Kichili Samba is a moderately fine-grained and favoured table rice in Tamil Nadu. But the story it tells is not classical, like some of our oldest landraces—rahter of the emergence and development of India’s institutional paddy breeding programs. Kichili Samba is well-known to be an “improved native” variety, a “spontaneous mutation” from the native landrace Konamani from the Godavari delta. It was the first release (1921) of India’s first Paddy Breeding Station established in British India, at Coimbatore. Thus this rice sits at the beginning of a long, contested, and very difficult history of the institutional take-over of native rice varieties. GEB-24, or “Government Economic Botanist 24” was introduced at a time when “Economic Botany” was becoming an institutionally recognized profession. It was valued for being a non-shattering grain—less breakage and loss during milling, and some disease resistance. The rice became popular very quickly, and we now think of it as a traditional variety of Tamil Nadu. It has also gone on to be used in further paddy breeding experiments.
Scroll down to read more about this peculiar addition to our native rice repertoire.
Description
THE CULTURAL & ECOLOGICAL LIFE OF THIS RICE
Formal, institutional rice research in India started in 1911 with the appointment of Economic Botanists in the Province of Bengal, and then Madras (Ghose et al., 1956: 82), just around the time when the possibilities of Mendelian genetics for crop breeding was being recognized and explored. During this period, the economic botanists (later designated as paddy specialists) would study morphology, floral biology, physiology, traditional indigenous agronomic practices, response to manuring, yield potential, and other traits. Government Economic Botanist 24 (GEB 24) was the first rice variety recommended by the Paddy Breeding Centre at Coimbatore [later to become the Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University] in 1921 for cultivation in the whole of Madras Presidency as well as in central provinces (Patra et al. 2016: 35). All records list it as a “spontaneous mutation,” while most early released varieties were pureline selections.
GEB-24 is a short/medium-duration variety derived from Konamani, a landrace from the Godavari are that is referenced in Ramiah’s 1937 Rice in Madras handbook (43). It is unclear from where the Government botanists collected the paddy for their experiments, but the fact that all the contemporary training manuals for agricultural scientists refer to Konamani also as Athur Kichili Samba suggest that it was also being grown in what is today north Tamil Nadu. The Tamil name, “Kichili Samba,” perhaps derives from this—“Kichili” indicating citrusy tones, some say.
The focus of paddy breeding at the time also helps us understand the emergence of this rice. Since traditional rices are typically tall grasses which are prone to lodging (falling over when panicles ripen and add weight to the top of the plant), and since this causes problems of grains shattering during milling, finding varietals that were strong enough or short enough not to lodge or shatter were primary concerns. GEB-24 was probably valued for its non-shattering quality (Dash et al. 2021: 90).
It was also thought of as “one of the first fine grain rice varieties”—an odd assessment since there were certainly other fine rices in Tamil Nadu by then (Times of India, Dec 15, 2011). Ramiah notes, however, that a “A finer variety tends to become coarse when cultivated continuously in rich heavy deltaic soils. As examples of such a change, the case of GEB-24 in Godavari and the Nellore samba in Tanjore may be mentioned” (1937:95). If we think of GEB-24 as producing coarser grains in the deltaic region in contrast to how it fared in other parts of Tamil Nadu, then perhaps it makes sense to consider this a fine-grained rice.
GEB-24 quickly became a popular rice among growers and consumers alike. Along with other rices like Ottu Kichili, Kulllankar, and Sirumani, such ‘improved folk’ rices would soon “account for more than 80 per cent of the area under traditional varieties” in some regions of Tamil Nadu at the start of the Green Revolution (Chinnappa 1980: 98).
Because of its significant position in the history of India’s paddy breeding, and because it was used to develop other varietals, Kichili Samba is often claimed as a “success story” of institutionalized science. It is also often projected as a “mother plant” to many green revolution varieties. For example, the Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, TNAU Coimbatore declares with pride that
“The first variety of this station, GEB 24 (Kichili samba) released during 1921, played unique and significant role in the subsequent development of rice not only in this country but also in the global level. This variety became very popular with large coverage and attained worldwide distinction and since then has been used in several National and International breeding programmes as progenitor for their varieties”
Such claims may need to be studied further or tempered to be accepted, however. GEB-24 is indeed listed among the parents of other rice varieties on the Centre’s site and it parent to Samba Mahsuri (BPT 5204; GEB 24/TN 1 or Taichung Native 1/Mahsuri) in the very popular “Masuri” group of early green revolution varietals. But its GEB-24 X IR-8 cross (“Krishna,” a 1970 Odisha release) was less successful than the lower-yielding GEB-24, as Rao reports (1971: 48-9, see also Pathak et al. 2019).
