Bhagalpur: In a significant milestone vis-à-vis agricultural crop improvement and varietal development in Bihar, the State Variety Release Committee (SVRC), under the Department of Agriculture, Government of Bihar, has approved and recommended 15 crop varieties including rice, wheat, pulse, oil-seed, ginger etc for the state for sustainable and climate-resilient farming in the state.Of the 15 varieties recommended, 11 crop varieties have been developed through the research programmes of Bihar Agricultural University (BAU) at Bhagalpur whereas two varieties each are from Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (RPCAU), Pusa and ICAR–Research Complex for Eastern Region (ICAR-RCER), Patna.BAU Vice Chancellor Dr D R Singh said that the SVRC recommendation underlines an important outcome of systematic varietal development and evaluation undertaken by Bihar’s agricultural research institutions. The recommended varieties address several key production constraints of the state including disease incidence, excess moisture and water-logging, delayed sowing, seasonal variability, productivity gaps, grain and produce quality, and storage-related requirements, added the VC.The 11 crop varieties developed by the scientists at BAU and recommended by SVRC comprises 03 rice, 03 wheat, 01 maize, 02 pulse, 01 oilseed and 01 garlic variety for sustainable farming, the VC said adding the varietal portfolio reflects a intentional focus on crops that are central to Bihar’s food, nutritional and agricultural economy.The rice varieties include materials suited to irrigated and medium-duration production systems, waterlogged conditions and aromatic grain production whereas the wheat varieties include materials targeted towards timely as well as late-sown conditions with resistance to important diseases such as rust etc, added the BAU VC.The pulse varieties address productivity and wilt resistance whereas the oilseed variety combines yield potential with improved oil content and suitability for delayed sowing whereas the garlic variety has been identified for its high productivity and suitability for extended storage, added he.The BAU VC said that the crops’ traits are particularly relevant to Bihar because varietal performance is strongly influenced by sowing window, soil moisture regime, temperature, disease pressure and the state’s diverse agro-ecological conditions etc.Congratulating the BAU scientists, research teams, breeders etc for working hard over the years that led to the recommendation of 11 BAU-developed varieties by the SVRC, the VC said that the crop varieties are suitable to different sowing windows and compatible with prevailing production systems in view of the genetic gains achieved through research can now be translated into measurable benefits for the farming community.
