Preserving The Aroma of Topola Bhaat

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Farmers of Assam cultivate around 2,000 varieties of traditional rice.

Guwahati, Jul 29 : The state government, in association with the Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Jorhat, has sought to protect and preserve its wide variety of traditional rice, and two of these are on the verge of being recognised as registered farmers’ varieties.

“Assam and the entire Northeast have an unbelievable number of rice varieties, most of which are yet to be studied scientifically and classified,” said Dr Birendra Kumar Sarma, a former scientist of the ICAR, whose pioneering work, Rice Diversity of North East India, has won acclaim among the scientific community.

According to Sarma, there should be anywhere between 3,000 and 3,500 varieties of rice or paddy in the Northeast, with a World Bank-sponsored National Agricultural Technology Project listing about 2,000 varieties in Assam alone.

Two of the traditional varieties of rice, awaiting registration from the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), incidentally, are exclusively grown by the Singpho tribe of Tinsukia district in Upper Assam. “It is very important to register the traditional varieties that have been cultivated by different ethnic groups and have been part of their culture and tradition,” said Dr Pranab Talukdar, a professor of plant breeding and genetics at the AAU. Talukdar, who heads a team of scientists studying the rice varieties, said the Krishi Vigyan Kendras in each district in Assam have been asked to find out the number of farmers’ variety rice and also the area under cultivation.

The two varieties, Khawlung and Miaotong, are used exclusively for making topola bhaat — rice boiled while packed in plantain, koupaat and other leaves — by the Singpho community. It is a delicacy prepared from purely organic and aromatic glutinous type of traditional fine rice varieties such as Miaotong and Khawlung. Topola bhaat has become quite popular among the tourists and is a big hit during the traditional Patkai Festival and Pangsau Pass Festival organised in Margherita in Assam and Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh.

“Once the NBPGR issues the registration certificate, the Singpho community will enjoy the exclusive rights for commercial production as well as cultural promotion of the two varieties, which, in turn, will also bring economic benefits to the small community,” Talukdar said.

While several ethnic communities in Assam and the Northeast prepare topola bhaat, the aromatic topola bhaat of these two Singpho varieties remain fresh for up to three days after being cooked.

Distant cousins of the Jingpo community of the Yunan province of China and Jingpaw tribe of Myanmar, the Singphos are credited to have grown and brewed tea since time immemorial in Assam.

“It is very important that we protect and preserve our traditional rice varieties. We have requested the AAU to expedite the process so that most of these traditional varieties, several of which are already endangered, are not wiped out. This will not only help save the varieties, but also bring good economic returns to the people,” said Assam Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka.