If all goes as planned, Rajamudi, a traditional red rice variety of Old Mysore region, which was patronised by the “royals” (and hence the nomenclature), will join the league of Basmati and get a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in recognition of its unique qualities.
The Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Price Commission have joined hands with Sahaja Samruddha, an NGO working on conservation of traditional and indigenous varieties of agricultural crops, to set the ball rolling.
This is the first case of an agricultural crop from the State being promoted for GI status though fruits such as Kodagu orange or Nanjangud rasabale have been accorded GI tags given their distinctive nature.
“The best quality of Rajamudi is cultivated in Mysuru-Hassan-Mandya belt and we intend to prepare a database of the number of cultivators engaged in production of Rajamudi, the acreage under cultivation and then proceed further,” said Krishnaprasad of Sahaja Samuruddha.
A Rajamudi utsav and a consultative workshop have been planned in Mysuru at the office of the Command Area Development Authority (CADA) on February 9 and 10 to take forward the agenda. The exercise will help document the knowledge and culture associated with Rajamudi cultivation and conserve it for posterity.
There are various strains within Rajamudi which have to be identified and classified and hence farmers, experts from the Department of Agricultural Science, Bengaluru, Agricultural Price Commission, and paddy researchers will participate in the workshop, which is the first step in the long journey to procure the GI tag.
What is significant is that cultivators of other varieties of rice in Karnataka such as Ratnachoodi, Gandhasale, and Salem Sanna, which are equally exotic, will also take part as there are long term plans to secure GI status for some of the lesser-known but unique rice of the State, said Mr. Krishnaprasad.
Describing the history associated with Rajamudi, Mr. Krishnaprasad said that it was cultivated in large swathes of land under the princely Mysuru ruled by the Wadiyars, who preferred it to other forms of rice.
It was also a preferred choice of the maharajas to procure it from farmers in lieu of tax.
