Botanical Name  : Oryza sativa L. 

Family : Gramineae 

1. INTRODUCTION  

Paddy is the most important and extensively grown food crop in the World. It is the staple food of more than 60 percent of the world population.  Rice is mainly produced and consumed in the Asian region. India has the largest area under paddy in the world and ranks second in the production after China. Country has also emerged as a major rice consumer.  

Rice is primarily a high energy calorie food. The major part of rice consists of carbohydrate in the form of starch, which is about 72-75 percent of the total grain composition.  The protein content of rice is around 7 percent.  The protein of rice contains glutelin, which is also known as oryzenin. The nutritive value of rice protein (biological value = 80) is much higher than that of wheat (biological value = 60) and maize (biological value = 50) or other cereals. Rice contains most of the minerals mainly located in the pericarp and germ and about 4 percent phosphorus. Rice also contains some enzymes.

2. NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF EDIBLE PORTION OF RICE PER 100 GRAM 

3. IMPORTANT MAJOR COMMERCIAL VARIETIES  

Zone-wise popular commercial varieties and non-Basmati aromatic varieties of rice 

4. HARVESTING AND POST-HARVEST CARE

 A. Harvesting care  

The maturity period for harvest of paddy 

  The following harvesting care should be taken.  

1.            Paddy crop should be harvested, when the grains become hard and contain about 20-22 percent moisture.

2.            Harvesting before maturity means a low milling recovery and also a higher proportion of immature seeds, high percentage of broken rice, poor grain quality and more chances of disease attack during storage of grain.

3.            Delay in harvesting results in grain shattering and cracking of rice in the husk and expose the crop to insects, rodents, birds and pests attack, as well as lodging.

4.            Avoid harvesting during wet weather conditions.

5.            Harvesting should be done by adopting proper method. The missing of the secondary tiller panicles should be avoided.

6.            Drain out the water from paddy field about a week or 10 days before the expected harvesting, which helps in employing mechanical harvesters.

7.            Avoid pest infestation prior to harvesting.

8.            All the panicles shall be kept in one direction in order to ensure efficient threshing.

9.            Protect the harvested material from rain and excessive dew by covering.

10.       Keep the harvested paddy separately for each variety, to get true to type variety (grains).

11.       Avoid direct sun drying, which leads to an increase in breakage of the grains during milling.

12.       Avoid excessive drying of paddy to avoid breakage of the grains.

13.       If the threshing is delayed, keep the harvested paddy stalk bundles in a dry and shady place, which facilitates the air circulation and prevents excessive heating.

14.       Thresh the paddy in the field itself.  Transport the grain in bags, which minimises the grain losses.

15.       Avoid too much post harvest handling of paddy to minimise the grain losses.

16.       Pack the paddy in sound B-Twill jute bags totally free from any contamination.  

B. Post-harvest care  

            To minimise post harvest losses, the following measures should be followed. 

1.          Timely harvest at optimum moisture percentage (20 percent to 22 percent).

2.          Use of proper method of harvesting.

3.          Avoid excessive drying, fast drying and rewetting of grains, which causes more broken rice.

4.          Immediate drying the wet grain after harvest, preferably within 24 hours to avoid heat accumulation.

5.          Ensure uniform drying to avoid hot and wet spots and mechanical damage due to handling.

6.          Avoid the losses in threshing and winnowing by better mechanical methods.

7.          Follow sanitation during drying, milling and after milling to avoid contamination of grains and protect from insects, rodents and birds.

8.          Use proper technique of processing i.e. cleaning, parboiling and milling.

9.          Adopt the grading practices to get more profit and to avoid the economic losses.

10.     Use efficient and good packaging for storage, as well as in transportation.

11.     Use proper scientific technique in storage for maintaining optimum moisture content i.e. 12 percent for longer period and 14 percent for shorter storage period.

12.     Use pest control measures (fumigation) before storage.

13.     Provide aeration to stored grain and stir grain bulk occasionally.

14.     Move stocks in sacks to discourage pest incidence and their multiplication.

15.     Proper handling (loading and unloading) of paddy/rice with good transportation facilitates helps in reduction in losses at farm and market level.

