India possesses an enormous wealth of diversity in short grain aromatic rices which are being cultivated in niche pockets in all most all the states of the country and a number of them even surpass Basmati in one or more characteristics like aroma, texture, elongation on cooking and taste etc. With the demand for aromatic rice increasing steadily in the international market, export of short grain aromatics can augment the rice exports further to bring in more foreign exchange besides meeting the growing internal demands. In this context, development of high yielding short grain aromatics with non lodging, semi dwarf stature while retaining the unique grain and cooking qualities of the aromatic parent assumes significance.