Background note

The advances in rice science have developed several varieties targeting to improve the livelihood and food security of millions of farmers globally. The breeding programs usually assess the market and consider traits preferred by the rice value chain actors for the design and implementation of the breeding program to develop a superior variety.

The intricate interplay of several key traits of variety is critical for its adoption and diffusion in a target region. Contrary to general perception, yield is not the stand-alone trait (even though critical) that decides adoption. Notably, rice growers in general contemplate varietal traits differently when the goal of production is for market, home consumption or both. Yield contributing factors in a variety are mostly considered for commercial purposes of rice production. However, for rice to be consumed at home and for selling in a consumer-driven market, the quality aspect is central to the varietal selection and uptake in scale.

In India, the government procures about 45% of rice produced every year at a Minimum Support Price (MSP). A major share of this MSP-procured rice is channelized through the Public Distribution System (PDS) to use for highly subsidized food for the poorer section of the people. The basic cooking quality is not a major factor there. However, when rice is sold in the open market or consumed at home, cooking qualities, inter alia, are vital.

Unfortunately, the conventional seed extension approaches largely rest on yield-centric benefits to evaluate and promote a new variety. The scaling pathway of a variety largely follows the yield advantages over the other popularly grown varieties. The marketability of the grain is also a major factor that influences the adoption and advancement. However, the attributes contributing to cooking quality are not adequately studied at the consumers’ and producers’ levels.

Why does cooking quality matter?

The increasingly conscious rice consumers assess the minimum cooking traits before making the purchase decision. Farmer-consumers are also sensitive to cooking qualities. Stickiness, elongation, texture, water uptake, boiling time, softness and overall palatability are the key traits that decide if variety is fit for consumption and can also be sold in the market for a better price. The varietal assessment of these parameters will provide intelligence for the varietal development strategy and strengthen the variety positioning approach. When a variety proved to be a good yielder but performs poorly on a sensory evaluation, or possesses an excellent palatability score but yield-wise is not a preferred option, such insights will strengthen the varietal development research that is more market-oriented and consumer-centric. In this whole process, much of the gain will reach farmers.

The community-led sensory evaluation

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in South Asia has an integrated and robust seed system model where newly released varieties are evaluated in on-farm trials (OFT) and different seed chain stakeholders assess, select and recommend best-evaluated varieties for rapid seed scaling. This intensive evaluation exercise rigorously measures and compares several performance indicators — yield and yield contributing factors.

The other important part of this whole exercise is also to understand how the tested varieties fare in terms of consumer-demanded tastes and palatability. Even though these sensory experiments can be conducted in laboratories, the participatory evaluation in a real setting by the growers and consumers assumes a different significance. The observations, comparisons and conclusions about different varieties become more pragmatic, participatory and, therefore, acceptable.

IRRI is implementing several rice-based initiatives in Odisha where rice is consumed at least twice a day. Bargarh — a major rice-growing district — was chosen for the evaluation of some new and potential varieties. A group of IRRI-trained women of Maa Kaveri Women Self-Help Group from Ainlapli Village managed the trial and, upon the crop maturity, they had a detailed evaluative exercise including a cooking quality assessment. The other stakeholders — departmental officers, rice traders, millers, representatives from the community-based organization and general people — actively participated in this unique rice-on-plate evaluation event. Such a community-led palatability test is often missing in traditional varietal evaluation.

About the event

A group of 15 women harvested the rice from trial plots after those are phenotypically ranked. They cleaned, dried and then milled the rice from the commonly used facility in their village. The milled rice of different varieties was properly labeled and used for the sensory evaluation. On May 10, they used the conventional clay-made local cauldron. They cooked the rice following the home-practiced steps and process. The other stakeholders, including officers from district agriculture officers, and representatives from rice traders who have a decisive say in the local rice market were also present in this one-of-its-kind program. Participants, especially the key evaluators, were briefed about the process and purposes of such an event.

The cooked rice was served to all evaluators and different varieties were ranked based on the above-mentioned sensory evaluation traits. It was a very well-curated evaluative experiment where all the evaluators closely observed, assessed, compared and gave perception ratings using an assessment template. Following the experiment, IRRI also conducted an interface among male and female farmers, officials and other key stakeholders, where the rice business aspect and varietal options from IRRI-conducted trials were discussed.

Community-led cooking and evaluation of different trialed varieties.

The results

The results were surprising and insightful in many ways. The variety rated high for yield was Swarna Samriddhi, but taste-wise, DRR dhan 48 was best ranked on a five-point scale. The potential yield of DRR dhan 48 is, however, not in consonance with its ability to meet cooking quality attributes. Anjali, DRR dhan 47, Zinco rice MS and Tripura Chikan also scored well in the sensory evaluation, but failed to promise a good yield to the farmers. Uttarsona and NLR 3354 are the only two varieties evaluated best for yield as well as cooking quality. Thus, these two varieties should upstream the seed chain for large-scale adoption and promotion. Nonsticky, firm, medium slender-grained rice is most preferred in this region. Because of good cooking traits, the market acceptance will also be high, leading to better returns for the farmers. Since the assessed varieties were grown in the same areas, milled following a uniform process and cooked in the same method, the score difference can largely be ascribed to the variety itself. There were about 40 assessors drawn from diverse groups who rated the varieties and, thus, the average score is a good indicator of the evaluated sensory traits.

Agricultural development officer, Mr. Bijay Kumar Pattnayak; district project lead Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA), Mr. Rabinarayan Senapati; and assistant agricultural officer, Ms. Jyotsnamayee, attended this event. This is a community-friendly and interesting approach to knowing more about the rice qualities of importance, commented Mr. Bijay Kumar Pattnayak.

Mr. Sudam Sahu — an agricultural innovator in the district — was impressed by this experimental approach. “There is no better and more practical way than this to measure the utility of a variety in terms of its sensory score,” he said.

How does it help the stakeholders?

The local rice traders who operate in mandi (agriculture marketplace) will benefit from the findings of this experiment, specifically for starting trades with new varieties. They are usually oblivious to trait information of newly trailed varieties.

Besides, seed growers (formal and informal actors) are supposed to be getting the advantage. When a variety is rated well for both its yield and cooking qualities, the demand for such varieties will surge, translating to a larger demand for seeds. Thus, seed growers can plan the production and marketing plan for these varieties wisely and precisely.

This again serves as a good intelligence platform, where rice breeders may pick vital clues to restrategize their breeding efforts for producing the best varieties of all preferred qualities.

What is the next step?

These experiments make the IRRI’s seed scaling program well-founded and rationally directed. IRRI will execute the seed amplification program for these best varieties. The seed production will be facilitated through institutional linkages for early-generation seeds. The large-scale cluster demonstration for these top-rated varieties will also be organized through the farming community for rapid information dissemination and a fast-paced diffusion of the variety.

Such experimental innovation will continue with different varieties of trials undertaken in other states and countries. IRRI will also advocate the extension of arms in the national system to contextualize and integrate such sensory evaluation in varietal trialing programs.

The grassroots-level organizations will also be supported to organize such multilocational trials to generate location-specific, best-fit varieties.