Kolkata, 20 January (H.S.) : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that the state Agriculture Department has developed four new high-yielding rice varieties suited to the state’s climate and weather conditions, calling it a significant achievement for the farming community.

In a statement, the Chief Minister said the varieties were developed after years of research at the Purulia Drought Resistance Research Centre and the Chinsurah Rice Research Centre. “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the scientists involved in this important work,” she said.

According to the Chief Minister, three of the four newly developed climate-resilient varieties—Subhashini, Lachhmanti and Musafir—have been designed for drought-prone areas in the western parts of the state, including West Medinipur, Purulia and Bankura. She claimed that these varieties are capable of yielding between 52 and 55 quintals per hectare during the kharif season.

The fourth variety, named Iravati, has been developed specifically for flood-prone areas of South Bengal. The Chief Minister said this variety remains unaffected even when submerged in water for prolonged periods and does not lodge during storms.

Highlighting the state’s efforts in agricultural research, Mamata Banerjee said, “With these four additions, the state government has developed a total of 25 new crop varieties through research since 2011 for the benefit of farmers, of which 15 are rice varieties.”

Agricultural scientists believe that the development of these new rice varieties could significantly reduce crop losses caused each year by prolonged droughts or excessive rainfall leading to flooding, during which farmlands often remain submerged for extended periods.

A city-based agricultural scientist said, “The development of the Iravati variety is particularly important, as flooding in the paddy-growing belts of South Bengal has become an annual phenomenon. Prolonged submergence of seedbeds results in heavy crop losses every year. The Iravati variety is expected to address this problem to a large extent.”

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh