Published Paper Details:

Changing climate is an utmost challenging factor, especially in Dhemaji district of North East India, as, a significant portion of smallholder farmers reliant on rice production in rain fed conditions. Prolonged flooding and droughts, along with varied weather patterns, have significantly elevated the risk of food security. Especially flood have been responsible for severe crop loss which is a raising concern in this area. Developing flood-resilient varieties is a promising strategy to address this challenge. Although a number of such flood resilient varieties are found in this area, cultivation of such varieties is gradually decreasing due to different factors. A rebellion should persuade regarding this issue. To motivate the smallholder farmers, a study has been conducted with ten widely cultivated indigenous flood tolerant rice varieties (viz. Panikakuwa, Kakuwa, Miabao, Dalbao, Maguribao, Negheribao, Panidhan, Bhubao, Amana and Happybao), collected from different paddy growing fields of Dhemaji district, Assam to assess the enriched nutriments as foods high in Resistant Starch (RS) have the potentiality to improve human health. The proportion of RS in the diet can be increased by consuming starches with high amylose content. RS increases along with the increase of amylose content. Thus, high amylose assists in the management of diabetes, improves bowel health and function. Breeding for rice high in RS is of particular interest, as it will be easy to incorporate into the dietary-prevention strategy. Six cultivars have been identified as high protein cultivars (>10%). Dalbao has shown the highest total carbohydrate (88.4%), starch (83.25%) and protein (13.37%) content, whereas cultivar Bhubao shows highest amylose content (34.51%). Dalbao and Negheribao having superior nutritional quality may be considered for inclusion in deep-water rice breeding programmes.