Rice: The Universal Grain
Rice is the most consumed food item of the human race. Especially so in India. It is the king of staples in the South, making up a third of what is on our plate every day. The discerning and experienced rice eater can enjoy multitudes of taste, much like with coffee, tea, wine or cheese !!
Daana’s Organic Rice (Sona Masuri variety) comes from the farm of Lakshmi and Prasad Rao, from Ghantasalapalem, in Andhra Pradesh. They have been practising organic farming for more than thirty two years. Read more…
The earliest record of cultivated rice is in the Indus valley civilization, where rice was cultivated as a summer crop as early as 2000 BC (4000 years ago). India has thousands of traditional rice varieties, grown by farmers all over the country, and especially in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam.
While rice is now a huge staple, consumed by South Indians practically in every meal, this was not the case, even up until the 70’s. The rice crop requires significant amounts of water to cultivate, and is a very labour intensive crop as well. Most of rural India used to grow and eat millets and a variety of other grains and cereals, and consumed rice only occasionally.
The Green Revolution introduced rice as a staple, consumed all through the year. High yielding varieties of rice and wheat were introduced, that required a lot of chemical input, and lot of water. This has much altered the food culture of our society.
We recommend that you eat a variety of grains: including wheat (aata), rice (different varieties) and millets for better health.
A healthy biodiversity helps address many things:
- More robust and healthy soil
- Better nutrient quality of crops
- Food sovereignty for the farmer and consumer
- Resilience to pressures of drought, and other extreme climatic changes
Organic farming of rice includes natural inputs such as green manure (growing of crops that nourish the soil, between major crops), use of cattle manure, and spraying of natural pest deterrents such as neem oil. System of Rice Intensification SRI comprises of techniques to reduce the water consumption of the crop, as well as to increase soil fertility to help reduce pest attacks.
Rice, as a grain is packed with nutrition. The most common dish, around the world, especially among common folk is rice and beans. This humble dish (“Dal Chawal” in India, “Arroz con Frijoles” in Latin America) packs the most nutrients into a highly affordable and delicious meal. Whole-grain rice (also called unpolished rice, or “Brown” rice due to its colour) is full of nutrients (including complex carbohydrates, fibre and protein).
We recommend that you eat whole grain rice, instead of polished rice. However, if your family is entrenched in the taste of polished rice, we highly recommend that you switch over to organic rice, as a first step towards holistic health.
At Daana, we buy rice from our farmers, and store it in cold-storage units which ensure that all pests are eliminated. Every bag is tagged with information about the farmer. Once it arrives from cold storage into our packing unit, it is hand cleaned by women who are skilled at removing stones, dust and husk. Further to that, it is packed, labeled and shipped to our consumers.
No chemicals or preservatives of any kind are used. All information about the farmer is provided in the packets, so you know exactly who grew your food, when it was harvested, and more.
Last, but not the least, what is a writeup of rice, without a rice dish? We present below, the “Tava Pulao“: Healthy and chat-pataa. The kids will love it !!! Visit our recipes section for more ideas.