A rare but economically important variety of a pinkish-coloured rice, grown and eaten at the roof of the world in Nepal, has been saved from the brink.

Professor John Witcombe, an expert from Bangor University in Wales, has already helped to provide food security for over five million smallholders and their families in India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Now John Witcombe has had a hand in safeguarding a highly nutritious rice variety, which is also a staple for people in Jumla, Nepal.

John has been working with working with a Nepal government-funded rice breeding programme in Nepal, to develop three new disease-resistant varieties of the rice which was becoming susceptible to disease.

These are to be made available to local farmers and smallholders. This means that agriculturalists who have relied on the Jumli Marshi rice strain for their livelihoods, will be able to continue to grow the indigenous rice, believed to have originated some 550 years ago.

Jumli Marshi, rice grows 3,050 metres above sea level in far western Nepal, which due to the location, calls for unique cultivation methods. The sweet-tasting rice is rich is more nutritious than other rice strains grown in Nepal. It is high in fibre, proteins and minerals such as iron, calcium and phosphorous, and considered suitable for people living with diabetes.

However, in recent years the strain has been susceptible to a major plant disease, blast fungus. This has meant that farmers have had to switch to other crops.

Prof Witcombe has been sharing his expertise in plant breeding by working with indigenous farmers and consumers, to introduce characteristics that they themselves feel are important. The farmers test the trial varieties by growing them on their own plots of land. This method of plant breeding ensures that new varieties are highly adapted to local conditions and preferences of local farmers, and in turn, improves their adoption and spread among the farming community. Jumli Marshi is also the first variety bred using DNA markers to be in advanced farmer trials in Nepal. These markers were developed by scientists at Bangor University (Katherine Steele and John Witcombe of the University’s School of Natural Sciences) in collaboration with a UK commercial partner.

Ahead of the release, Prof John Witcombe said:

“This is the culmination of 13 years’ work in collaboration with Nepalese rice breeder Resham Amgai who has led the work in Nepal, The native Jumli Marshi has a cold-tolerant gene that allows it to thrive in cold temperate conditions and its eating quality has made it a much loved and profitable variety. It was so disappointing for local farmers that it was becoming susceptible to disease.

What we have done is to introduce a disease resistance gene into Jumli Marshi from a variety first released in the Philippines in 1985, to develop three disease resistant versions of this much appreciated variety. The farmers of Jumla have been lobbying to preserve the local variety and this development has been welcomed by the local community. A disease resistant Jumli Marshi will be a game changer for farmers in this challenging high-altitude rice growing environment.”

“Jumli Marshi is nutritious and tasty as well said local, Raj Bahadur Mahat.

ENDS

23.6.23

Further information press@bangor.ac.uk

Editor’s Notes

Jumli Marshi is a native japonica rice landrace cultivated since ancient times at the highest altitude in the world at Chumchaur, Jumla. In the past, fields on the banks of the Tila River would be covered with Jumli Marshi rice.

The research study has shown that the blast fungus has been damaging around 26 percent of the crops every year, causing a loss of Rs60 million.

Image: A plate containing Jumli Marshi rice.

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