Rice - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Varanasi

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC).

This is at campus of National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) in Varanasi.

Under the proposal, a Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA) will be set up in Varanasi.

This will include a modern and sophisticated laboratory with capacity to determine quality and status of heavy metals in grain and straw.

The Centre will also undertake capacity building exercises for stakeholders across the rice value chain.

This Centre will be the first international Centre in the eastern India and it will play a major role in harnessing and sustaining rice production in the region.

It is expected to be a boon for food production and skill development in the eastern India and similar ecologies in other South Asian and African countries.

For setting up of the Centre, A Memorandum of Agreement, will be signed between DAC&FW and IRRI, Philippines.

The Department of DAC&FW will provide physical space for laboratories, offices, training classes, etc. with associated infrastructure and land at NSRTC, Varanasi.

The Centre will be commissioned within six months.

Benefits from ISARC

• The Centre will help in utilizing the rich biodiversity of India to develop special rice varieties.
• This will help India to achieve higher per hectare yields and improved nutritional contents.
• India’s food and nutritional security issues will also be addressed.
• The Centre will support in adopting value chain based production system in the country.
• This will reduce wastage, add value and generate higher income for the farmers.
• The farmers in Eastern India will benefit in particular, besides those in South Asian and African countries.

• ISARC will operate under the governance of the IRRI Board of Trustees who will appoint an appropriate IRRI staff member as Director.
• A Coordination Committee will be headed by Director General, IRRI as Chair and Secretary, Government of India, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DACFW) as Co-Chair.
• The other members of Coordination Committee are Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences), ICAR; Director, NSRTC; IRRI representative in India, representative of Government of UP and representatives of Governments of Nepal & Bangladesh and Private Sector.

ANSWER: Rice

Explanation:
Researchers of the Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalay/ IGKV in Raipur developed a protein enriched variety

• The newly developed rice variety has over 10 percent protein content which is 3 percent more than what is found in any popular variety and has 30 PPM zinc content
• Researchers said it would serve as a boon for malnourished people especially children in tribal dominated Chhattisgarh
• The researchers worked for 7 years to develop a kind of rice that is rich in protein along with high zinc content
• Rice variety will play a crucial role in fighting protein deficiencies
• The rice variety will be sent to the state’s variety identification committee within six months for the final release following which it is probably going to be ready for cultivation next year.
• As per a survey conducted in 2015, very high rate of malnutrition was found among pre-school children in tribal areas showing conditions such as being underweight and stunted growth which indicates a tough situation
• Over 5 lakh children in Chhattisgarh are underweight, with tribal districts such as Bastar, Dantewada and Narayanpur.
• These have higher rate of malnourishment than other districts
• The Women and Child Development Department in Sept 2016 have informed that malnutrition rate in Chhattisgarh has declined to 29.8 percent from 47.1 percent registered in the National Family Health Survey 2005-2006