Ganjia Rice: From Brahmaputra shoals to cities

A rare paddy variety, which is cultivated in the remote shoals of  Brahmaputra basin under Kurigram district, is slowly but surely making its marks in the country's rice market.

Grains from this indigenous paddy -- Ganjia -- are smooth and red in colour, and the rice cooked from it is highly nutritious. As such, health-conscious people are gradually opting to consume Ganjia rice, thereby leading to higher demand for it in city areas, including Dhaka.

Earlier, farmers used to produce this paddy variety on a subsistence basis, cultivating it for their own consumption and for people in nearby areas. Owing to the growing demand, farmers from around 100 shoals under Kurigram's Chilmari, Roumari and Rajibpur upazilas are cultivating this paddy variety.

Local rice traders buy the paddy wholesale from haats (markets) in shoal areas and send it to rice traders in the cities.

At present, Ganjia paddy is being cultivated on 500-600 hectares of land in shoal areas under the three upazilas, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension in Kurigram.

This paddy variety, cultivated in Aman season between December and February, has a low yield of around 7-8 maunds per bigha of land, compared to 14-15 maunds per bigha in case of other varieties.

"We grow this paddy on shoal land where silt accumulates after floods. It used to be a rather neglected variety. However, it does not cost much to produce Ganjia paddy, as it requires no irrigation or fertiliser. No diseases attack the paddy sapling so it does not require pesticides either," said Nuruzzaman Sheikh, a 65-year-old farmer of Char Shakhahati in Chilmari.

"We buy each maund of Ganjia paddy for Tk 1,150-1,200 from farmers at haats in shoals. It costs Tk 50-60 to transport each maund from the shoals. We sell each maund at Tk 1,300-1,350 to traders in Dhaka and other places. Usually, each maund of this variety produces around 25-26 kilogrammes of rice at a cost of Tk 55 per kilo, while other varieties produce 28-29kg," said Mokaddam Ali, a paddy trader in Chilmari's Jorgachh Char.

Nahid Hasan, a teacher and columnist from Chilmari, said, "At present, almost all Ganjia paddy produced in our area are going to the cities due to higher demand."

Contacted, Biplab Kumar Mohanta, deputy director of DAE in Kurigram, said "Ganjia paddy is an indigenous variety from the shoal areas, not developed by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute."

"For ages, farmers have been traditionally producing it only on Brahmaputra River shoals. They also maintain their own reserve of the paddy seeds. As the rice produced from this paddy is smooth, nutritious and red in colour, its demand is increasing among city dwellers," he said.

No research has been conducted by DAE on Ganjia paddy yet, he added.