PAU develops 7 crop varieties

Tribune News Service

Moga, February 21

Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has developed and recommended seven new and improved varieties of crops. These include PR-128, PR-129 and HKR-47 of paddy, J-1007 fodder maize, J-87 groundnut, JC-12 maize and PCB-165 of bajra.

The varieties of the crops were approved during a meeting of the State Variety Approval Committee which was held recently under the chairmanship of Dr Suntantar Kumar Airi, Director of Agriculture, Punjab.

Dr Navtej Singh Bains, director of research, PAU, and Dr Jaskarn Singh Mahal, director of extension education, said before an approval for cultivation was granted, features of the newly introduced crops had been discussed thoroughly.

The PR-128 variety of paddy is an improved version of PAU-201, and its average paddy yield is 30.50 quintals per acre.

The PR-129 variety of paddy is also an improved version of PAU-201 and its average paddy yield is 30 quintals per acre.

The HKR-47 is a mid-early maturity variety of paddy, and its average yield is 29.5 quintals per acre. The J-1007 variety of maize is moderately resistant to maydis leaf blight and charcoal rot diseases. It yields about 175 quintals of green fodder per acre.