Tribune News Service
Karnal, October 21
Hundreds of farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Western UP and other parts of North India have been flocking to the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal, to get the biofortified wheat variety DBW-303, which was developed by scientists of the institute last year and dedicated to the nation by PM Narendra Modi.
The average yield of this variety is 81.2 qunital per hectare, and the maturity duration is 156 days. Scientists claim that it has resistance to yellow, black and brown rust diseases.
DBW-303 variety
The average yield of this variety is 81.2 qunital per hectare and matures in 156 days. It has resistance to yellow, black and brown rust diseases. Next year, we’ll arrange the home delivery of seeds. —Dr GP Singh, Director, IIWBR
As per the data gathered from the IIWBR, around 17,000 farmers from across the region have got themselves registered on the portal to get the seed. Around 80% applied for the DBW-303, while the remaining 20% farmers requested for the DBW-187, DBW-222 and other varieties.
Each farmer was given a bag of 10 kg for seed multiplication. The farmers were happy after getting the seed. “I came here in the morning to get the seed and got it in the afternoon. With the new variety, we are hopeful of good production,” said Jasmer Singh, a farmer from Patiala in Punjab.
Rishipal, another farmer from Ambala, said the variety DBW-303 would be helpful in good production as it had resistance to all kinds of rust.
Dr GP Singh, director, IIWBR, said they had been distributing the seed for the past three days, but the demand for the DBW-303 was high. “The average yield of this variety is 81 quintal per hectare in comparison to 65-67 quintal per hectare of the normal sown varieties,” he said, adding that it should be sown on October 25.
Region’s farmers make a beeline to Karnal institute for biofortified wheat variety DBW-303
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