Punjab Agricultural University releases new rice, maize, bajra, proso millet varieties for cultivation

Ludhiana, February 27

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has developed, recommended and released five crop varieties for general cultivation in Punjab. These included Pusa Basmati 1847, DKC 9144 and Bioseed 9788 of maize, PCB 167 of bajra and Punjab Cheena 1 of proso millet.

features of new varieties of crops

• Pusa Basmati 1847 possesses blast and bacterial blight resistance genes in background of Pusa Basmati 1509. It yields on an average 11.7 per cent higher yield (19.0 quintals per acre)
• DKC 9144 is a late maturing maize hybrid, yielding 24.6 quintals per acre and exhibiting grain yield superiority of 2.3 per cent over the check private hybrid Adv 9293 and 8.5 per cent over PAU hybrid PMH 14
• Bajra variety PCB 167 has average grain yield of 15.6 quintals per acre which is 16.8 per cent higher than the check variety PCB 165 but on a par with PCB 166
• Proso millet Punjab Cheena 1 is a short duration variety that matures in about 66 days with an average grain yield of 3.2 quintals per acre

These varieties of crops were approved during the meeting of the State Varietal Approval Committee, held under the chairmanship of Dr Jaswant Singh, Director of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Punjab, here recently.

Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research and Dr MS Bhullar, Director of Extension Education, PAU, said that thorough discussions took place regarding salient features of varieties before giving final nod.

About Pusa Basmati 1847, Dr Dhatt explained, “It is a high yielding basmati genotype derived from its recurrent parent Pusa Basmati 1509. It possesses blast and bacterial blight resistance genes in background of Pusa Basmati 1509. It yields on an average 11.7 per cent higher yield (19.0 quintals per acre)”.

Referring to maize varieties, Dr Dhatt told, “DKC 9144 is a late maturing maize hybrid, yielding 24.6 quintals per acre and exhibiting grain yield superiority of 2.3 per cent over the check private hybrid Adv 9293 and 8.5 per cent over PAU hybrid PMH 14.”

Highlighting the emphasis on millets, Dr Bhullar shared, “Bajra variety PCB 167 comes to 50 per cent flowering about 36 and 19 days earlier than dual purpose checks PCB 166 and PCB 165, respectively. Its average grain yield is 15.6 quintals per acre which is 16.8 per cent higher than the check variety PCB 165 but on a par with PCB 166.”

Explaining Proso millet Punjab Cheena 1, Dr Bhullar said, “It is a short duration variety that matures in about 66 days with an average grain yield of 3.2 quintals per acre. It possesses good quantities of protein (12.28 mg/100 g), resistant starch (20.91 g/100 g), calcium (40.95 mg/100 g) and iron (4.02 mg/100 g) as well as low predicted glycemic index (54.39) and low glycemic load (32.51).”