Farmers seek GI tag for Wada Kolam rice

After the Dahanu-Gholvad chikoo fruit from Palghar district of Maharashtra receiving Geographical Indicator (GI) tags, initiatives are becoming built to get a GI tag for Wada Kolam rice, which is a exceptional fragrant wide variety cultivated in the Wada taluka of the district.

On June 29, a final software was built with GI Registry for obtaining the tag. The GI Registry is a aspect of the Workplace of the Controller Common of Patents, Layouts and Trade Marks.

Wada Kolam rice wide variety is cultivated only in coastal Palghar district, which was carved out of the gigantic Thane district in 2014. Palghar has a exceptional agro-local weather due to proximity to the Arabian sea as also to the woody Sahyadri mountain array. The fertile land also produces chikoo or sapota fruit, which gained a GI tag in January 2017.

The work to get the GI tag has been spearheaded by well known Intellectual Home law firm Ganesh Hingmire and neighborhood farmer households from Wada taluka. Hingmire informed BusinessLine that Wada Kolam rice is incredibly substantially sought immediately after in the industry due to its flavour, for that reason several rice mill proprietors mis-promote their rice varieties as Wada Kolam. The GI tag to the rice wide variety will give improved rates to the Wada farmers. It will deliver traceability and accountability to the Wada Kolam rice trade.

Farmer Vaibhav Patil from Wada, secretary of the neighborhood farmer cooperative society that has undertaken the info gathering and track record towards receiving the GI tag, stated that in all of Wada taluka only about 250 farmers cultivate the wide variety more than about two,five hundred hectares of land. Considering that the land is fertile, only cow dung is utilised as manure, no other chemical is utilised.

On the other hand, the wide variety has a decreased yield, as out of one hundred quintals of paddy only 45 quintals of polished rice receives created, though other varieties yield about fifty five quintals. Therefore some farmers are much less inclined to plant this wide variety. Right now, Wada farmers get ₹40 per kg. But if GI tag is gained the price could increase to ₹80-ninety and the area below Wada Kolam could effortlessly rise to five,000 hectares, he stated.