its from timesofindia....
Basmati rice losing fragrance?
Global Warming Affecting Its Size Too, Say Scientists
A small experiment by Indian agriculture scientists point to the enormous effect global warming could have on the fragrant basmati rice. Basmati, Sanskrit for the fragrant one, may lose not just its aroma but the famously long grains may get shorter, scientists claim.
H Pathak, principal investigator of Indian Agricultural Research Institute's Climate Change Challenge Programme, told TOI that the Tarawari basmati grown in the institute's research fields in Delhi did not grow long enough and wasn't as fragrant as they should have been when cooked.
He said global warming may be to blame for the disappointing basmati produced in the 2006-2007 experiment. Temperatures that year crossed 26 degree Celsius in September when basmati begins to flower and, 15 to 20 days later, when the grain begins to fill out, because of which a shrivelling of the grain was seen.
The extra heat, he said, prevented the food stored by the crop from travelling to the grain. Consequently, it failed to grow to the right length. The heat also destroyed fatty acids stored in the grain, a key requirement for basmati to give off its distinctive fragrance when cooked.
No studies have been done in the field so far but if true, global warming may have enormous implications for India's prized rice crop.
But Dalel Singh, who heads Haryana Agricultural University's Rice Research Station at Kaul, says his scientists have not observed the phenomenon.
Pathak explains this away as only a matter of time and the simple fact that a Tarawari basmati crop will only be affected in a year when temperatures cross 26 degrees Celsius. The IARI experiment grew Tarawari basmati, which is farmed in Haryana and western UP.
Pathak says temperatures in the 700 acres that make up the IARI campus in the heart of Delhi are similar to those in Haryana and western UP and therefore, what the scientists saw at IARI will be replicated in Tarawari basmati-growing areas.
Pathak says the best solution would be to bring planting dates forward, so that high temperatures in September don't affect the crop.
H Pathak, principal investigator of Indian Agricultural Research Institute's Climate Change Challenge Programme, told TOI that the Tarawari basmati grown in the institute's research fields in Delhi did not grow long enough and wasn't as fragrant as they should have been when cooked.
He said global warming may be to blame for the disappointing basmati produced in the 2006-2007 experiment. Temperatures that year crossed 26 degree Celsius in September when basmati begins to flower and, 15 to 20 days later, when the grain begins to fill out, because of which a shrivelling of the grain was seen.
The extra heat, he said, prevented the food stored by the crop from travelling to the grain. Consequently, it failed to grow to the right length. The heat also destroyed fatty acids stored in the grain, a key requirement for basmati to give off its distinctive fragrance when cooked.
No studies have been done in the field so far but if true, global warming may have enormous implications for India's prized rice crop.
But Dalel Singh, who heads Haryana Agricultural University's Rice Research Station at Kaul, says his scientists have not observed the phenomenon.
Pathak explains this away as only a matter of time and the simple fact that a Tarawari basmati crop will only be affected in a year when temperatures cross 26 degrees Celsius. The IARI experiment grew Tarawari basmati, which is farmed in Haryana and western UP.
Pathak says temperatures in the 700 acres that make up the IARI campus in the heart of Delhi are similar to those in Haryana and western UP and therefore, what the scientists saw at IARI will be replicated in Tarawari basmati-growing areas.
Pathak says the best solution would be to bring planting dates forward, so that high temperatures in September don't affect the crop.
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