Ponni rice is a variety of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

developed by

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) is the state agricultural university of Tamil Nadu located in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. History The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University had its genesis from establishment of an agricultural s ...

in 1986. It is widely cultivated in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, a state in India and is a hybrid variety of ''Taichung 65'' and ''Myang Ebos 6080/2''. Since the

Kaveri River The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu d ...

is also called 'Ponni' in

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

, the rice could have been named after the river. The rice is mostly cultivated along the banks of the Kaveri in the cities of Ariyalur, Trichy, Madurai and its mouth. The variety is rich in calories with up to 5 kcal per particle of rice. The company Ponni and Sona Mera are the biggest customers of the product rice. Ponni rice could be cultivated in any land, with high quality water, but best grown in Tamil Nadu in the Kaveri water. The rice (finished product, after being threshed and winnowed of 'chaff') is exported to some parts of Europe, the United States, north, east and west Asia, Africa and the Middle East, but a large amount is exported to Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. The rice is also suitable for diabetics in some varieties and is easily digested.

External links

Malaysian firm registers Ponni as trademarkA farmers' movement to protect ‘Ponni'Wanted: ad blitzkrieg and patent for Ponni rice
Rice varieties Agriculture in Tamil Nadu Rice production in India {{India-agri-stub

See also

External links