The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said that it has identified 8 new hybrid varieties of maize as promising for release in different seasons & agro-ecologies in the country.
It said that the maize varieties were identified after discussion with the agri scientists through a digital training of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) attended by as many as 150 participants from across the nation.
While addressing the workshop, Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, ICAR Director General appreciated the efforts of maize scientists for continuing with the research work amid COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Mohapatra asked the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research (ICAR-IIMR), Ludhiana to carry out basic, strategic and applied research for improving production, productivity & sustainability of the crop.
He added that AICRP on maize needs to play the lead role in making maize as the future crop of the country.
ICAR in a statement said, "In this workshop, eight new maize hybrids have been recognized as promising for the release in different seasons & agro-ecologies of the country".
A bilingual mobile app known as ''Makka'' was launched for the farmers, industries & other stakeholders in maize. This app (Hindi and English) contains video, static & dynamic features on the crop varietal selection, crop cultivation practices, pest fertiliser/pesticide calculation, mechanisation, news or updates & advisories to the farmers, the ICAR said.
In addition, demos were held in over 1,500 hectare on enhancing maize productive practices in various parts of the country.
Besides this, the workshop suggested zero-tilled maize after rice; sensor-based nitrogen management; post emergence herbicide for weed control to increase farm profitability, input use efficiency & reduce drudgery in maize production.
The workshop also discussed about the outbreak of Fall Armyworm (FAW) that had threatened maize crop last year. The ICAR said, to control the pest disease, around 102 training programmes were conducted in India, benefiting more than 10,000 stakeholders for management of FAW.
