Agrobiodiversity in Northeast India: A Review …
123
4.2 Dorgakona Village in Barak Valley of Cachar District,
NorthEast India
The study on the on-farm conservation of rice diversity in traditional rice farming
practise of the tea garden labour communities in Dorgakona village of Barak Valley,
Assam was carried out by Das and Das (2006, 2014). Rice is traditionally grown in
the study area in three well defined seasons. A total of 25 rice varieties cultivated
in the three cropping seasons were recorded in the area of which 12 are traditional
varieties covering an area of 15.47 ha, which is more than 50% of the total area.
Sali is the most important cropping season in the area and a larger number of rice
varieties (20) are cultivated in this season of which 10 are traditional varieties. The
large diversity of rice is managed by the farmers as an adaptive strategy to cope with
heterogeneous and uncertain ecological and socio-economic environments, including different soil types (Das and Das 2004). The relative importance value for rice
varieties in the Sali cropping season (Fig. 2) shows that the Chhatoki variety which
is a traditional rice variety dominate the rice area. Of the other traditional varieties
Chhoeamara occupies the second position. These two varieties are highly preferred
because of their stress tolerant and eating quality. Farmers cultivating modern varieties were also found to cultivate a traditional variety to spread the risk of crop failure,
which was reported by farmers to be often associated with the high yielding varieties.
The diversity of traditional varieties is still maintained by the farmers because of
their agromorphological characteristics and traditional ecological knowledge base
(Table 1).
Traditional varieties such as Chhatoki, Chhoeamara and Khoibaruah have red
kernel and are highly preferred because of their rich taste and high nutrition content
(Fig. 3). Varieties such as Birain and Pakhi Birain are used in the preparation of rice
flakes, while Chhoeamara is used for preparation of puffed rice. Certain varieties such
Fig. 2 Relative importance
of rice varieties in
Dorgakona village of Barak
Valley, Assam, northeast
India. 1 Chhatoki, 2
Nagrasail, 3 Chhoeamara, 4
Badaal, 5 Ranjit, 6 Latoi, 7
Terabali, 8 Ikorjali, 9 Irri, 10
Birain. Others Kartika,
Pankaj, Moinahaal, Krishna,
Baigon Bichi, Kaalijira,
Balam, Ranjit, Aizong, Pakhi
Biroen
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
18
0
2 0
4 0
6 0
% Land area
% Farmers
123
4.2 Dorgakona Village in Barak Valley of Cachar District,
NorthEast India
The study on the on-farm conservation of rice diversity in traditional rice farming
practise of the tea garden labour communities in Dorgakona village of Barak Valley,
Assam was carried out by Das and Das (2006, 2014). Rice is traditionally grown in
the study area in three well defined seasons. A total of 25 rice varieties cultivated
in the three cropping seasons were recorded in the area of which 12 are traditional
varieties covering an area of 15.47 ha, which is more than 50% of the total area.
Sali is the most important cropping season in the area and a larger number of rice
varieties (20) are cultivated in this season of which 10 are traditional varieties. The
large diversity of rice is managed by the farmers as an adaptive strategy to cope with
heterogeneous and uncertain ecological and socio-economic environments, including different soil types (Das and Das 2004). The relative importance value for rice
varieties in the Sali cropping season (Fig. 2) shows that the Chhatoki variety which
is a traditional rice variety dominate the rice area. Of the other traditional varieties
Chhoeamara occupies the second position. These two varieties are highly preferred
because of their stress tolerant and eating quality. Farmers cultivating modern varieties were also found to cultivate a traditional variety to spread the risk of crop failure,
which was reported by farmers to be often associated with the high yielding varieties.
The diversity of traditional varieties is still maintained by the farmers because of
their agromorphological characteristics and traditional ecological knowledge base
(Table 1).
Traditional varieties such as Chhatoki, Chhoeamara and Khoibaruah have red
kernel and are highly preferred because of their rich taste and high nutrition content
(Fig. 3). Varieties such as Birain and Pakhi Birain are used in the preparation of rice
flakes, while Chhoeamara is used for preparation of puffed rice. Certain varieties such
Fig. 2 Relative importance
of rice varieties in
Dorgakona village of Barak
Valley, Assam, northeast
India. 1 Chhatoki, 2
Nagrasail, 3 Chhoeamara, 4
Badaal, 5 Ranjit, 6 Latoi, 7
Terabali, 8 Ikorjali, 9 Irri, 10
Birain. Others Kartika,
Pankaj, Moinahaal, Krishna,
Baigon Bichi, Kaalijira,
Balam, Ranjit, Aizong, Pakhi
Biroen
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
18
0
2 0
4 0
6 0
% Land area
% Farmers