Dr. T Mubarak and Dr. N R Sofi
Mushke budji, a premium short and bold local land-race of rice of Kashmir valley is very famous for aroma and good cooking qualities in Jammu & Kashmir and beyond. After a legal procedure going on for the past few years Mushk Budji finally gets Geographical Indication (GI) tag. GI tag indicates unique traits of a product and it’s belonging to a specific geographical location or territory. This indeed will go a long way in benefiting the farming community and facilitate its marketing in national and international markets.
The Sagam Mushq budji Farmer Producer Company Limited located at Tangpawa, Sagamin district Anantnag is slowly excelling in production, processing, branding and marketing of this local land-race of rice. GI tagging will now help in preventing duplication and giving prominence to Mushk budji both in national and international markets besides encouraging area expansion under similar ecologies in Kashmir Valley.
It is in place to mention that from the past few years Mushk budji farmers not only earned good returns but also got national recognition by winning the prestigious ‘ Plant Genome Savior Community Award’ in 2016 from Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right Authority, a statutory body under the Ministry of Agriculture. These achievements signify the worth of collective efforts of agencies like SKUAST-Kashmir, Department of Agriculture, NARARD and the farming community. Each one of these played significant role in achieving the milestone.
Mountain Research Center for Field Crops (MRCFC), SKUAST-Kashmir played an important role in the promotion of niche crop through revival programme and facilitating in the process of getting national recognition, including ‘Plant Genome Savior Community Award’ and GI tagging. Mushk budji actually was on the verge of extinction and was pushed to few pockets of the valley because of susceptibility to blast disease. Besides, non-uniformity of the produce, lack of quality seed, poor yield potential due to mixing of strains and also due to area expansion under high yielding paddy varieties led to shrinking of acreage under it.
In this background an initiative was undertaken by MRCFC, SKUAST-Kashmir for revival of Mushk budji and another land-race of rice known as Kamad. The programme focused on the genetic purification and development of package of practices especially IDM module to tackle the problem of blast disease plus popularization through participatory mode involving all stakeholders. This revival programme started way back in 2007 with the survey of niche areas were these strains could be traced out through different sources.
Some villages in district Anantnag, Budgam and Kulgam known to be the niche area for cultivation of these land-races were selected for survey. A team of scientists from MRCFC, SKUAST-Kashmir collected 350 samples of these two races and categorised samples in four classes based on main trait of aroma i.e., a) no aroma, b) low aroma c) moderate aroma and d) Strong aroma. Five identified promising lines, three of Mushk budji and two of Kamad with strong aroma were then selected out of 350 samples and studied for traits other than aroma. Finally two strains, one each of Mushk budji (Mushkbudji-11) and Kamad (Kamad-7) with a yield potential of around 5tonnes per hectare were identified as best out of lot.
These strains were then put to different studies for development of comprehensive package of practice especially with regard to the IDM module for the management of blast disease. Under the revival programme Sagam and adjoining villages were identified in district Anantnag for demonstration on purified Mushk budji and Kamad rice in year 2013. In the process of popularizing variety among farmers in mid belts of district Anantnag an excellent example of coordination between SKUAST-Kashmir, department of agriculture and the farming community could be seen. This process of refinement and revival in niche area promoted muske budji farming and this local land-race received attention of research, policy and farmers.
At present, out of the 280 hectare around 90% area under Mushk budji (252 ha) is concentrated at Sagam and adjoining villages in the south Kashmir’s Anantang district. The GI tag will hopefully help in materializing the area expansion targets for Mushk budji under HADP project on “promotion of niche crops”. The success of Mushk budji in Anantnag led to a variety testing programme in non-traditional area under similar ecologies in other districts of valley involving Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
During the investigation in district Kulgam, it was observed that productivity of these varieties was almost at par with the existing varieties grown in the mid belt, but returns were reasonably high owing to high market price for milled rice. Since Mushk budji is highly susceptible to blast disease, farmers in the lower plainscan’t grow it as the microclimate in plains is congenial for outbreak of disease.
Efforts of scientists at MRCFC-SKUAST-Kashmir have made it possible to transfer blast resistance genes into the existing strain and a resistant version of Mushk budji has been developed by the center with the name Shalimar rice-6.The variety is being tested at multiple locations for yield response and quality parameters.
Like Mushkabudji, Kamad and zag (red rice) are also famous local land-races of rice in Kashmir. Zag is known for its nutritional value especially for high Iron & Zinc content. It is also reported to be rich source of important vitamins, fiber and anti-oxidants and believed to be quite beneficial in heart problems, bone health, obesity, diabetes, constipation and so on.
Owing to this there is now a good demand for these varieties. Gomal and adjoining areas of Tangdar in district Kupwara are considered niche for Zag rice cultivation.Like Mushk budji, GI tagging of Kamad which is also an aromatic local land-race of rice and zag(red rice) will definitely help in promotion of these crops in the valley.
(Dr. T Mubarak is Chief Scientist Agronomy (MRCFC)-SKUAST-Kashmir and Dr. N.R. Sofi is Associate Director Research (MRCFC)-SKUAST-Kashmir)
