Visakhapatnam: City dwellers prefer unpolished rice to polished variety

Visakhapatnam: The coronavirus pandemic is influencing the eating habits of the people. Sticking to their strict budgets, they pay special attention to boosting their immunity and reducing vulnerability to the infection by switching to healthier alternatives.

Apart from consulting with health experts, a lot of research is being done on social media to make better food choices that comprise a substantial quantity of protein, fibre and reduced amount of sugar.

With rice being the staple food for many, the health-conscious lot is slowly but steadily moving towards unpolished or single polished rice rather than the polished variety. Given the health benefits of both the rice varieties, many consumers are sourcing them directly from the rice mills, paying a visit to rural areas. "We are basically rice-eaters. We have been using single polished rice for the past six months. Though it doesn't taste as great as polished rice, we got accustomed to it as it is comparatively a better alternative," says B Srinivasa Rao, an entrepreneur.

Small rice mills located in Anandapuram, Chodavaram and Paderu are witnessing a brisk business as bags of unpolished rice are flying off the shelves. "Of late, there is an increase in the number of consumers arriving from the city to return home with bags of single polished or unpolished rice from our mill," said M Lakshmi Narayana, who operates a rice mill for the past three decades. His samba masoori variety of rice has larger takers compared to the sona masoori grains.

B Rajeswari, another mill owner, says, "Since the unpolished rice is not as tastier as the polished one, the consumption in urban areas is comparatively less. But now, the trend is slowly changing."

Several small rice mills dot the rural pockets. Mill owners procure grains from local farmers, de-husk them and make them ready-to-procure for the consumers trickling in. They say the demand for unpolished rice has gone up to 30 to 40 per cent in recent months.