Tough to identify seven fine rice varieties that are eligible for bonus

Sangareddy Agriculture department officials are preparing to deploy trained specialists to identify seven paddy varieties eligible for bonus during Vanakalam procurement. The varieties closely resemble more than 30 others, making identification difficult at the district’s 31 procurement centres

Sangareddy: Agriculture department officials preparing for the procurement of Vanakalam paddy are likely to face a tough time identifying the seven fine rice varieties eligible for a bonus this year. As the bonus has been restricted to seven varieties this year, against nearly 40 varieties last year, officials are preparing to rope in qualified personnel, including agriculture and BSc graduates, to identify the varieties at procurement centres.

The selected candidates will be given proper training before being appointed at the procurement centres. However, identifying the varieties remains a challenge as they closely resemble one another in length and width.

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Speaking to Telangana Today, District Agriculture Officer (DAO), Sangareddy, K Shiva Prasad said farmers had cultivated ‘sannalu’ on 22,000 acres in Sangareddy district this year. He said the department would procure ‘sannalu’ at 31 procurement centres by appointing specialists to identify the rice varieties.

The seven ‘sannalu’ varieties eligible for the bonus are BPT-5204, HMT Sona, Jai Sriram, KNM 1638, KNM 7715, RNR 15048 and WGL 44. However, more than 30 other varieties also resemble them in size.

Meanwhile, officials would also check crop-booking details to determine the varieties cultivated by each farmer, apart from checking seed-sale data maintained by dealers. However, farmers said the size of the grains varied slightly from field to field, which could make identifying the seven eligible varieties difficult.