India used to grow, and consume, thousands of varieties of rice. Some were thin and long-grained, others came in shades of red, black and brown. In West Bengal, where a meal is still incomplete without rice there are still specific varieties associated with certain occasions. For celebrations and religious offerings, they use aromatic varieties like Gobindobhog, Radhatilak or Kaminibhog. Thinner varieties like Chamarmani, Dudheshwar, and Sitashal are meant for guests. And red varieties like Hetumari, high in anthocyanin, were the daily staple.
The Green Revolution of the 1970s and ’80s, with its focus on high yields, changed things. The types of rice you can name are the ones that were promoted, many of them hardy, high output hybrids.
Now, a group that calls themselves FIAM (Forum for Indigenous Agricultural Movement) — made up of school teachers, professors and doctors mostly in their 30s and 40s — is trying to revive the grains we nearly lost on the path to self-dependence.
It started a decade ago when schoolteacher Chinmoy Das and a group of friends began talking about organic farming. By 2013, FIAM had collected information on 10 such varieties grown in the plains of West Bengal. They pooled resources and leased a one-hectare plot, on which they sowed flood-resistant and aromatic Gochi, Kalojira, Chyanga, Malshira, Khasha, Josho, and Banshphul. They began meeting with local farmers to discuss interest in indigenous rice varieties, and some farmers began to grow these on parts of their land too. Now, 70 farmers across 20 villages cultivate indigenous rice varieties over 13 hectares of land.
