Ziaur Rahman of Sharsha in Jashore has caused a stir in his area by growing rice said to have medicinal value. He learnt about it on the internet and collected the seed from Bogura and Feni. Large numbers of people come every day to see the plants, and many take photographs of the unusual black rice.

Ziaur Rahman, from the Sharsha upazila headquarters, began growing the black rice in Notadigha village of Bahadurpur union. He collected seed of Vietnam's purple rice, black rice and China black rice and planted them on 3 bighas. Because the crop costs little to grow and yields well, many people have said they want to buy seed.

The agriculture department says it is a rice rich in antioxidants that help prevent cancer. Eating half the usual amount of black rice is enough to fill the stomach, and its high fibre means it is digested slowly, which benefits people with diabetes. The department has, however, not been given any scientific basis for these claims. The rice can be grown in both the aman and boro seasons. In aman, purple rice yields 20-22 maunds a bigha and black rice 24-25 maunds. It sells for Tk 900 a kg in Dhaka.

"I learnt online about its medicinal qualities and that it costs little to grow, so I was encouraged to collect the seed," Ziaur Rahman said. "Many people want to buy seed of this rice. At the request of many, and thinking of the people of the area, I have decided to keep seed from this crop."

Sharsha upazila agriculture officer Dipak Kumar Saha said: "This is the first time this rice has been grown in the upazila. It first came to the country through a farmer in Cumilla. It is not really meant to be eaten as plain rice; it is used for khichuri, payesh and firni. Many people eat it for disease prevention. There is strong demand for it in supershops in Dhaka. If we receive any official guidance, farmers will be given full support to grow it."

Reported by Md Jamal Hossain.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.