DC inaugurates two day desi rice mela, urges preservation

Mysuru, NT Bureau: Deputy Commissioner Dr K V Rajendra on Saturday highlighted the role of both farmers and consumers is must for conservation, preservation of various desi indigenous varieties of rice, including varieties of paddy that are tottering in the brink of distinction.

He was speaking at the two day Desi rice mela organized to showcase a variety of indigenous rice organized jointly by Sahaja Samrudha in collaboration with Rebuild India Fund and Save Our Rice Campaign held at Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry in the city.

He said that the nation which was rich in agricultural diversity, has different food culture, the farmers of the country preserved and conserved thousands of varieties of rice, paddy varieties from time immemorial.

India which was home to over lakh rice varieties but now about 30,000 varieties of rice are available according to our food culture. There is an urgent need to preserve these rice varieties for our future generations, he said.