Punjab releases 9 new agri varieties

Ludhiana, Mar 4 (UNI) The Punjab state Variety Approval Committee has given its approval for the release of nine improved varieties of six crops.

The approval was granted following a detailed discussion on each variety at a meeting of the Committee held on on March 1 at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) here. The meeting was chaired by Dr B S Sidhu, state Director of Agriculture.

The varieties given approval are Pusa-1121 of rice, Punjab Basmati-2 of basmati rice, LH-2076 of cotton, RCH-308 Bt and RCH-314 Bt of cotton, Punjab Sweet Corn-1 of maize, CoH-119 of sugarcane, PSH-569 of sunflower and mash-114 of kharif mash (pulses).

PAU Director of Extension Education, Dr N S Malhi sai here today that the attributes of these varieties were discussed critically in the meeting and due to their superiority; the varieties were approved for release in the state. With the release of these varieties, the total number of varieties released by PAU since its inception has gone upto 554, he said.

The PUSA-1121, is an aromatic rice variety which is about 120 cm tall. It possesses extra long slender grains with good cooking quality and it has longest cooked rice length among all the aromatic rice varieties recommended for Punjab.

This variety is photoperiod insensitive and matures in about 137 days after seeding. Its yield on an average is 13.7 quintals of paddy per acre.

Punjab Basmati-2 is a variety which is about 125 cm tall and is weakly photoperiod sensitive. It possesses extra long slender grains with excellent cooking and eating qualities. Grains of this variety are strongly scented and these almost double upon cooking and are non sticky and soft to eat. It matures in about 140 days after seeding and its average yield is 12.6. quintals of paddy per acre.

The LH-2076 cotton variety is high yielding, cotton leaf curl virus resistant with green broad lobed leaves and green stem.It matures in 165-175 days with average plant height of 153 cm. It gives an average seed cotton yield of 7.8 q/acre.

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