SILCHAR, Dec 19 - Even as black rice is still fairly rare in the country, it is steadily gaining popularity mainly because of its high nutrition value, unique texture and intriguing nutty flavor. Officials of the Cachar District Agriculture Office have made an attempt to encourage local farmers and sown the crop for the first time in Barak Valley.
Ranjit Sarkar, Senior Agriculture Development Officer of the district said that they made an experimental attempt this year to sow black rice which has been given a name RAL across half bigha land of a progressive farmer Firdous Ahmed Laskar Lipu, a farmer from South Saidpur under Sonai constituency which is a smart village in the district. �The cropping is done through Systemic Rice Intensification Process which yielded three quintals of rice. We are hopeful that black rice shall become popular among the farmers in the coming days,� Sarkar said.
Meanwhile, Firdous Ahmed Laskar Lipu said �When we started, I was sceptic about the cropping but now with the manner in which the production was carried out I am happy and hopeful about the prospects.�
On the other hand, JH Choudhury, the Cachar District Agriculture Officer was found very optimistic regarding the new initiative. �It is regarded as world super food. The rice is also known as purple rice when cooked. It has a nutty taste and carries high nutrition value. We hope that harvesting of the crop gains popularity among farmers in the coming days,� Choudhury said. It may be mentioned that black rice harvesting recently came to the limelight after an impressive production was done by a farmer from Goalpara district.
