The ‘Gulbarga tur dal’ (Kalaburagi red gram), renowned for its superior quality the world over, received Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the government recently.
Speaking to The Hindu on Friday, Dean of Agriculture College Jayaprakash R. Patil and Muniswamy, agriculture scientist at the Agriculture Research Station in Kalaburagi, said that after a long and cumbersome process which lasted two years, the ‘Gulbarga tur dal’ finally got GI status on August 14.
The application was filed by the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS) Raichur and the Karnataka Red Gram Development Board, with the help of ICRISAT, Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre (IPFC) Hyderabad with Geographical Indications (GI) Registry, in September 2017.
Dr. Muniswamy said the team of scientists from the research station has redrafted the description with the additional specification of GI product and the special characteristics and quality parameters of the produce to get the product certified with GI tag.
He said the high calcium and potassium content of the soil in Gulbarga tur dal-growing region has been one of the major factors for its suprrior quality. According to soil test reports Kalaburagi soil contains 3.6 g/100g calcium and 0.1 g/100g potassium. Whereas the soil sample in Bengaluru contains 0.135 g/100g calcium and 0.045g/100g potassium.
The other test parameters include volume, grain weight after cooking, leachable solid per cent, texture, appearance, colour, flavour, taste, and smell. The tur dal here has a good taste and aroma compared to that grown elsewhere. It also takes less time to cook.
Now, the research station, in association with the Agriculture Department and the farmers’ forum, should organise awareness programmes across the district to make farmers aware of the benefits of the GI tag, Dr. Muniswamy said, adding that the GI tag helps red gram growers get a premium price. Besides minimum support price, the farmers growing tur dal of GI standard can increase the price by 10%.
Dr. Muniswamy said that initially, GI status may not work wonders for the farmers, but in the long term, it would command a better price and create international demand for the produce.
Red gram is the main kharif crop in the Hyderabad Karnataka region. Of the total 9 lakh hectares of red gram cultivated across the State, around 3.7 lakh hectares of the crop is grown in Kalaburagi district alone.
