Wayanad Gandhakasala rice

This is a scented variety of rice grown mostly by the members of the tribal communities of in Panamaram, Sultan Bathery, and Mananthavady areas in Wayanad.

[6] The Community Agrobiodiversity Center in Kalpetta, Wayanad, established by MSSRF has actively been involved in efforts to conserve these specialty varieties of rice since 1997.

This was made possible due to the efforts of SEED CARE, an association of traditional paddy cultivators of Wayanad, under the guidance of MSSRF’s Community Agro-biodiversity Centre.

This was due to the joint efforts of Kerala Agricultural University and Wayanad Zilla Nellulpadaka Karshaka Samithi.

It was the agro-ecological conditions, the methods of organic cultivation, traditional genetic makeup of cultivars, and unique processing technologies that has produced the specific aroma and flavour of jeerakasala and gandhakasala rice varieties.