Bio-cultural Diversity and Ethnobotanic Utility of Indigenous Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Lakhimpur District, Assam, India

Abstract

The traditional landraces of rice plant had a major role in building socio-economic status of rural poor. The present study deals with the diversity and ethnobotanic significance of indigenous landraces of rice in Lakhimpur district of Assam, India. Altogether, twenty-one indigenous landraces of rice were collected during the present study. Each class having important role to play, the major classes of rice include glutinous, common rice and aromatic rice. Other than being a staple food, rice and its products are still frequently used by rural folk in various festivals, religious and social ceremonies in the form of sweets, cakes, snacks and beverages. Bora-dhan was reported with the highest use value. Based on grain’s qualitative and quantitative traits, the obtained dendrogram contains four different clusters; while, the OTUs (Operational taxonomic unit) present in a cluster display morphological similarity. The dendrogram also illustrated diversified distribution of grains in this region. The study also reveals the profound relationship of people with the traditional landraces of rice. The ethnic farmers should be made aware to promote on-farm conservation of crop diversity, before it is lost under the debris of modernization.

On-Farm Management of Rice Diversity, Varietal Preference Criteria, and Farmers’ Perceptions of the African (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) Versus Asian Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the Republic of Benin (West Africa): Implications for Breeding and Conservation

“…These observations are common in folk nomenclature, and have been reported on many crops, such as Manihot esculenta Crantz (Kombo et al 2012), Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (Dossou-Aminon et al 2015), Macrotyloma geocarpum (Harms) Maréchal et Baudet (Assogba et al 2015) and Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Loko et al 2018). The great majority of criteria used by the surveyed farmers to identify rice varieties are also used by Indian farmers (Wangpan et al 2019;Laishram et al 2020), and are among the main descriptors used for morphological characterization of rice, showing the abundance and distribution of farmers' knowledge of their rice germplasm.…”