The wheat varieties DBW187 and DBW222 have been found superior over HD-3086 as far as heat tolerance is concerned. During the crop season 2021-22, the heat-resistant varieties of wheat namely DBW187 and DBW222 have shown tolerance with yield gain of 3.6 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively as compared to HD-3086, quoting AICRP on Wheat and Barley progress report, 2020-21 & 2021-22, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha Friday.
The variety PBW 803 developed by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana is suitable for irrigated timely sown conditions and resistant to brown rust as well as moderately resistant to stripe rust. This variety is not recommended as heat-tolerant variety, the agriculture minister informed the upper house of the Indian parliament.
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The Government aims to promote the use of heat-resistant varieties of wheat amongst the farmers through public and private partnership and providing seed directly to the farmers. To promote the use of these varieties, the ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal has signed 250 memorandums of agreement (MoAs) for DBW 187 and 191 MoAs for DBW 222 with private companies for seed production. The institute has distributed more than 2500 quintal seeds of DBW 187 and 1,250 quintal seeds of DBW 222 during the crop season, 2021-22, Tomar further said.
The ICAR-IIWBR Karnal has initiated a specific research project entitled “Breeding high-yielding wheat genotypes for stress conditions of warmer regions of India” on heat tolerant varieties. Besides, ICAR-IIWBR Karnal is also collaborating with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico on the development of climate-resilient wheat varieties, the minister added.
