BANGLA BOY MINIKET EC

The origin of the word in India, most probably West Bengal. It is really amazing that the word Minikit and popular rice is a synonym to each other nowadays. It is a popular notion that the brand of rice Miniket comes from the milling of a rice variety cultivated in the same name.

In fact, there was no registered variety nor a landrace (Deshi jat) one is available in Bangladesh. Even in India, there is no variety available officially in the name of Minikit. However, I remember a line named Minikit was included in one of my studies someone and a half-decade ago collected from farmers’ fields somewhere from the southwestern part of the country.

The variety could not compete with the other better varieties so automatically screened out from the BRRI regular working stocks. However, it may be available in our gene bank for future use. But in fact, Minikit could not be a name of a rice variety. It could be a breeding line or a pre-released variety that had been slipped away from the famous “Minikit” trial conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative, Government of India. I am sure that the line was unique in terms of shape, size and taste, but the adaptation ability might not be up to the mark with respect to our condition.