Soon, rice that is ready to eat

Did you know that there exists a type of rice which can be eaten without cooking? The soft variety of rice, grown in Assam and some other north-eastern states, can be eaten by just soaking it in plain water for 45 minutes. If lukewarm water is used, the rice needs to be soaked for 15 minutes. This is a low-yielding crop, which requires cool climate for its growth.

Scientists at the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Cuttack have come up with a new soft rice variant, which grows in Orissa, even though the temperature as well as humidity levels are high.

“We wanted to see whether the same rice can be grown here and retain the same properties. We saw it behaves the same way. Simply soak it in water and the rice is ready to eat but the quality of water has to be clean and potable. The idea is to avoid any waterborne disease,” said Tapan Kumar Adhya, director, CRRI.