The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has developed, recommended and released five crop varieties for cultivation in Punjab.

The crop varieties include Pusa Basmati 1847 of rice, DKC 9144 and Bioseed 9788 of maize, PCB 167 of bajra and Punjab Cheena 1 of proso millet. These varieties were approved during the meeting of the state varietal approval committee, held under the chairmanship of Jaswant Singh, director of Punjab agriculture and farmers’ welfare department.

About Pusa Basmati 1847, AS Dhatt, director of research, 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 11.7 % higher yield (19.0 quintal per acre) as compared to parent Pusa Basmati 1509 (17.0 quintal per acre). It possesses moderate level of resistance to neck blast under artificial testing conditions.”

Referring to maize varieties, Dhatt told, “DKC 9144 is a late maturing maize hybrid, yielding 24.6 quintal per acre and exhibiting grain yield superiority of 2.3 % over the check private hybrid Adv 9293 and -8.5 % over PAU hybrid PMH 14.” “Bioseed 9788 is also a late maturing maize hybrid, yielding 24.3 quintal per acre and exhibiting grain yield superiority of 1.0 % over the check private hybrid Adv 9293 and -9.2 % over PAU hybrid PMH 14,” he said.

Highlighting the emphasis on millets, MS Bhullar, director of extension education, PAU, shared, “Bajra variety PCB 167 comes to 50 % flowering, about 36 and 19 days earlier than dual purpose checks PCB 166 and PCB 165, respectively. Its average grain yield is 15.6 quintal per acre which is 16.8 % higher than the check variety PCB 165 but at par with PCB 166. As compared to check varieties, PCB 167 is shorter in plant height and possesses better grain nutritional characteristics, especially crude protein, crude fibre, and starch content, along with high iron and zinc content. The grains of PCB 167 possess good popping potential and are also suitable for making value added products.”

Explaining Proso millet Punjab Cheena 1, Bhullar said, “It is a short duration variety that matures in about 66 days with an average grain yield of 3.2 quintal 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).”