IARI’s new rice variety to lift non-basmati exports
Srinivasulu, a farmer from Alur, Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, in April 2021, harvested a new rice wide variety Pusa Samba 1850 developed by Indian Agricultural Investigation Institute (IARI) with a generate of all over 4 tonnes per hectare.
The new wide variety is an improved model of Pusa Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204) which has been widely cultivated by farmers in southern as perfectly as japanese components of the region. Pusa Samba Mahsuri wide variety is largely grown during the Samba time (November-March) in the South and has a sizeable share in the country’s non-basmati rice exports. The wide variety is characterised by medium slender grain and superior cooking excellent.
No pesticides
Sudheer Agarwal, a farmer from Bhurekha village of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, is upbeat about the potential clients of using up a new non-Basmati wide variety – Pusa Samba 1850 in the forthcoming kharif time.
Agarwal reported that the key motive for using the non-basmati rice wide variety developed by IARI is increased generate and practically absence of pesticide utilization. Through the final two years of area demonstration across the region, farmers like Srinivasulu and Agarwal have bought an typical generate in the variety of 4-7 tonnes/ha.
The Pusa Samba 1850 wide variety developed by IARI — an improved model of Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204) — a wide variety is at present getting grown across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar on all over one.5 million hectares.
However, Samba Mahsuri is extremely susceptible to blast condition which results in sizeable generate and excellent losses.
For controlling the condition, farmers have been making use of extra pesticides alongside with incurring increased labour price, besides obtaining an adverse influence on the atmosphere.
Samba Mahsuri was released in 1989 by Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural College, Hyderabad for industrial cultivation.
However, with a breeder seed indent of 42.eight quintals for Kharif 2022, Samba Mahsuri remains a well-known wide variety amongst farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
“There are all over 320 rice types in the countrywide seed chain at present, of which only twenty five types have a breeder seed-indent of extra than forty quintals.
“ Inspite of Samba Mashuri getting, extra than 3 decades aged wide variety it nonetheless occupies 24th placement in the countrywide breeder seed indent which is testimony to its reputation,” Gopala Krishnan S, Principal Scientist, IARI, reported.
In accordance to Krishnan S of IARI, who is the mind driving progress of Pusa Samba 1850, the wide variety has been developed making use of a Marker Assisted Selection-derived blast resistant by way of insertion of 3 governing resistance to blast condition genes – Pi54, Pi1 and Pita.
This gene fortification allows ward off the lethal bacterial blight.
Higher generate
The Pusa Sambha – 1850 wide variety of rice went by way of area trials at internet blast very hot places in the region such as Malan / Palanpur (Himachal Pradesh), Jammu, Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh), Nellore (Andhra Pradesh), Gudalur (Tamil Nadu), Lonavala (Maharashtra), Ponnampet (Karnataka) & Hazaribagh (Jharkand).
In a massive-scale area demonstration, in Kharif 2019 executed across Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the new rice wide variety had presented an typical generate of 6.56 tonnes/ha. In Shidenur of Raichur district of Karnataka, the typical generate was all over 9.3 tonnes/ha.
In the area demonstration executed at the farmers’ area during Kharif time of 2020, the generate of Pusa Samba 1850 ranged in between 5.5 and eight tonnes across Chemmangudi and Krishnagiri (Tamil Nadu), Shahjanhanpur and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Ganagavathi (Karnataka) and Cuttack (Odisha).
The reason was to get volumes for millers and traders to further more assess its prospective amongst millers and buyers.
“Pusa Sambha 1850, is a blast resistant improved model of Sambha Mahshuri (BPT 5204), the most traded rice wide variety in the non-Basmati phase. It will further more reinforce non-Basmati exports which have crossed thirteen million tonnes during 2020-21, the best in the record of rice export,” Ashok Singh, Director, IARI reported.

Breeder seed
In the subsequent two years, a massive-scale cultivation of the new wide variety is expected to just take position.
Presently, breeder seed is supplied to non-public providers and NGOs for multiplication. IARI has signed an MOU with Hyderabad-primarily based Eldorado Agri-tech Non-public Ltd for multiplications of seeds.
The breeder seed has been presented by IARI for multiplications into basis seeds and certified seeds in the forthcoming kharif time.
In accordance to an agriculture ministry formal, by 2022, massive scale industrial cultivation of Pusa Sambha 1850 rice wide variety is expected which would not only enhance India’s non-basmati rice exports potential clients but also decrease price of production for farmers simply because of increased generate and nominal price for pesticides.
In accordance to Agricultural and Processed Food items Product Exports Development Authority (APEDA), the non-basmati rice exports rose sharply in 2020-21 both of those in phrases of quantity and worth in contrast to preceding yr (2019-20).
The quantity of non-basmati rice exports rose by 159 per cent to thirteen.08 million tonnes (mt) in 2020-21 in contrast to preceding yr even though worth of exports jumped by 137 per cent to $4,796 million from $2,020 million claimed in preceding yr.
Sandip Das is a Delhi-primarily based author on agriculture and foodstuff safety. Sights are particular.