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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | India's water crisis: Limited irrigation, scarcity of water threatens cultivation of Dehradun's prized basmati rice -Kamal Bhargava and Namrata Gulati Sapra

India's water crisis: Limited irrigation, scarcity of water threatens cultivation of Dehradun's prized basmati rice -Kamal Bhargava and Namrata Gulati Sapra

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published Published on Jul 21, 2018   modified Modified on Jul 21, 2018
-Firstpost.com

Dehradun: The state of Uttarakhand, famous for its temples, lush green natural beauty, and the prized Dehradun basmati rice, is in danger of losing the last due to water scarcity in the state. Known for its aroma and length of grains, this variety of rice is grown in Dehradun, Nainital, Pithoragarh, Bhimtal and other parts of the state and is famous all across the world.

Lokesh Kumar Verma, a farmer in Nainital district, says that to people in the state, Dehradun basmati is more than just a crop — it is a part of the state's heritage. But now, farmers are shifting away from its cultivation due to unavailability of water to irrigate the fields.

"We have stopped growing this rice because it was unable to retain the original aroma due to water scarcity. This rice variety requires more water than any other variety and without the aroma, it is just normal rice, not basmati," says Verma.

He says farmers in most of the areas that grew basmati rice have switched to other high-yielding varieties in a bid to cut their losses. A major advantage of these new varieties is that they need less water.

"These hybrid seeds lack the aroma of basmati rice but people are growing it because they do not want to bear losses by growing Dehradun basmati. There is no water in the springs, even the river gets dried up when we require water, so there is no profit in growing Dehradun basmati," says Verma, who has switched to cultivating red and black rice instead of the traditional Dehradun rice.

'Losing our identity'

"When you see the fertile piece of land where you used to grow basmati turn barren, you feel sad and helpless," says Prem Ramola, 56, a resident of Kairvan village near Rajpur, Dehradun.

He believes that for rice farmers in Uttarakhand, the worst is yet to come. "It will be more difficult for rice farmers in the future. There is no water. Farmlands are turning barren. In the old days, there was a lot of water in the Rispana river, but for the last few years, the river water has been taken over by the Jal Nigam. As a result, we farmers are purely dependent on rainwater. If God is kind and there is a lot of rain, we are safe," says Ramola.

"The problem is not a new one. We are facing it for many years. As you know, rice cultivation requires large quantities of water. The more the water, the better the results. This is the reason the quality of our basmati rice has gone down. Our family is into rice farming for the last 80-85 years. We have around 32 bighas of land and the entire plot was used for cultivating rice. Our village, our state, was known for its basmati rice and we are losing our identity," he says.

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Firstpost.com, 19 July, 2018, https://www.firstpost.com/india/indias-water-crisis-limited-irrigation-scarcity-of-water-threatens-cultivation-of-dehraduns-prized-basmati-rice-4774991.html


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