New Basmati Varieties

About:

• Three of the five varieties can resist two common diseases of paddy.
  • Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) and blast (leaf and collar) diseases caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

New Varieties:

• New varieties are
  • Pusa Basmati 1847,
  • Pusa Basmati 1885 and
  • Pusa Basmati 1886.
• All these varieties have two genes to resist BLB and two genes to resist blast disease.
• The other two can save 35% of the water now required as the seeds can be directly sown, obviating the need for transplanting seedlings.
• These two seeds are resistant to herbicides too, helping the farmers control weeds more efficiently.
• In the next three years, all of the five seeds will have the combined qualities of disease and herbicide resistance.

Basmati rice:

• India is known for its Basmati rice, with the produce from seven States — Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — earmarked for Geographical Indication.
• Basmati, known for its mouthfeel, aroma, length of the grain when cooked and taste, has a market abroad and brings about ₹30,000 crore in foreign exchange every year.
• While 75% of the export is to West Asian countries, European Union countries also import Indian Basmati.
• However, recently, the export to EU countries faced certain hurdles due to the increase in the pesticide residue levels in the rice from India.
• Pesticides and fungicides used against these diseases increased the residue levels permitted in developed countries.