Grains and gills

Maachhe-bhaate Bangali, or so goes the saying.

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Yet Bengalis have, over the years, been rather starved of choices when it comes to these two delicacies that are integral to their identity. Consider this: the Statistical Account of Bengal in 1875 mentioned that undivided Bengal had nearly 10,000 varieties of rice. One hundred and fifty years on, a survey this year showed that 98% of these varieties are now lost. That is not all. Nearly 20 kinds of local fish species have either gone extinct in this state or are facing extinction. It is thus encouraging that the Bengal Biodiversity Board has launched an initiative to bring near-lost varieties of rice and cereals back to Bengal’s kitchens. Alongside, it is also running the Avoy Pukur scheme, which aims to conserve threatened species of local fish.