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Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat
Assam Agricultural University is the first institution of its kind in the whole of North-Eastern Region of India. The main goal of this institution is to produce globally competitive human resources in farm sectorand to carry out research in both conventional and frontier areas for production optimization as well as to disseminate the generated technologies as public good for benefitting the food growers/produces and traders involved in the sector while emphasizing on sustainability, equity and overall food security at household level.
Genesis of AAU -
The embryo of the agricultural research in the state of Assam was formed as early as 1897 with the establishment of the Upper Shillong Experimental Farm (now in Meghalaya) just after about a decade of creation of the agricultural department in 1882. However, the seeds of agricultural research in today’s Assam were sown in the dawn of the twentieth century with the establishment of two Rice Experimental Stations, one at Karimganj in Barak valley in 1913 and the other at Titabor in Brahmaputra valley in 1923. Subsequent to these research stations, a number of research stations were established to conduct research on important crops, more specifically, jute, pulses, oilseeds etc. The Assam Agricultural University was established on April 1, 1969 under The Assam Agricultural University Act, 1968’ with the mandate of imparting farm education, conduct research in agriculture and allied sciences and to effectively disseminate technologies so generated. Before establishment of the University, there were altogether 17 research schemes/projects in the state under the Department of Agriculture. By July 1973, all the research projects and 10 experimental farms were transferred by the Government of Assam to the AAU which already inherited the College of Agriculture and its farm at Barbheta, Jorhat and College of Veterinary Sciences at Khanapara, Guwahati.
Subsequently, College of Community Science at Jorhat (1969), College of Fisheries at Raha (1988), Biswanath College of Agriculture at Biswanath Chariali (1988) and Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science at Joyhing, North Lakhimpur (1988) were established. Presently, the University has three more colleges under its jurisdiction, viz., Sarat Chandra Singha College of Agriculture, Chapar, College of Horticulture, Nalbari & College of Sericulture, Titabar. Similarly, few more regional research stations at Shillongani, Diphu, Gossaigaon, Lakhimpur; and commodity research stations at Kahikuchi, Buralikson, Tinsukia, Kharua, Burnihat and Mandira were added to generate location and crop specific agricultural production packages.
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ThesisItem Open Access STATUS OF WOMEN TEA PLANTATION WORKERS IN JORHAT DISTRICT OF ASSAM(2019-07) Jumi, Toko; Borah, SayanikaThe present study entitled as “Status of Women Tea Plantation Workers in Jorhat District of Assam” was conducted in Jorhat district of Assam. Four (4) tea gardens under public corporation from Jorhat sub-division were selected using purposive sampling method. A total of 100 women tea plantation workers were selected randomly using a simple random sampling method. The personal interview method was applied for the collection of primary data. Data were analysed using percentage, mean, standard deviation and ranking. It has been observed that the majority of respondents (45.00%) were under the age group young category i.e. 18-30 years. Majority of respondents (77.00%) were married. More than half of the respondents (52.00%) were illiterate. Cent per cent of the respondents was under Minority and Other Backward Class (MOBC). The data also revealed that the majority of respondents were from the nuclear family (77.00%) and 55 per cent of respondents belonged from a small family (till 4 members). Majority of the respondents lived in Katcha house (88.00%). The pipeline was the source of water for 66 per cent of respondents. 46 per cent of respondents had a low-cost latrine. Daily wage labourer was the occupation of respondent's head of the family for 81 per cent of the respondents. 50 per cent of the respondents earned between (Rs. 4492- Rs. 5012) monthly. A large percentage of the respondents had no subsidiary source of income (96.00%). 