Abstract

Thirty two paddy varieties of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were studied for their milling performance. Among them eight promising varieties known for raw milling were grown under identical conditions at Thanjavur. The crop was harvested at right moisture, dried under low intensity of sunlight and milled at laboratory and commercial level after storing 3 and 6 months. Among the high yielding varieties, ADT 39, MTU 2069, MTU 2077, MTU 7029 and White Ponni were found suitable for raw milling, having less than 5% milling breakage. The highest milling yield was observed in ADT 39. The two traditional varieties Kitchili samba and Jeeraga samba are the best regarding their milling resistance. The widely grown White Ponni of Tamil Nadu even at 15.4% harvest moisture has shown better suncheck resistance and has very good cooking performance. Though the milling yield was high in all the MTU varieties, the cooking performance was better for the variety MTU 7029.

Keywords: Traditional varieties, High yielding varieties, Milling yield, Cooking quality