Various researches have been conducted for some time to introduce a variety of rice that can be cultivated in this country for the production of Basmati rice.
But it was not possible to develop a successful rice variety that could be used as a substitute for Basmati rice
But by now the Batalagoda Rice Research and Training Institute has managed to identify two substitute rice varieties for Basmati rice. The Batalagoda Paddy Research Institute says that the research conducted for that has been very successful and within a few months, under the recommendations of the Crop Release Committee, these two varieties of basmati rice can be released for cultivation in Sri Lanka.
When the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera started working as a minister, he instructed the Department of Agriculture to start research for the expansion of basmati cultivation in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, these two new rice varieties have been very successful among many researches on rice varieties that can be used as a substitute for Basmati rice.
Currently, At 306 and At 309 rice varieties have been introduced as long shaped rice varieties similar to Basmati rice and those rice varieties are also popular.
At present, the entire requirement of rice in the country is produced in the country, while basmati, which is required for the tourism industry and hotels, is imported from India and Pakistan.
The minister also advised the agriculture authorities to take steps to make the production of basmati rice in the country successful in order to save the foreign exchange spent on it.