Other names: GEB-24, Kichali Samba, Kichdi Samba, Richcharia & Govindaswami call it “Coimbatore Sanna” (presumably the same as what many called Coimbatore Samba at the time) in his compendium of Improved varieties, Plant Breeding and Genetics (Chapter on Mysore; 1966: 200).
NUTRITIONAL AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
- Kichili samba is known primarily for its cooking quality and for its use in paddy breeding, not particularly for its medicinal values.
- It is a high carbohydrate rice compared to many other traditional Tamil Nadu varieties but its neutraceutical profile is otherwise not so outstanding (Thavamurugan et al. 2022).
- Kitchili Samba’s “high carb” profile suggests that this is a quick energy giving rice, and should be consumed in accordance.
CULINARY USES
- A rice that meets consumer preferences and tastes very well.
- Kichili samba is a lovely table rice with medium-sized grains that look and feel like they would go well with typical south Indian meal items: sambars, kootus, rasams. This is in spite of a medium gel consistency, a low-to-medium-range amylose content – which results in a bit more texture and bite when compared to Masuri and Iluppaipoo samba.
- Its parboiled form works well for any sort of variety or mixed rice—but rather needs the pressure cooker to save stovetop cooking time.
WHO GROWS THIS RICE & WHERE CAN I BUY?
- We got our parboiled Kichili Samba from Sankara Narayanan Subramanian via Vivasayee’s Life [platform for farmers and producers around Papanasam] +91 9043824660
- Other Possible Sources
SOURCES & FURTHER READING
- Chinnappa, Nanjamma B. 1977. “Adoption of the New Technology in North Arcot District” Green Revolution? Technology and Change in Rice-growing Areas of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. ed. B.H.Farmer. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd. pp. 92-123
- Dash, S. & Behera, Lambodar & Sah, Rameswar & Meher, J & Verma, R & C., Anilkumar & Azharudheen, Muhammed & Chakraborty, Koushik. 2021. Irrigated Rice Breeding.
- Ghose, RLM, MB Ghatge and V Subrahmanyan. 1956. Rice in India. New Delhi: ICAR.
- Pathak et al. 2019. “Rice Varieties of NRRI: Yield, Quality, Special Traits and Tolerance to Biotic & Abiotic Stresses.” ICAR-National Rice Research Institute Indian Council of Agricultural Research Cuttack, Odisha 753006.
- Patra, Bhaskar C., Soham Ray, Umakanta Ngangkham, Trilochan Mohapatra. 2016. “Rice” In: Genetic and Genomic Resources for Grain Cereals Improvement. Eds Mohar Singh and Hari D. Upadhyaya. London: Academic Press.
- Ramiah, K. 1937. Rice in Madras: A Popular Handbook. Madras: Superintendent of Government Press.
- Richcharia, RH. and S. Govindaswami. 1966. Plant Breeding and Genetics volume 2: Rices of India. Patna: Scientific Book Company.
- Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, “Rice Technologies Developed.” Accessed August 23, 2024.
- Thavamurugan, Subbu & Dhivyadharchini, M. & Pullani, Suresh & Manikandan, T. & Vasuki, A. & Nandhagopalan, V. & Prabha, Azhagiya. (2022). Investigation on Nutritional, Phytochemical, and Antioxidant Abilities of Various Traditional Rice Varieties. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 195. 1-24. 10.1007/s12010-022-04264-1.
- Times of India Staff Writer. 2011. “ TNAU to celebrate 100 years of paddy breeding in January,” Dec 15
- Venkateswara Rao, M. 1971. “Studies on the Performance of the Progenies of GEB-24 x T( N )-1, GEB-24 x IR-8, SLO-13x T(N )-I. and SLO-13 x IR-8 Rice Crosser” Thesis submitted to Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur. Available online: http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810145592
Additional information
| Region of Origin | South |
|---|---|
| Grain Shape | small or fine |
| Grain Colour | White |
| Fragrance | Nonscented |
