Thirteen new seed varieties approved

Seeds give better yield and are resistant to diseases.

FAISALABAD:

The Seed Council – a high-powered committee of agricultural experts, has accorded approval to 11 newly developed seed varieties of different crops for commercial cultivation.

These seed varieties not only give high yields but are also disease-resistant. Ayub Agriculture Research Institute (AARI) Faisalabad Director General Dr Noorul Islam told The Express Tribune that after extensive experiments, experts approved 13 new seed varieties which included five varieties of wheat, two varieties of olive and one variety each of sesame, canola, fodder, gram, sugarcane and helianthus (moong).

Out of the total, 11 seed varieties were developed by scientists of AARI, working at main research centres and affiliated institutes.

He said Dharabi-2011 is a wheat variety, which was developed by Arid Agriculture Research Institute Chakwal, which comes under AARI. This variety is not only disease-resistant but can be cultivated in Barani and Potohar areas of Punjab.

He said wheat variety Punjab-2011 was developed by Wheat Research Institute, AARI Faisalabad, which cannot be harmed by diseases and global warming. Millat-2011 is another wheat variety which gives a high yield and is resistant to many diseases.

He said NR-356 wheat variety was developed by Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Islamabad and it could be sown in all parts of the country, except for hilly areas.

He said Regional Agriculture Research Institute Bahawalpur developed wheat variety Aas-2011 which contains high levels of protein. This variety has also high potential to protect the crop from diseases.

The AARI DG said Oilseed Research Institute developed sesame variety TS-5 and Faisal Canola which gave high-quality yield compared to other varieties.

He revealed that Fodder Research Institute Sargodha developed a new variety of fodder named Ot-2011 while Arid Agriculture Research Institute Chakwal developed two varieties of olive Bari-1 and Bari-2.

“The olive varieties have the potential to give high-quality yield for more than 200 years as these have given excellent results in Lahore, Kasur, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Layya, Bhakkar, Mianwali and other parts of Punjab,” the AARI director general added.





Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2011.