51 per cent of the respondents had no membership in any organisation. In material possession, a very high percentage of the respondents possessed traditional Chulha (99.00%), 36 per cent of respondents possessed two-wheeler and in livestock, 52 per cent the respondents possessed hen. It was highlighted that 71 per cent of the respondents had a medium level of mass media exposure. More than half of the respondents had a medium level of conservatism- liberalism (63.00%). It is revealed from the findings that the majority of the respondents made a joint decision with their husbands in taking the final decision in various activities. Independent decision was also seen among the respondents which were highest in areas of maintenance of the house (84.00%), selection and preparation of food (73.00%), voting in the election (66.00%), taking part in social events (44.00%), and recreational activities (40.00%). The data revealed that the majority (51.00%) of the respondents were most interested in poultry farming followed by goat rearing (14.00%). The data also highlighted that in an average respondents spent 7.94 hours in working at tea garden in a day followed by 7.88 hours in sleep, 2.08 hours in kitchen, 0.95 hours in watching TV, listening radio etc, 0.91 hours in personal care, 0.815 hours in care for children and family, 0.69 hours in cleaning, 0.29 in fetching water and cleaning, 0.28 hours in religious activities, 0.25 hours in collection of firewood, 0.10 hours in care for animals and 0.77 hours in social activities. The findings revealed that insufficient wage was ranked I with mean score (2.99), lack of toilet facilities at work was ranked II with mean score (2.95), no provisions for protective gears at work was ranked III with mean score (2.82), back pain due to carrying of tea baskets for a long time was ranked IV with mean score (2.45), cuts and rashes on fingers and palm due to plucking of tea leaves was ranked V with mean score (2.43).ThesisItem Open Access STATUS OF WOMEN TEA PLANTATION WORKERS IN JORHAT DISTRICT OF ASSAM(2019-07) Jumi, Toko; Borah, SayanikaThe present study entitled as “Status of Women Tea Plantation Workers in Jorhat District of Assam” was conducted in Jorhat district of Assam. Four (4) tea gardens under public corporation from Jorhat sub-division were selected using purposive sampling method. A total of 100 women tea plantation workers were selected randomly using a simple random sampling method. The personal interview method was applied for the collection of primary data. Data were analysed using percentage, mean, standard deviation and ranking. It has been observed that the majority of respondents (45.00%) were under the age group young category i.e. 18-30 years. Majority of respondents (77.00%) were married. More than half of the respondents (52.00%) were illiterate. Cent per cent of the respondents was under Minority and Other Backward Class (MOBC). The data also revealed that the majority of respondents were from the nuclear family (77.00%) and 55 per cent of respondents belonged from a small family (till 4 members). Majority of the respondents lived in Katcha house (88.00%). The pipeline was the source of water for 66 per cent of respondents. 46 per cent of respondents had a low-cost latrine. Daily wage labourer was the occupation of respondent's head of the family for 81 per cent of the respondents. 50 per cent of the respondents earned between (Rs. 4492- Rs. 5012) monthly. A large percentage of the respondents had no subsidiary source of income (96.00%). 51 per cent of the respondents had no membership in any organisation. In material possession, a very high percentage of the respondents possessed traditional Chulha (99.00%), 36 per cent of respondents possessed two-wheeler and in livestock, 52 per cent the respondents possessed hen. It was highlighted that 71 per cent of the respondents had a medium level of mass media exposure. More than half of the respondents had a medium level of conservatism- liberalism (63.00%). It is revealed from the findings that the majority of the respondents made a joint decision with their husbands in taking the final decision in various activities. Independent decision was also seen among the respondents which were highest in areas of maintenance of the house (84.00%), selection and preparation of food (73.00%), voting in the election (66.00%), taking part in social events (44.00%), and recreational activities (40.00%). The data revealed that the majority (51.00%) of the respondents were most interested in poultry farming followed by goat rearing (14.00%). The data also