Chandauli Kala Namak Black Rice Ganga Plain Uttar Pradesh

Kala Namak is an ancient aromatic black-husked rice variety cultivated in Chandauli, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Siddharth Nagar districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh on the Ganga plain bordering Nepal Terai. The grain produces violet-black husk with a distinctive floral aroma from high 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline content — the same aromatic compound found in Basmati but with a shorter grain and different mouthfeel. Buddhist scriptures record that Kala Namak rice was offered at Kapilavastu (now Siddharth Nagar) to the Buddha as a royal gift. Geographical Indication tag protection was awarded in 2013 covering the Siddharth Nagar-Chandauli agroclimatic zone. Cooperative seed networks maintained by PRADAN and Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Department have restored cultivation across 15,000 hectares after near-extinction from high-yield hybrid displacement. Premium import buyers in Japan, Singapore, and the UK pay specialty prices for certified GI Kala Namak rice.