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Telangana Sona

Telangana Sona (RNR15048) fine rice variety is developed by Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Rajendranagar, Telangana, Hyderabad, India. The duration of the crop is 125 days. The yield is 6000-7000 Kg/ Ha and special characters include, low glycemic index, blast resistance, short slender (very fine), good cooking quality and suitable for both Kharif and Rabi seasons.

Telangana Sona rice will help in reducing blood glucose: Study

The latest edition of American Journal of Food and Nutrition said that it is better than Japonica rice in Glycemic Index (GI).The Telangana Sona variety rice has bagged international acclamation. A research article on Telangana Sona (RNR 15048), also known as Chittimallelu, grown in the State, which was published in the latest edition of American Journal of Food and Nutrition, says it is better than Japonica rice in glycemic index (GI). Japonica rice is extensively cultivated and consumed in China, Japan and Korea.

The paper said, "In this study, RNR 15048 (Telangana Sona) was tested and found to be having low glycemic index (GI) (51.72±22.50), which upon regular consumption for a period of three months reduced glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in diabetic subjects thereby suggesting its potential in the maintenance of blood glucose."

Three officials from the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) -- Prasanthi Prabhakaran Sobhana (Department of Dietetics), Jeyakumar Shanmugam (Lipid Chemistry) and Panda Hrusikesh -- along with Srinivas Epparapalli and Damayanti Korrapati1 published the paper. The study said, "The low-GI rice RNR 15048 can be a useful therapeutic diet that helps in the reduction of blood glucose and elevation in plasma HDL cholesterol levels in patients with type-2 diabetes."

The study stated that the GI value and the digestibility of foods are known to depend on various factors such as the presence of high dietary fibre, processing techniques, physicochemical and cooking properties such as alkali spreading value and gel consistency, nutritional factors, cooking time, the presence of macronutrients and the ratio of amylose and amylopectin. Hence, some of these factors may be responsible for the low GI of RNR15048 rice variety.

Studies conducted in Japan with a short grain rice Japonica showed moderate GI of 68. In the present study, the GI of the rice variety RNR 15048 was observed to be lower than 51.72. The low GI in Telangana Sona could be attributed to variations in the chemical nature of the starchy polysaccharides-amylose and amylopectin, structural pattern and cooking quality, the study said.

The human intervention study in type-2 diabetic subjects with low GI rice RNR15048 showed clinically and statistically significant reduction in HbA1c and fasting blood glucose levels and elevated HDL cholesterol levels. RNR15048 may be used as an alternative for regulating glucose levels in type-2 diabetic patients.

The Agriculture Department and Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) have joined hands with the Indian School of Business (ISB) to work out strategies for branding and marketing of ‘Telangana.

According to secretary (Agriculture) B. Janardhan Reddy, the paddy variety produces short slender grains, has less broken rice percentage, good head rice recovery and high yield potential, making it a premier variety for farmers to grow. From the perspective of millers, Telangana Sona leads to less broken grain (wastage) after milling and makes it a better product to use.

Expressing happiness over the partnership, Vice-Chancellor of PJTSAU V. Praveen Rao said that Telangana Sona is a blessing for producers (farmers), millers, traders and consumers, and particularly for health conscious rice lovers. It is a climate smart variety that could save 2 to 4 tmc ft of water besides saving ₹20 crore on pesticide use for rice blast attack for every one lakh acres of cultivation compared to longer duration varieties.

Performance of Photo Sensitive Rice cv. RNR 15048 (Telangana Sona)

Field experiment on “Performance of photo sensitive Rice cv. RNR 15048 (Telangana Sona) under varied nitrogen levels and environmental conditions” was carried out during Kharif 2016 at Agricultural Research Institute, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. Flowering duration of rice was influenced by dates of sowing. With delay in sowing dates the days to attain flowering decreased with decrease in day length from 12.5 to 12.1 hrs. As the sowing dates got delayed, there was progressive decrease in days to attain panicle initiation, heading and physiological maturity.

Unique Values of Telangana Sona RNR 15048