highlighted that in an average respondents spent 7.94 hours in working at tea garden in a day followed by 7.88 hours in sleep, 2.08 hours in kitchen, 0.95 hours in watching TV, listening radio etc, 0.91 hours in personal care, 0.815 hours in care for children and family, 0.69 hours in cleaning, 0.29 in fetching water and cleaning, 0.28 hours in religious activities, 0.25 hours in collection of firewood, 0.10 hours in care for animals and 0.77 hours in social activities. The findings revealed that insufficient wage was ranked I with mean score (2.99), lack of toilet facilities at work was ranked II with mean score (2.95), no provisions for protective gears at work was ranked III with mean score (2.82), back pain due to carrying of tea baskets for a long time was ranked IV with mean score (2.45), cuts and rashes on fingers and palm due to plucking of tea leaves was ranked V with mean score (2.43).ThesisItem Open Access WELLNESS OF ELDERLY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOCIALLY ENGAGED AND UNENGAGED RETIRED PEOPLE(2019-07) Devi, Huidrom Rinky; Saikia, JinamoniThe age of elderly comprises of the later part of our life, the period of life after youth and middle age with reference to deterioration (WHO, 2016). The deterioration brings changes in the person‟s active participation in different areas of life, role playing and role performance. Maintenance of strong social relationship and other social activities have been linked to wellness and thereby increase longevity. Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices for a healthy and fulfilling life. The present study entitled “Wellness of Elderly: A comparative study of socially engaged and unengaged retired people” was undertaken with the following objectives: 1. To find out the characteristics of socially engaged and unengaged retired people 2. To study the levels of wellness of retired people 3. Comparison of wellness between socially engaged and unengaged retired people A total of 100 (50 socially engaged retired people and 50 socially unengaged retired people) retired people from the age group of 60 to 70 years were selected purposively from the selected wards from the state of Manipur. A questionnaire was constructed to elicit the background information of the respondents. In order to find out the characteristics of socially engaged and unengaged retired respondents, self constructed questionnaires were administered. A structured standardized questionnaire named „Wellness Self Assessment scale‟ developed by Princeton University (2018) was administered in order to assess the level of wellness of retired people. The findings revealed that 34 per cent of socially engaged and 36 per cent of socially unengaged respondents were between the age of 60 to 65 years. Majority of the respondents were highly educated and belonged to middle income families. Majority (56%) of socially engaged respondents had membership in non government organizations. Socially unengaged respondents were not involved in any kind of organizations owing to their physical frailty (38%), unwillingness (14%) and responsibilities of grandchildren (20%). Less number of respondent were found in socially engaged and unengaged groups who had outstanding level of social (SE-86%, SUE-62%), emotional (SE-86%, SUE-82%) and spiritual (SE- 90%, SUE- 84%) wellness. Significant difference between socially engaged and unengaged respondents were found in the dimensions of intellectual (0.012), occupational (0.005), social (0.001) and spiritual (0.041) wellness. Percentage difference between socially engaged and socially unengaged was found to be highest (5%) in the dimension of social wellness. Among socially engaged respondents, less number of respondents of the age group of 60-65 years were found in outstanding level of social wellness (85.3%) while less number of respondents of the age group of 65-70 years were found in outstanding level of emotional (75%), social (87.5%) and spiritual (81.3%) wellness. Significant differences were also found between socially engaged male and socially unengaged male in the dimensions of intellectual (0.010), occupational (0.011) and social wellness (0.022) where less number of socially unengaged male were found in outstanding level of wellness in these dimensions. There was significant difference between socially engaged female and socially unengaged female in the dimension of social wellness (0.021) where a considerably less number of female respondents (47.4%) were