A farmer from Dhamtari working to save a breed of brinjal, ‘Niranjan Bhata’ also received a cash reward of Rs 1.50 lakh
A woman self-help group (SHG) from Patan block in Durg district was awarded with ‘plant genome saviour award’ -which includes cash reward of Rs 10 lakh- for saving and augmenting rare rice type found in the state.
The SHG working under Indira Gandhi Agriculture University (IGAU), Agriculture Science Centre Durg received the award from the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in a programme held at New Delhi, officials informed.
Likewise, Leelaram Sahu a farmer from Dhamtari working to save a breed of brinjal, ‘Niranjan Bhata’ developed under the direction of Agriculture Science Centre Dhamtari also received cash reward of Rs 1.50 lakh, officials said.
Notably, this award is given by Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority, which is a body working under Union Agriculture Ministry.
“The women SHG from Achanakpur village not only saved the germplasm for rare rice species like green rice, black rice and Karhani paddy but also disseminated it to ten states of the India thereby playing a key role in its expansion,” Public Relation Officer IGAU Sanjay Nayyar said.
Karhani paddy is a rare variety of rice, which is very useful for diabetic patients and also contains iron, zinc and other medicinal values, Nayyar said.