Odisha, INDIA (15 May 2023)- In collaboration with the Government of Odisha, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) launched a participatory study on the cooking characteristics and sensory attributes of rice varieties on 10 May 2023 in Bargarh. The activity aims to help the participants assess the taste, texture, aroma, and appearance of rice varieties.
A total of 56 participants attended the cooking quality test, including men and women farmers from Odisha, local government members, village heads, district and Agriculture District Officer, Bargarh, Bijay Kumar Pattnayak; Deputy Project Director, Agriculture Technology Management Agency, Rabinarayan Senapati, and Assistant Agriculture Officer, Ms. Jyotsnamayee.
In 2022, IRRI conducted varietal cafeterias and on-farm trials to evaluate and validate the performance of a large number of newly released rice varieties through the National Breeding Program. Several varieties (25–30 novel products) were subjected to a thorough participatory evaluation and measurement in order to generate performance-based rankings. These classifications were based on the yield, yield-related parameters, and other observable characteristics of the rice plant.
To advance the result of the on-farm trials, the IRRI Seed System team, led by Dr. Swati Nayak, Mosharaf Hossain, and Dillip Kumar Rout, conceptualized a “new” experiment to assess various rice characteristics that define overall cooking quality, such as overall flavor, stickiness, elongation, water absorption, cooking time, aroma, and texture.
These are the characteristics, which cannot be measured or evaluated on-farm, require a more thorough evaluation following the harvesting and milling of cereals because they are essential for farm households to determine whether or not to adopt a variety and use it for their own consumption or for sale.
Several characteristics have the potential to generate “perception” barriers among farmers, including women in agricultural households because cooking quality-related characteristics can be influenced by…