ARRI developing high yielding aromatic Joha

Titabar: A rice research institute here celebrating its centenary year is working towards developing a high-yielding premium quality version of Assam’s famed aromatic Joha to add to its avant garde collection that includes among others a diabetic-friendly purple rice variety. The Assam Rice Research Institute (ARRI), about 20 km away from Jorhat, began as a rice experimental station in 1923 to cater to the issues faced by farmers from the Brahmaputra valley of the State. The institute, which has played a key role in increasing production and productivity of rice in the State since its inception, came under the administrative control of Assam Agricultural University (AAU) in 1969 as Rice Research Station. On January 27 this year, the station was re-designated as Assam Agricultural University-Assam Rice Research Institute (AAU-ARRI). AAU-ARRI chief scientist Sanjay Kumar Chetia said the institute is now focused on need-based agriculture. “That is the reason ARRI now does market survey, invites stakeholders like farmers, retailers, wholesalers, millers and companies for information on what aspect it should focus its research. For instance, ARRI is now focusing its research on development of climate-smart cultivars such as drought tolerant, biotic and abiotic stress tolerant, anaerobic germination tolerant cultivars for direct-seeded rice,” Chetia told PTI.