| Sumario: | Indigenous rice varieties like Kalbhat although deeply embedded in local culture, rich in nutrition, resilient to climatic variability, and well adapted to local agroecological conditions, are yet to be mainstreamed within agricultural policies and market structures. This policy brief examines the potential of enhancing indigenous rice cultivation and improving market access as a pathway to strengthen food sovereignty, diversify incomes, and build climate resilience among smallholder farmers in Maharashtra. The brief highlights key constraints faced by traditional rice systems, including weak market linkages, inadequate post-harvest and processing infrastructure, and generational shifts away from labor-intensive farming. These barriers have reduced the economic viability of indigenous crops, particularly in a saturated rice market dominated by high-yielding varieties. Community-based practices such as seed banks, traditional processing methods, and circular reuse of by-products demonstrate the environmental and social sustainability of indigenous rice systems. Importantly, consumers are becoming nutrition-conscious, and preferences are shifting towards consumption of organic and indigenous crop varieties. Growing awareness of nutrition and food quality has led households to rediscover indigenous rice varieties, signaling an opportunity for policy to reinforce and scale this trend. The brief argues that strengthening value chains, promoting farmer cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), supporting youth-led sustainable agri-enterprises, and linking indigenous rice to local tourism and niche markets can unlock significant livelihood benefits. Strategic policy support can thus reposition indigenous rice varieties as viable, future-oriented assets within regional food systems.
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