Rice variety Palakkadan Matta has huge fan followers across the country. Tapping its popularity, an agrarian family at Kuzhalmandam near here started a mobile app last year facilitating online purchase of authentic Palakkadan Matta, which achieved Geographical Indication tag seven years ago. After the hugely popular app, the family is now launching another app for the buyer to decide on the bran content. “People have different perceptions about the bran content. Some people prefer higher bran content while others need very little. Now, they can order Palakkadan Matta online by fixing the preferred bran content in percentage,” says Prabhal Mohandas of Daksh Paddy Farm at Alathur.
The new app titled Make My Rice can be downloaded from Google Play Store. A graduate from Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode, Prabhal is running the online trade with the help of his wife Sudeepa Prabhal, a biotechnology researcher. The farm has been growing the rice variety in the traditional way for long.
The Geographical Indication (GI) registry terms Palakkadan Matta as a rice variety with a distinct taste. Under the registry, there are 10 varieties of Palakkadan Matta: Aryan, Aruvakkari, Chitteni, Chenkazhama, Chettadi, Thavalakanna, Eruppu, Poochamban, Vattan Jyothy, and Kunjukunj.
The Palakkadan Matta is described as a bold red rice with a unique taste because of the geographical area it is grown in and the peculiar weather there owing to the eastern wind. “The rice is produced 100 per cent organically. We treat the soil, air, and water as important resources, respecting the delicate balance of nature,” he says. Apart from the whole grain Matta rice, the farm also distributes Matta rice powder, whole grain Matta rice flakes, and rice frylets. Hay can also be ordered online. “In whole grain Matta rice, the rice is not polished after removing the outer layer. All the nutrients remain in the unpolished rice, whereas you don’t find any of them in polished rice. By polishing, all the useful ingredients are lost, leaving only the carbohydrate,” he says. The farm has tied up with India Post to make the rice available across India.
