BRRDI spearheads rice research into self sufficiency

by Afreeha Jawad

Significantly, a striking positive commonality of successive governments has been the keenness shown in paddy cultivation. As a result, Sri Lanka today is self-sufficient in rice.

The one percent of current imports are the highly sophisticated rice varieties needed by five-star hotels. Even such rice cultivation is currently being experimented at the Bathalagoda Rice Research Development Institute (BRRDI)- the local Basmati being quite a success.

Rice-the centuries old miracle grain has been the staple food of Asians. With its high nutrient content it has fed the Asian populace making them a strong and sturdy people.

Very nutritive, traditional varieties of early times which went off the agricultural screen to be replaced by the high yielding kinds was a compelling need to feed South Asia's rising teeming millions.

Following years of absence in Sri Lanka, the re-emergence of traditional varieties even though in a small way has been due to the untiring efforts of this institute - Sri Lanka's premier rice research centre facilitated by the Agriculture Ministry of post colonial governments.

This writer's interest in traditional varieties during her last visit to the Bathalagoda RRDI a year ago made its present head Dr. Nimal Dissanayake open the icy-cold gene bank to show these rice varieties that lay all neatly stacked - the purpose being its usage for intended research only.

However, that decision has now taken on a more positive turn and today its cultivation is a roving success among small farmers - the rice of which is available at leading supermarkets at a price.

"Small farmers were selected to grow these varieties because of their disinterest in inorganic fertilizer application," said Director Bathalagoda Rice Research and Development Institute Dr. Nimal Dissanayake in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

Income

"We are concentrating in uplifting their income because they were not into large scale highbrow farming - managing only with whatever dung and green leaves found," he added.

BRRDI also researched nearly a 100 varieties of traditional rice and 30 of the new improved varieties to look into its organic fertiliser resistance capacity and results revealed four tons per hectare.

Re-iterating efforts of all post-colonial governments in increasing the country's rice production Dr. Dissanayake said, "All governments having realised the importance of rice production facilitated farmers with crop insurance, farmer loans, seed paddy and also a guaranteed price.

Having successfully handled quantity the institute's next endeavour is to improve rice quality. Towards this end, in 2005 and 2006 two new high quality rice varieties' - the 3 1/2 months BG 360 and 3 months AT 306 (local Basmati) was realized.

Following crop commercialisation from the 1960s onwards coming off major irrigation schemes, maintaining rice quality was an impossibility. The new and improved varieties were grown, harvested processed and released into the market. From now onwards, the millers have been told to refrain from mixing varieties of rice and the public will have access to processed rice with its own brand name.

Millers and farmers have also co-operated because they too will benefit when people keep trying out different brands. One or two will catch on and sell faster than the rest. So this is one way into improving rice quality.

"Rice quality improvement will also be realised in its zonal cultivation. Growing one variety islandwide is agriculturally ineffective which we did in the past."

The BRRDI's sub stations at Bentota, Ambantale and Sammanthurai placed in the different ecological zones are currently producing zone-friendly rice varieties far different from the status quo of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

"Though small in size, Sri Lanka has 46 agro-ecological zones and the strategic development of varieties in such environs currently underway will also be a success story," informed Dr. Dissanayake.

Following all the efforts of the Agriculture Department with its numerous institutes, quality rice will soon be a reality. In fact, it is intended to bring about a clean rice packet to be cooked sans all that tedious process of de-stoning and washing - certainly a blessing for today's overtaxed housewife.

The 'Convenient Loaf' or 'Poison Loaf' as some in the health conscious category would have it as regards bread, will soon cease to be.

Diabetics

The ill-effects of wheat flour products consumption is public knowledge. The Ministry of Education will soon ban all junk food in school tuck shops. These children are filled with starch, sugar and unwanted fat. Many are already obeise and are diabetics.

Wheat flour products contain Amylose pectine and digest quickly into glucose unlike rice that takes around three hours to digest. The other advantage is that rice is eaten with green leaves and other vegetables unlike bread's accompaniment being only dhal or meat. The dietary imbalance also has ill effects following wheat consumption.

So, the sooner we switch over to rice the greater the scope in health preservation.