grow all the accessions every year as we are doing no w.''

Earlier, the germplasm was stored in a room inaugurated by Dr. Richharia in 1993 which had two air-conditioners and a dehumidifier. However, frequent power fluctuations put paid to this plan. However, the question is whether farmers ca n access this rich store of germplasm and grow indigenous varieties in areas which are swamped by high yielding varieties released by the University itself.

According to Dr. Motiramani, farmers do access varieties but the University has to be very careful while releasing seeds to farmers. They mostly come in for scented varieties, he added. ``The access to farmers is not so free now as they have to sign an agreement with us that they will use it for themselves and not for commercial gains,'' he said.

The collection of local rice varieties from different areas of Madhya Pradesh was initiated by Dr. Richharia in 1971. Between 1971 and 1976, a total of 19,095 accessions were made under the aegis of the MPRRI, according to a Status Report of t he IGAU, 2000.

The varieties have been evaluated for resistance against various biotic stresses, particularly against bacterial blight, gall midge and brown plant hopper, all pests which affect the rice plant. Many of the varieties are resistant against gall midge and brown plant hopper and are being used as parents in rice variety crossing programmes.

However, activists working in the field of biodiversity conservation feel that using germplasm for genetic research or for preservation as museum pieces will deny its access to farmers. Women associated with the Deccan Development So ciety at Zaheerabad in Andhra Pradesh have been collecting seeds and decide what is good for their fields.

Activists feel there is no point making a museum out of seeds as they have to be made available to farmers. Debal Deb, an ecologist with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Kolkata, has helped set up a seed bank for indigen ous rice varieties and now almost 500 farmers have converted to using these varieties because of seed availability.

Before 1970, about 5,600 varieties of rice flourished in Bengal but now only 500 may be left. He has documented 340 varieties in a book. In 1998, he established Vrihi which is the name in the Atharva Veda for rice, to facilitate a free exchange of local crop varieties among farmers. The seed bank is not an expensive air-conditioned facility but relies on the use of natural materials to store seeds for which remain viable for at least five years.

However, it is doubtful how many farmers know of these varieties and even if they do, whether they can they grow them is a question mark. In the name of increasing production, agriculture has been forced to follow international dictates and res earch and it will be an uphill task to reclaim what will and can be lost forever.

Picture by Ramesh Sharma