The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is developing nutrient-rich varieties of rice, according to its Deputy Director-General, JS Sandhu.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the Golden Jubilee Annual Rice Research Group Meeting at the Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) here on Sunday.

“The process has already started and we have identified two varieties of rice,” he said while adding that objective was to move from food security to nutritional security.

The present varieties of rice were not rich in protein content. They were mainly having carbohydrate and hence zinc-rich rice varieties were bring developed, he added.

“We have 44 million hectare (area) in rice cultivation. There is no increase in area in the last 15 years. The task has become tough, but the only option is to improve the productivity through science led technology,” Sandhu said.

India’s foodgrains production was estimated to slightly decline to 257 million tonnes this year. It was at 265.57 million tonnes during 2013-14. Out of this, 106.65 million tonnes was rice.

According to ICAR Director-General S Ayyappan, new technology should be used to enhance rice productivity. For a country of 125 crore people, rice production also had to grow accordingly.

IIRR Project Director V Ravindra Babu said 1,100 rice varieties including 75 hybrids and several other technologies have been developed till date and made available to the rice farming community.

Robert Zeigler, Director-General International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines and other experts participated in the one-day meet.

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