A high-yield and nourishing wheat variety created by Pune-based Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) has been awarded by the Maharashtra government’s Agriculture Department.
New Wheat variety
The MACS 6478, created by ARI and grown by Changdev Yadav, a farmer from Solshi village in Koregaon taluka of Satara district, acquired great yield in the rabi season last year. Yadav got the second position in the district-level competition (crop) organized by the department.
ARI has been engaged in growing grape, wheat, and soybean varieties, which are both high yielding, nutritious and also appropriate for farming in soil conditions in Maharashtra and in the southern peninsular India.
Yield obtained by the farmers
Farmers who took up development of this award-winning wheat variant earned 45 to 60 quintal per hectare whereas normal yield would not be more than 25 to 30 quintals per hectare for wheat variants like Lokvan, HD 2189 and others.
This ARI-created variant is also highly resistant to wheat rust and similar diseases and matures in 110 days, which is smaller than the usual time period required for wheat.
ARI scientists enlisted high nutritional values, containing protein (14 per cent), zinc (44.1ppm), iron (42.8ppm) and the chapatis and breads made using the flour of this wheat were softer.
Like Yadav, ten farmers of Karanjkhop village of the same tehsil had cultivated this ARI-developed wheat. The Maharashtra State Seed agency, too, has been promoting this variant among farmers.
Conclusion
By awarding such awards to the farmers by state government and national research institutes is very motivating to work hard in the fields as well as find innovative ideas for the benefit of mankind