found to have outstanding level of social wellness. It can be concluded that the involvement of elderly people in social organization, either in formal or informal groups, should be a must to lead a purposeful and meaningful life which contributes towards well being of human society.ThesisItem Open Access ENTREPRENEURIAL BEHAVIOUR OF MEMBERS OF SELF HELP GROUPS OF JORHAT DISTRICT OF ASSAM(2019-07) Mudoi, Dhruba Jyoti; Borah, SayanikaSelf Help Groups are considered as one of the most significant tools to adopt participatory approach for social and economic empowerment of women. Now it has been realized that sustainability of Self Help Group is possible through inoculation of the entrepreneurial behaviour and qualities among the members of SHG. Keeping this in view, the present study is entitled as “Entrepreneurial behaviour of member of Self Help Groups of Jorhat district of Assam” was taken with objectives ( i ) To study the background profile of the members of Self Help Groups of Jorhat district of Assam. ( ii ) To find out the extent of participation of the members of Self Help Groups in selected entrepreneurial activities. ( iii ) To explore the entrepreneurial behaviour of the members of selected Self Help Groups of Jorhat district of Assam. The study was carried out in the state of Assam which is situated in the north east part of India. A purposive cum random sampling design was followed for the present study .Jorhat district was purposively selected for the present study. Blocks were selected from National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) initiative blocks. NRLM has clustered all blocks of Jorhat district into 6 blocks. Out of the 6 blocks , 4 blocks were selected purposively. A list of SHG from each selected blocks who had continuously functioning for the last 10 years and engaged in some entrepreneurial activities were prepared. From the list four SHG favourable were selected by using simple random sampling method. Thus all total 16 Self Help Groups were selected for the present study. After selection of the SHG, 10 members from each SHG were selected using simple random sampling for the study. Thus a total of 160 respondents were taken as a sample for the study The findings revealed that a majority of the respondents belonged to the young aged category who were mostly married and had education up to high school level. Most of them belonged to nuclear family with small family size and having marginal land holdings with cultivation as the main occupation of the family. Most of the respondents had medium income level and were member of one organization. A high percentage ( 62.50 % ) of the members depended on Gramin Vikash Bank for their financial support in the entrepreneurial activities of the SHG’s. From the study, it was observed that majority ( 48.00 % ) of the respondents had medium level of participation in terms of selected entrepreneurial activities in managerial and marketing activities. In terms of entrepreneurial behaviour, a majority ( 71.00 % ) of the respondents had medium level of entrepreneurial behaviour and out of all the behaviour, management orientation seen as the common behaviour and therefore was given Rank I ( 48.8 ) .ThesisItem Open Access NUTRIENT AND WEED MANAGEMENT IN BUCKWHEAT (Fagopyrum esculentum) AFTER SALI RICE(2019-12) Timung, Bamon; Choudhary, J.K.An experiment entitled “Nutrient and weed management in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) after sali rice” was conducted at Instructional-cum-Research farm, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat during the rabi season of 2018-19 to study the effect of nutrient and weed management practices on buckwheat after sali rice harvest. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. The treatment consisted of four nutrient management practices viz., control, application of 20-10-10 kg/ha N-P2O5-K2O, respectively, application of 20-10-10 kg/ha N-P2O5-K2O, respectively + 1.25t/ha vermicompostand application of 20-10-10 kg/ha N-P2O5-K2O, respectively + 2.5t/ha vermicompostand three weed management treatments viz.,control,pre-emergence application of pendimethalin@ 0.75 kg/haand pre-emergenceapplication of pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg/ha + dryland weeder at 40 DAS. The soil of the experiment site was sandy loam in texture, acidic in reaction (pH: 5.6) medium in organic C (0.58 %), available N (259.56 kg/ha),P2O5 (20.40 kg/ha) and available K2O (161.23 kg/ha). The weeds of the