Tamilnadu: TNAU Releases Long Slender, Aromatic Non-Basmati Rice

In an alternative to the popular GI-tagged basmati rice, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Saturday released a new non-basmati rice variety named CO 58, which is as aromatic as basmati rice.Releasing the variety, TNAU vice-chancellor V Geethalakshmi said, “Basmati rice grows only in particular regions of India. It has an aroma. Usually, non-basmati rice won’t have that smell. However, our new long slender non-basmati rice is aromatic. It could be used for making biryani and pulao.”

She said the paddy variety could be harvested in 120-125 days. “Suitable for cultivating in late samba/thaladi season, it has a high head rice recovery compared to other long slender basmati varieties.

”TNAU also released the state’s first sweet sorghum variety named CO (SS) 33. The VC said, “The central government has a target to achieve 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025. Now, ethanol is largely produced through sugarcane.As an alternative to this, sweet sorghum could be used for ethanol production. At least 1,127 litres of ethanol could be extracted from one hectare of CO (SS) 33.”Geethalakshmi released 20 agricultural and horticultural crop varieties suited to different agro-climatic regions in Tamil Nadu on the day.Among them were four varieties of millets – including Tenai ATL 2, Maize VGI H(M) 2, Sorghum CO 34 – a pulse variety (Greengram VBN 7), an oilseed variety (Groundnut CO8), a fibre crop variety (Cotton VPT 2) and a green manure variety (Daincha TRY 1).

With a view to encourage farmers cultivating fruits and vegetables, three varieties of fruits, including a pro-vitamin A enriched banana variety (Kaveri Kanchan) and a high-yield grape variety GRS (MH) 1, which gives 41 tonnes of yield per hectare in a year, were also released on the day.

The TNAU VC also released five varieties of vegetables, including a striped brinjal variety (CO 3) and a perennial moringa variety (PKM3), and two each new varieties of spices and plantation crops on the occasion.

This article has been republished from The Times of India