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The premium aromatic variety Gobindo Bhog rice is attracting more farmers in West Bengal. More farmers are taking up its cultivation since its gives higher productivity and remuneration.
Some 600 farmers have sown the rice for the first time this crop season (August-November). This has increased the number of farmers opting for the aromatic rice to over 1,800.
The Bidhan Chandra Kishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV), through a programme, launched since 2009, has extended cultivation of the rice to new areas and promoted it among a larger number of farmers.
“Until the last (2012) crop year, 1,261 farmers were included for adoption of cultivation of the variety on a total area of around 450 acres (1,326 bighas) across six districts of South Bengal,” Prasanta Kumar Biswas, one of the professors, who are involved in the initiative, told Business Line .
Growing area According to a study by the BCKV, 80 per cent of the rice produced is consumed locally, while 20 per cent is exported. In fact, more can be exported if production increases in view of farmers being unable to meet rising demand.
“Hyderabad is one of the primary markets for Gobinda Bhog outside West Bengal. The finest quality is in demand in Andhra Pradesh for biriyani. Hindu festivities in the eastern and northen India also see rise in demand for the variety,” Biswas said.
The area under cultivation for this variety is expected to go up further by over 50 per cent this crop year compared with last year, Biswas said.
The agricultural university also plans to reach out to farmers in the backward regions of Purulia and West Midnapore districts.
“Apart from providing free seeds to the farmers, we also assist them in processing and sale of the premium rice variety,” Biswas said.
Having started the programme with less than 100 farmers in Nadia district in 2009, BCKV has brought in 1,800 farmers across 18 blocks of the South Bengal districts of Murshidabad, Burdwan, Hooghly, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.
The area under cultivation has increased 10-fold in 2012 from a mere 45 acres four years ago.
“A lone farmer in Sagar block of South 24 Parganas, who started growing Gobindo Bhog on three acres in 2012, influenced others this season.
According to Biswas, production at Sagar is expected to increase substantially this year with more area being added.
Better price Gopinath Mukherjee, a farmer in Murshidabad, is one who has gained from growing the aromatic variety in terms of price and yield.
“There has been a 30 per cent increase in the market price of Gobindo Bhog since 2009,” he said.
Paddy productivity of this premium variety has gone up by more than 40 per cent to about 1.3 tonnes an acre, he said.
Currently, this variety fetches a price of Rs 2,800-3,000 for a 60-kg bag.
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