The troubled paddy fields of Kuttanad, where the inability of farmers to harvest crop before rain has repeatedly spelt crushing losses, are now bristling with hope after the introduction of a new short-duration seed variety.
Aptly named ‘Pratyasha,' the new seed is from the stables of the Mankombu Rice Research Station (RRS), the 21st variety developed there to be precise. The RRS, which functions under the aegis of the Kerala Agricultural University, had earlier developed the highly popular ‘Uma' variety, which was being used by over 80 per cent of farmers in Kuttanad, and by about 50 per cent across the State.
However, unpredictable climate changes forced the RRS to think of a variety that could ripen faster than ‘Uma,' which takes 120 to 130 days to reach the harvesting stage. The research on ‘Pratyasha' actually began way back in 1994, but the variety got approval from Crop Standard authorities late last year, according RRS Director S. Leenakumari.
‘Pratyasha,' according to Ms. Leenakumari, is a short-duration variety that can be harvested after 100-105 days, which means the sight of crop being damaged by rain just before ripening will not be as frequent as it has been. The yield, admits the developers, is slightly less than that of ‘Uma,' with ‘Pratyasha' offering five to 5.5 tonnes a hectare in place of Uma's six to 7.5 tonne a hectare capability.
At the same time, ‘Pratyasha' promises better taste than ‘Jyothi' and ‘Uma' varieties and has much more nutritional value with a higher content of iron and zinc, says Ms. Leenakumari.
Moreover, farmers who could have only one round of cultivation in a year can go for both ‘puncha' and the second round as well, courtesy the one-month duration difference between the existing varieties and ‘Pratyasha.'
The RRS has developed 560 kg of the new variety, 500 kg of which has been distributed to farmers — portion of it during the last season and some portion during the present ‘puncha' season. The remaining seeds have been given to seed farms for mass production.
