Emoinu Phou variety could be answer to drought, flood
Source: The Sangai Express / Yaiphaba Meitei Kharibam

Imphal, July 10 2025: With climate change bringing frequent floods and drought-like situations, the necessity for a super paddy crop that can survive the harshest of the climate has increased.

While floods weren't common in the past decades, it has become a frequent phenomena that submerge hundreds of hectares of paddy fields each year, bringing huge losses to farmers and threatening the State's food security.

If you're a farmer and looking for a variety of paddy crops that can withstand flood and drought-like situations and still give you high yield, then this article is for you.

Emoinu Phou variety could be answer to drought, flood

The CAU-R5, better known as Emoinu Phou, is a high-yielding variety of rice that has emerged as a potential flood and drought tolerant paddy.

The variety of the rice was developed and released by the Central Agricultural University, Imphal on May 23, 2024, and is one of CAU-R series of rice varieties.

The CAU-R5 (Emoinu Phou) is specifically recommended as the main Kharif crop for rainfed as well as irrigated wetland paddy fields of the valley.

It is superior and yields 9.90 % to 13.98 % more than the CAU-R1 variety known as Tamphaphou.

The average yield range of the CAU-R5 (Emoinu Phou) is 6-7 tonnes per hectare under normal cultivation practices, and has the potential to reach 12.5 tonnes per hectare.

The duration of the crop ranges from 125 to 130 days in the Kharif season.

"I cultivated CAU-R5 Emoinu Phou last year, and it saved me from incurring a major loss," said former District Agriculture Officer, Hafijur Rahman, sharing his experiment with the variety of rice to The Sangai Express.

The retired Agri Officer from Thoubal Moijing said Emoinu is a quality rice and it is highly recommended for farmers who often face losses due to flooding.

"I was told about this variety of paddy by a farmer and I cultivated it last year.

It was a major success," he said.

Hafijur said all the paddy fields including his were submerged under the water due to flooding last year for around 8 days.

While all the paddy crops of other varieties in the neighbouring fields perished due to the flooding, the Emoinu Phou in his field survived and gave high yield, Hafijur said.

Leishangthem Rajen, from Thoubal Wangmataba, said he recommends Emoinu Phou as a good choice for paddy fields that face drought-like situations frequently.

Rajen said his paddy fields in Thoubal suffered drought-like situation last year, however, it didn't affect the yield.

"There were cracks all over the ground due to lack of rainfall and irrigation water.

I was worried that our Emoinu Phou wouldn't survive.

However, it not only survived the drought but also gave high yield," Rajen said.

The base of the Emoinu paddy plant is broad and strong.

This must be the reason it can survive both flood and drought-like conditions.

The paddy crop may be suitable for cultivation in the wetlands, Rajen said.

Professor Thokchom Renuka Devi, who bred CAU-R5 (Emoinu Phou) said the variety was developed with the sole aim to produce a high yielding variety of rice.

While there were no attempts made to make the variety tolerant to flood or drought, it may have got the trait from its parents, said the Head of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal.

The work to develop the Emoinu Phou started in 2012 .

Renuka explained that the Emoinu Phou was derived from the combination of CAU-R1 (Tamphaphou) and Akhanphou.

Notably, the CAU-R1 (Tamphaphou) variety was developed by Professor M Rohinikumar Singh of CAU, and it was released on April 18, 2018 for the States of Manipur and Meghalaya.

With an average yield of 5.5-6.5 tonnes per hectares, the CAU-R1 (Tamphaphou) has been specifically recommended as a Kharif main crop for rainfed as well as irrigated wetland paddy fields of Manipur valley and Meghalaya.

The CAU-R1 (Tamphaphou) is known to be flood tolerant and the Akhanphou has been proved to be drought tolerant in actual practice by farmers, Renuka said.

The flood and drought tolerant characteristics of the Emoinu paddy plant, as it has been described by farmers, may also be because of its strong and broad base, she added.

On the quality of the rice, Renuka said the Emoinu rice is more tender than other varieties giving it a superior taste.

She, however, said whether the variety is actually tolerant to flood and drought or not has not been established scientifically.

Work is on to conduct a molecular testing of the rice and this will confirm if it is truly flood and drought tolerant, Renuka said.

However, farmers' belief in the CAU-R5 (Emoinu Phou) as a flood and drought tolerant variety of rice has been reinforced by their experience in the field.

A farmer from Lamlai, who had cultivated Emoinu Phou last year, said his standing paddy plants were submerged under water for over 11 days and they survived.

"There was flooding and our entire field and all the paddy plants were completely submerged for around 11 days.

We were worried that the crops would die.

But when the water receded, the paddy plants were found standing, and it gave high yield," said the farmer.

The success of Emoinu Phou in Lamlai has encouraged a lot of farmers in the region to opt for this "super crop variety" this year, he added.

(This article was written under the 6th Manipur State Level Media Fellowship Programme on Climate Change Reporting of the Directorate of Environment & Climate Change) .