experimental field wereEleusine indica, Panicum repens, Paspalum compressus, Digitaria setigera, Cynodon dactylon among the grasses; Cyperus rotundusamong the sedge; and Ageratum houstonianum, Commelina benghalensis, Polygonum plebeium, Mimosa pudica and Acmella ciliata among the broad leaved. The density and dry weight of weeds in rainfed buckwheat were found to be significantlylesserwith application of 20-10-10 kg/ha N-P2O5-K2O, respectively + 2.5t/ha vermicompostcompared to other treatments. As a result, the uptake of N, P and K by weeds was found to be significantly lesser with N3. The growth parameters like plant height, number of primary branches/plant and yield attributing characters viz., number of cyme/plant,number of seeds/cyme were found to be significantly higher in N3. The highest seed yield (1249.99 kg/ha), stover yield (2046.76 kg/ha) wasthus recorded with this treatment. In respect of weed management,pre-emergence application of pendimethalin@ 0.75 kg/ha + dryland weeder operation at 40 DAS was found to significantly lower the density and dry weight, N,P and K content and uptake of weeds in rainfed buckwheat.Thus, the growth and yield attributing characters of rainfed buckwheatimproved with this treatment which recorded the highest seed(1080.55 kg/ha) and stover(1824.02 kg/ha) yields. The nutrient as well as weed management interacted significantly and the combination of the two above-mentioned treatments was the best treatment combination withthe seed yield of 1333.32 kg/ha and stover yield of 2079.16 kg/ha.This treatment combination was also found to be the best with a gross return of Rs. 47,705.72, net return of Rs. 26,032.58 and B: C ratio of 1.20.ThesisItem Open Access HISTOPATHOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN TRADITIONAL RICE CULTIVARS DUE TO RICE ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE, Meloidogyne graminicola(2019-11) Gogoi, Priyanka; Borgohain, N.An investigation was carried out to observe the histopathological and biochemical changes in traditional rice cultivars of Assam. A total of 35 rice cultivars were screened against rice root-knot nematode Meloidogyne graminicola. Out of these, eight cultivars viz., Bongal ahu, Malbhog ahu, Naga ahu, Bahadur sub-1, Shraboni, Disang, Kolong and Jaymati were found to be resistant whereas five cultivars viz., Ahu joha, Bhogali bora, Aghoni bora, Ranjit sub-1 and Kanaklata found to be moderately resistant. The two traditional cultivars viz., Sambha mashuri and Kanaklata were found to be susceptible and the remaining 20 cultivars were found to be highly susceptible. Histopathological studies of resistant cultivars revealed that there is no establishment of feeding cells with hypersensitive like reaction in pericycle areas, whereas in susceptible cultivars multinucleate giant cells with dense cytoplasm and large number of vacuole were observed. The hypertrophied and hyperplasia cell were observed surrounding the body of the nematodes and the giant cells were observed at little distance to the nematode head. While evaluating the chlorophyll content, the highest chlorophyll was found in the cultivar Naga ahu i.e 0.040 μg/ml and lowest in Dhanshree. Similarly lowest phenolic content (0.0004 mg/ml) was recorded in the cultivar Sambha mashuri and the highest in Disang and Jaymati (0.00041 mg/ml). The enzymatic activity of PPO was maximum (0.294 mg/min) in cultivar Jaymati and minimum (0.140 mg/min) in Sambha mashuri at 3min time interval. The activity of PAL was highest in the Malbhog ahu (1.57 m-1 mg-1 protein) followed by Bahadur sub-1 (1.51 m-1 mg-1 protein) and minimum in Sambha mashuri (0.16 m-1 mg-1 protein).ThesisItem Open Access EMOTIONAL MATURITY OF ADOLESCENTS IN INTACT FAMILY AND SINGLE PARENT FAMILY(2019-07) PUNIYA, TASSOAdolescence is a crucial period in an individual’s life. It consists of both challenges and opportunities for growth, accompanied with issues like independence and self identity. Adolescent during this crucial period may come across various psychological and emotional challenges.So, proper instruction and supervision of emotions during this period becomes very important. Family being the first and the primary support system in adolescent’s life, to a great extent can help the adolescent in overcoming these challenges andhelp them in buildingpositive emotional approach towards life.The presentstudy aimed to assess the emotional maturity of adolescent from intact family and single parent family,their differences in