KAU gets approval to release 15 seed varieties 

Kerala Agricultural University will release seed varieties including rice, coco, coconut, pea with high yields and disease resistance

Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has received approval for releasing 15 seed varieties to farmers from the State seed committee. The varieties include seeds of rice, coco, coconut and pea.

The two new rice varieties are KAU Aadhya (MO 24) and KAU Punya (MO 25).

KAU Aadhya (MO 24) is a high yielding medium duration rice variety with short bold white kernelled grains. This is the first white kernelled variety released from M.S. Swaminathan Rice Research Station, Moncompu. The variety has duration of 125-130 days with an average yield of 6,500 to 7,000 kg per hectare. The variety has tolerance to major pests and diseases and possesses seed dormancy of one week.

KAU Punya (MO 25) is a short duration red kernelled rice variety released from the rice research station. The variety has duration of 110 days with an average yield of 5,000 to 5,500 kg per hectare. MO 25 has good hulling and milling recovery with excellent cooking quality better than Jyothi and Uma.

The two cowpea varieties are: KAU Shreenanda and KAU Apurva.

KAU Shreenanda is a short duration, white grained, cowpea culture suitable for rabi and summer rice fallows. It flowers in 40-45 days and matures in 60-65 days in rabi. In summer it flowers in 30-35 days and matures in 50-55 days. This variety is having a protein content of 24.64%, less tannin (1.07 mg/g), less fat (2.28%) and having a digestibility of 85.20%. This culture is resistant to dry root rot disease.

KAU Apurva is a promising variety developed under the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Kharif Pulses (AINP-Arid Legumes). It has demonstrated resistance to dry root rot. It is a nutritionally rich cowpea variety with significantly high levels of protein (24.9%) and anthocyanin content (2.32 mg/g), and extremely low tannin content (0.71 mg/g), having a high digestibility of 84.9%.

Coconut varieties

Kera Sahasra and Annur Improved Dwarf are the two coconut hybrids.

Kera Sahasra, though a TxT hybrid, starts bearing fruit in the sixth year of planting. An average of 130 coconuts were obtained in favourable weather conditions.

The trunk of Annur Improved Dwarf shows slight bulging at base (bole) similar to the tall palms. Average of 105 coconuts were obtained in favourable weather conditions.

There two bitter gourd hybrids in the list are Prajani and Pragathi and six cocoa hybrids are CCRP 16, CCRP 17, CCRP 18, CCRP 19, CCRP 20 and CCRP 21.

Published - December 03, 2024 07:17 pm IST