Kaipad, a rice variety from the state, will soon receive a Geographical Indications (GI) tag. Registration under the GI recognises a produce as unique to a geographical region.
The allocation of GI was approved by a consultative group of experts set up by the Controller General of Patents in Hyderabad last Friday. The GI status will be notified after a period of four months, the mandatory time frame for filing of objections if any.
Vanaja T, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, who is the Principal Investigator of the project said that obtaining GI tag for Kaipad rice was one of the objectives of the Paddy Mission Project of the Kerala Agricultural University. The project under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) was titled ‘Comprehensive development of Kaipad rice tracts’.
“In order to materialise this objective, a society named ‘Malabar Kaipad Farmers Society’ was formed and registered in 2010. The society based in Ezhome Grama Panchayath of Kannur has tracts in Kozhikode, Kannur and and Kasargod districts where Kaipad cultivation exists, under its ambit,” Vanaja said.
The traditional varieties of rice from these tracts, and the high-yielding ‘Ezhome’ will come under the GI tag. The advantage of this grain is that it is organic as it is grown in natural ecosystem.