Creator of ‘Kurnool Sona’ rice Molavalli Venkata Ramana Reddy passed away at the age of 85 in Bangalore on Wednesday.
The agriculture scientists of Nandyal Research Station paid tributes at a condolence meeting to Dr. Reddy. In fact, the variety was developed by Dr. Reddy through triple crossing of GEB 24, TN 1 and Masoori at Bapatla Research Station.
The scientists of Nandyal station who were on the look out for new varieties in the eighties stumbled upon the new strain and planned for its release as ‘Kurnool Sona’. However, the parent institution took the initiative and released it in 1986 as Samba Masuri (BPT 5204), which excellently adapted to conditions in Kurnool district. The sole credit of popularising the variety goes to the scientists of Nandyal station.
The variety received the generous patronage of farmers and consumers who liked it for its cooking quality. The farmers liked the variety for premium price it fetched in the market and high yield up to 50 bags per acre while the average yield was around 40 bags.
Though the BPT 5204 revolution started in Kurnool, the variety soon spread to Mahabub Nagar, Warangal, Nalgonda, Nellore and other places in AP and a few places in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Though hundreds of new varieties were released every year, the BPT 5204 remained unbeatable till today. Dr. K. Ravindranath, retired scientist said BPT 5204 was milestone in rice research of the world.
The variety occupies around 30 per cent of the rice area in AP accounting for 10 lakh hectares while another five lakh hectare in other states.
Born in Pedda Eddulavaripalli in Kadiri Taluq of Anantapur district in 1929, a known perennially drought-prone area, Dr. Reddy completed early schooling in Kadiri and received his B.Sc agriculture and post graduate degrees from Bapatla Agriculture College securing the first rank. He served the college as professor and researcher for 34 years.
source: The Hindu
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