Kala Namak Paddy

In Context

• With a massive push to the production and branding of Siddhartha Nagars famous Kala Namak rice, the area under the rice cultivation has gone up from 2,805 hectare in 2019 to 5,000 hectare in 2020.

About Kala Namak Paddy

• Kalanamak is traditionally grown using no fertiliser, herbicide and pesticide, which makes it suitable for organic cultivation.
• It’s a successful adapter to usar soils characterised by higher salt concentration and high Ph.
• It is also highly resistant to notorious common rice diseases such as panicle blast, stem rot and brown spot. 
• It is drought tolerant and normally grown under rain-fed conditions. 
  • The water requirement is quite low as compared to basmati.
• It is grown in the Terai belt of Uttar Pradesh bordering Nepal, which comprises districts of Siddharthnagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Basti, Gonda and Gorakhpur etc.
• It is also known as ‘Buddha ka Mahaprasad’ (an offering to Lord Buddha) .
  • It has been rebranded as ‘Buddha Rice‘, presenting it as an offering made to the Buddhist monks, in order to promote it in Buddhist countries. 

• Various efforts: 
  • The Government of Uttar Pradesh is promoting Kala Namak rice under One District One Product (ODOP) and has sanctioned a project of Rs. 12.00 crore for promotion of Kala Namak rice.
  • The Government of India, through Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), has taken various initiatives to promote Kala Namak rice .

• The State Governments can also promote cultivation of Kala Namak rice under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana –Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture & Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY- RAFTAAR) with the approval of the State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) constituted under the chairmanship of the chief secretary of the State.

Source:PIB