5.    GRADING 

Grading is the process of sorting of a given product according to the grades or classes.  In grading of paddy, mainly thickness or length of grain is considered and graded accordingly. Grading of paddy/rice is usually done through mechanical devices i.e. rotating graders, plansifier, trieurs, circular purifier, colour grader/sorter etc. Paddy grains having the same length but different thickness are graded by rotating graders; whereas, grains with the same thickness but different lengths, are separated by trieurs.  Sometimes both the rotating graders and the trieurs are used. In the market, the sale of paddy/rice is generally done on the basis of visual inspection of available sample and with local commercial name. Buyers offer price on the visual examination of whole lot considering the quality factors like size and colour of the grains, moisture content, aroma, broken grains, foreign matter and admixture of other varieties.  

Grade specifications  

i)        AGMARK  

Under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act 1937, the national standards for paddy/rice have been notified. In this Act, certain varieties including Basmati rice have been covered.  Various quality factors, which determine the grades, are (a) foreign matter other than rice (b) broken rice (c) fragments (d) damaged grains (e) weevilled grains (f) chalky grains (g) 1000 kernel weight and (h) size of grain i.e. length and breadth(L/B ratio). Grade specification for paddy and rice is given in ANNEXURE No. I and II respectively.  

ii)      STANDARDS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE  

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION (CAC): Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) implements joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.  The purpose of the CAC programme is to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.  The CAC is a collection of internationally adopted food standards presented in a uniform manner.  Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Agreement and Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement of World Trade Organisation recognize standards framed by CAC with respect to safety and quality aspects of food items.  Thus, standards framed by CAC are recognized for international trade. 

            Codex Alimentarius Commission has not yet formulated quality standards for paddy.  Paddy is not consumed directly as food.  It is consumed after removal of the husk.  As such, it is suggested that after removal of husk, the resultant product may comply with Food Safety parameters prescribed by CAC for rice. Codex standard for rice is given in ANNEXURE No.III. 

iii)    Food Corporation of India (FCI) 

Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the nodal Government agency for procuring paddy/rice from all States for the distribution under Public Distribution System and maintaining buffer stock of paddy/rice.  For procurement purpose, FCI adopts certain grade specifications for paddy/rice.  These specifications are circulated and adopted by FCI for each season separately.  As per these specifications, paddy and rice are classified into two groups Common and Grade ‘A’. These specifications (for kharif, 2002-2003) are given in ANNEXURE No. IV.

iv)   Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)     

APEDA has categorised Indian Basmati as raw milled rice, milled parboiled rice, brown Basmati rice and parboiled brown Basmati rice.  These standards have been formulated on the basis of certain quality characteristics considering their minimum and maximum limits.  The main characteristics are average precook length of rice grain, moisture percent, minimum and maximum damaged, discoloured, chalky and broken grains percentage, foreign matter, other factors like percent of green grains, paddy grains, etc.  The schedule of these standards is given in ANNEXURE No. V. 

A. Grading at producers’ level  

           The scheme, “Grading at Producers’ level” was introduced in 1962-63 by Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI). The main objective of this scheme is to subject the produce to simple tests and assign a grade before it is offered for sale. The programme is being implemented by the State Governments. 

B. Grading Under Agmark  

            Grading under Agmark is carried out by the Directorate of Marketing & Inspection in accordance with the grade specifications notified by the Central Government under the provisions of Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 and Rules made there-under.  Grading of rice under AGMARK is voluntary for internal consumption.

Sanitary & Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) requirements : 

The agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) measures is a part of the GATT Agreement, 1994, for export and import trade. The aim of the agreement is to prevent the risk of introduction of new pests and diseases in new regions i. e. importing countries. The main purpose of the agreement is to protect human health, animal health, and Phyto-Sanitary situation of all member countries and protect the members from arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination due to different Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Standards.
 

The SPS agreement applies to all Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary measures, which may directly or indirectly, affect international trade.  Sanitary measures deal with human or animal health, and Phyto-Sanitary measures are related to plant health.  SPS measures are applied in four situations for the protection of human, animal or plant health :

>  Risks arising from the entry, establishment or spread of pests, diseases, disease- carrying organisms or disease causing organisms.

>  Risks coming from additives, contaminants, toning or disease-causing organisms in foods, beverages or feed stuffs.

>   Risks arising from diseases carried by animals, plants or products thereof, or from the entry, establishment, or spread of pests.

> Prevention or limitation of damage caused by the entry, establishment or spread of pests.
 

   The SPS standards commonly applied by Governments, which affect imports are:
 

i)        Import ban (Total/partial) is generally applied when there is a significant rate of risk about a hazard.

ii)      Technical specifications (Process standards/Technical standards) are most widely applied measures and permit import subject to compliance with pre-determined specifications.

iii)    Information requirements (Labeling requirements/Control on voluntary claims) permit imports provided they are appropriately labelled.