emotional maturity and also differences in emotional maturity in relation to their gender.A total of 104 samples were selected for the study consisting of equal number of respondents from both single-parent families and intact parent families from the age group of 13 to 16 years.The selected samples were equally distributed among genders for both the families in order to assess the gender difference.To elicit the background information of the respondents a self constructed questionnaire was prepared. The scale named Emotional Maturity Scale developed by Dr. Yashwir Singh and Dr. Mahesh Bhargava (2010) was administered for assessing the emotional maturity of adolescents.The findings of the study revealed a significant difference in the emotional maturity of adolescents in intact parent families and single parent families. It was found that none of the respondents from both the families were extremely emotionally mature and moderately emotionally mature. Majority of the respondents from intact parent families were found to be emotionally immature and majority of the respondents from single parent families were found to be extremely emotionally immature.The mean score of adolescents from single parent families were more in all dimensions of emotional maturity as compared to the adolescents from intact parent families.Further, it also revealed no significant difference in the emotional maturity of adolescents in relation to their gender.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON IN-VITRO STARCH DIGESTIBILITY AND GLYCEMIC INDEX OF SELECTED RICE VARIETIES OF ASSAM(AAU, Jorhat, 2019-07) Devi, Laishram Maria; Das, PranatiRice is one of the most widely consumed staple foods, especially in Asia. It accounts for 20 per cent of the world’s dietary energy supply. As a major component of rice, starch plays an important role in human nutrition, and consequently its characterisation in rice variants is of high nutritional importance. To this, the present study estimated the in-vitro starch digestibility (resistant starch (RS), non-resistant starch (NRS) and total starch (TS)), available starch (AS), hydrolysis index (HI) and in-vitro glycemic index (GI) of different processing techniques. Ten red kernel rice varieties of Assam were analyzed for the effect of both raw rice flour and freshly cooked rice in dehusked rice and 6 per cent degree of polishing. Dehusked and polished rice yield were 68.33±0.38 to 75.23±0.19 per cent and 64.14±0.13 to 73.67±0.29 per cent, respectively. Head rice yield (HRY) and broken rice yield (BRY) of the dehusked rice varieties were 54.03±0.34 to 74.34±0.05 per cent and 0.68±0.06 to 14.55±0.32 per cent, respectively. Polishing of rice grains decreased HRY (41.76±0.40 to 68.39±0.09%) but increased BRY (2.05± 0.11 to 22.52±0.41%). The dehusked samples had 17.64±0.11 to 19.17±0.04 g/100 g of RS, 61.19±0.07 to 66.28±0.19 g/100g of NRS and 80.01±0.11 to 85.02±0.20 g/100g of TS. Resistant starch decreased significantly (p≤0.05) on polishing as well as cooking, while NRS and TS increased significantly (p≤0.05) in polishing. However, TS decreased on cooking. Available starch, hydrolysis index and glycemic index of the dehusked rice samples were in the range of 51.80±0.14 to 89.57±0.51 per cent, 3.37±0.02 to 14.67±0.03 per cent and 41.91±0.03 to 50.99±0.11 per cent, respectively. Polishing of the rice samples showed no significant (p≥0.05) change in AS, HI and GI. Cooking significantly reduced AS, whereas HI and GI content increased significantly (p≤0.05) upon cooking. Therefore, polishing and cooking of rice grains had significant effect on the in-vitro starch digestibility and GI. In addition, varieties of Jul and Kaoi Jamfri had comparatively higher RS and lower GI, and thus can be recommended for popularization. Also, further research can be extended for analyzing the effect of degree of polishing and different cooking methods on starch digestibility and GI. Such nutritionally distinguished rice varieties could be used to develop rice based products and supplementary food mixes which have therapeutic values.ThesisItem Open Access EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON NUTRIENT COMPOSITION AND BIOACTIVE COMPONENTS OF SELECTED RICE VARIETIES OF ASSAM(AAU, Jorhat, 2019-07) Gogoi, Senorita; Das, PranatiA study was carried out with the objective to determine the effect of processing on physico- chemical properties and bioactive compounds of selected red rice varieties of Assam. Seven red pigmented rice