One among the top paddy breeding centres in the entire Asia, the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) here will complete 90 years of contributing significantly to the country’s food security on Saturday.
Started during the British era, the rice research centre has so far brought out 60 unique rice varieties and these include the first high-yielding hybrid derivative variety rice of Southeast Asia named Annapoorna.
The research institution, which brought out high-yielding Supriya and Akashaya rice varieties during last month, has now resolved to dedicate the coming 10 years for developing rice varieties which can withstand challenges of climate change.
“The coming 10 years till the RARS celebrating its centenary will witness a research series titled Annam Aishwaryam. We are committed to developing varieties which can ensure high yield even while resisting all common diseases. Because of the decreasing water level in rivers and ponds along with the scarcity of rain, our focus is on rice varieties which can grow in backwater and Kole Wetlands resisting salinity of water,” said M.C. Narayanan Kutti, associate director of the station.
Minister to inaugurate
Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar will inaugurate the Navathi celebrations of the centre on Saturday in the presence of a number of rice experts from across India. The Navathi is being observed at a time when the State government is considering a proposal to convert RARS as a Centre of Excellence in rice research and seed generation activities.
Other than developing new varieties, the centre was able to preserve 34 traditional rice varieties.
“Our attempt is to increase rice production in the State by providing timely and authentic expert guidance to farmers. Paddy cultivation is in a sharp decline all over the State and the traditional rice bowls of Palakkad and Kuttanad are no exception,” said Mr. Narayanan Kutti.
During the next 10 years, it aims at developing seeds that can generate 10 tonnes of rice in an acre of land. It has also plans to train farmers in cost-effective rice cultivation in eco-friendly and pesticide-free methods. As Kerala produces hardly 14% of its total requirement of rice, the research centre is aiming at doubling the production.