Saathi rice gets its name from the sixty-day maturation period it requires. In colloquial Gujarati, “Sahith” or “Saath” means sixty. This quick-growing rice variety is indigenous to the lush and fertile central eastern region of Gujarat. Rice is a Kharif crop in Gujarat, like everywhere else the state has been witnessing inconsistent weather has adversely impacted crop’s growing cycle and yield “If too much rain spoils the maize crop, we sow quick maturing Saathi as late as end August, this rice never fails us, it ensures we at least have something to feed our family,” shared Udaysinhbhai, an Adivasi farmer cultivating Saathi rice for his family.
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Description
CULTURAL & ECOLOGICAL LIFE OF THIS RICE
Saathi is a low-maintenance rice variety that doesn’t require much attention or resources. Whether sown or transplanted, it grows easily, is largely pest-resistant, and requires minimal water. Low-lying, waterlogged farms are ideal for cultivating Saathi. The main concern for Saathi is weed control, which farmers manage manually.
During the early days of Shalikuta’s efforts to rediscover Gujarat’s heritage rices, Rameshbhai Patel [Coordinator of Srishti Innovations and Srishti Farmer’s Market] mentioned a rice called Aabru Bachat (reputation/dignity saver), a native variety known to protecting farmers from hunger. He described it as a 45-60 day rice that ensured food for poor farmers practicing subsistence farming. While Saathi might not be the same variety, its quality to provide much-needed food security to small and marginal farmers remains the same.
Saathi rice has a faint fragrance and medium, plump grains. When polished in a mill, the rice becomes pearly white, but hand-pounded grains that retain some of their skin have a baby pink color with red specks.
Each pale golden-yellow Saathi paddy grain has a distinctive tail attached to it: a feature which helps with identification.
NUTRITIONAL AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
- Adivasi elders recommend eating Saathi rice for stronger bones, advising that a bowl of Saathi rice with milk for dinner can help heal aching bones and repair fractures.
- Fast-maturing rice varieties like Saathi are considered easy to digest, making them suitable for both children and seniors.
CULINARY USES
- The tribal families growing Saathi like that it doesn’t get mushy when cooked in open pot over wood-fired chula. They prefer it as table rice because of its ability to hold shape even when over-cooked.
- It is this distinct quality that makes it best suitable for making it fried rice varieties.
WHO GROWS THIS RICE & WHERE CAN I BUY?
- Aranya India [an Agroecology-based producer company formed by small and marginal tribal farmers in the Aravalli forests of eastern Gujarat]
Additional information
| Region of Origin | West |
|---|---|
| Grain Shape | medium |
| Grain Colour | Pinkish |
| Fragrance | Nonscented |
