Local Red-spined biotype
The most widely grown planting material across the Bihar–UP–Bengal belt — a farmer-saved local biotype with a reddish, sharply two-spined nut, carried over between ponds rather than bought fresh each year.
Quick facts
- Type
- Farmer-saved tuber/seedling (local biotype)
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- ~6–7 months
- Expected yield
- 20–30 q/ha, pond-dependent
- Suitable soil
- Pond/diked-field silt (standing water)
About this variety
The Local Red-spined biotype is the planting material most singhara growers across Bihar's Mithila and Kosi districts, eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal actually use — not a formally released, institute-bred variety, but a farmer-selected and farmer-saved population distinguished by its reddish-tinted, sharply two-horned nut. Growers carry planting material over from one season to the next as sprouted tubers lifted from the pond floor, or let the plant self-seed and thin the resulting seedlings, rather than sourcing certified seed through any formal channel, since none exists for this crop the way it does for makhana's Swarna Vaidehi. Yield and nut quality vary noticeably from one pond to the next depending on how carefully a grower has selected planting stock over years — a real, if informal, form of on-farm variety improvement.
Key characteristics
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
~6–7 months
Expected yield
20–30 q/ha, pond-dependent
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
Pest & disease considerations
Major diseases
- Not formally documented; standard field hygiene applies
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Freely available within the growing belt — no need to source from a nursery or institute.
- Well adapted to local pond conditions through years of informal farmer selection.
Things to consider
- No formal quality guarantee — yield and nut quality depend entirely on the specific pond's planting-stock history.
- Yields notably lower than the ICAR-NRC Makhana improved selections (IRS/IGS) in station trials.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Bihar
- Uttar Pradesh
- West Bengal