varieties were selected and procured from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Silapathar, Dhemaji. A series of laboratory tests were performed on both the uncooked and cooked forms of dehusked and 6 per cent polished rice samples to find out the physico- chemical properties, mineral content and the bio- active compounds. The dehusked and polished rice yield of the selected red rice varieties was found to be in the range of 68.33±0.52 to 75.23±0.47 per cent and 64.14±0.39 to 73.67±0.69 per cent, respectively. Head rice yield (HRY) and broken rice yield (BRY) of the varieties ranged from 55.13±0.99 to 73.93±0.73 per cent and 0.93±0.16 to 13.60±0.58 per cent, respectively and polishing of the rice grains decreased HRY (40.82±1.12 to 67.44±1.23 per cent) but increased the BRY (2.96± 0.19 to 23.15±1.06 per cent). Length, breadth, thickness and length/breadth ratio of the dehusked rice samples ranged from 5.00±0.33 to 5.90±0.32 mm, 2.10±0.21 to 2.75±0.35 mm, 1.59±0.14 to 2.03±0.02 mm and 1.89±0.40 to 2.85±0.36, respectively. Thousand grain weight, volume and bulk density ranged from 13.46±0.00 to 19.40±0.00 g, 16.67±0.29 to 25.83±0.29 ml and 0.69±0.01 to 0.88±0.01 g/ml in the dehusked samples. The length, breadth, thickness, thousand grain weight and thousand grain volume of rice varieties significantly (p≤0.05) reduced on polishing, whereas the length/ breadth ratio and bulk density increased. Water absorption capacity (WAC), cooking time and grain elongation ratio of the dehusked rice samples ranged from 2.06±0.16 to 2.77±0.21 ml/g, 21.66±1.53 min. to 38.33±1.15 min. and 0.98±0.01 to 1.14±0.02. Water absorption capacity and grain elongation ratio significantly (p≤0.05) increased whereas the CT decreased significantly (p≤0.05) on polishing. The dehusked samples had 11.64±0.08 to 12.75± 0.04 g/100 g of moisture, 9.31±0.00 to 13.50± 0.66 g/100 g of crude protein, 2.53± 0.09 to 3.71±0.04 g/100 g of crude fat, 0.56±0.01 to 0.81±0.03 g/100 g of crude fibre, 1.24±0.01 to 2.60±0.03 g/100 g of total ash, 68.60±1.44 to 73.87±0.18 g/100 g of carbohydrate and 352.99±0.80 to 361.86±2.78 kcal/100 g of energy. The crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and total ash content decreased significantly (p≤0.05) on polishing as well as cooking. The carbohydrate content significantly (p≤0.05) increased on polishing as well as cooking. The dehusked samples had iron, zinc, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium content in the range of 4.47±0.18 to 12.46±0.63 mg/100g, 1.41±0.11 to 2.93±0.05 mg/100 g, 9.96±0.11 to 37.73±0.58 mg/100g, 134.54±3.44 to 221.57±3.48 mg/100 g and 0.13±0.01 to 1.21±0.00 mg/100 g, respectively. Polishing significantly (p≤0.05) reduced the iron, zinc, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium content. Cooking of the rice samples showed no significant (p≥0.05) change in the iron, zinc, calcium content on cooking, while magnesium content reduced significantly (p≤0.05). No significant (p≥0.05) change in phosphorus content was seen in the dehusked samples, whereas the polished samples showed significant (p≤0.05) loss of phosphorus upon cooking. The bioactive compounds were determined in terms of total antioxidant capacity (TOA), total anthocyanin content (TAC), total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total carotenoid content (TCC) and were observed to significantly (p≤0.05) decreased on polishing as well as cooking. The TOA, TAC, TPC, TFC and TCC of the dehusked samples ranged from of 44.67±0.45 to 81.08±0.45 per cent, 11.35±0.45 to 23.71±0.94 mg/100 g, 46.13±0.88 to 109.50±0.64 mg GAE/100 g, 12.24±1.19 to 39.23±1.59 mg QE/100 g and 0.42±0.02 to 1.85±0.07 μg/100 g, respectively. The present study provides the evidence that polishing and cooking of the rice grains has significant effect on the physical and nutrient quality of the rice varieties. The variety Kaoi Jamfri showed better mineral content and antioxidant capacity than rest of the varieties and can be recommended for popularization among rural and urban population. Further studies may be taken out to find out the degree of polishing at which maximum milling recovery and retention of nutrient takes place. The rice varieties may be used to formulate supplementary food mixes, develop rice based products. The unpolished rice varieties may be recommended for consumption to prevent nutrient deficiencies among the people. Further studies can be taken out to study the use of the rice bran to formulate functional food.
