The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) today said that two superior chickpea varieties has been developed through molecular breeding and they are best suited for cultivation in 6 states.
The two chickpea varieties i.e. ‘Pusa Chickpea 10216’ & ‘Super Annigeri 1’ (MABC-WR-SA-1) have been jointly developed by the ICAR & University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur (Karnataka) in association with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics via genomic interventions in breeding called molecular breeding.
States that would be benefitted from these chickpea varieties include Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
A senior official of ICAR said ‘Pusa Chickpea 10216’ is a drought tolerant variety with an average yield of 1,447 kilo / hectare with over 11% yield superiority over the regular check variety ‘Pusa 372’ under moisture stress condition in central regions of the country.
The new chickpea variety has been introduced to replace ‘Pusa 372’ variety. It matures in 110 days and is fairly resistant to Fusarium wilt, dry root rot & stunt diseases of chickpea. This variety will be released in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat & Bundelkhand region of UP.
The official told that the other variety MABC-WR-SA-1 or Super Annigeri 1 has been developed for release in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. It has an average yield of 1,898 kilo / hectare with 7% higher yield over existing leading variety ‘Annigere-1’ of Karnataka.
This variety is also resistant to Fusarium wilt disease, which is an important yield reducing factor in Southern part of India. It matures in 95 to 110 days.
ICAR has been developing new varieties of chickpeas, from time to time as per the demand and environment conditions. To know more about those varieties you can visit the official website of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
Source - Economics Times
