The Hindu Business Line : High-yielding red gram developed

THE National Pulses Research Centre (NPRC) at Vamban in Pudukottai district has developed a new high-yielding red gram variety - Vamban-3 - under the All-India Coordinated Pulses Improvement Project funded jointly by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Tamil Nadu Government.

Approved by the State Variety Release Committee and to be officially released in Coimbatore during `Adi Pattam' i.e., June-July, the new variety is a cross between Vamban1 and Gulbarga variety.

It is tolerant to pod borer pest and resistant to the sterility mosaic disease. A short duration crop of 100-105 days, it can be cultivated throughout the year as an intercrop for groundnuts, sorghum and cotton, according to the Head of NPRC, Dr S. Jebaraj.

He further said the new variety, which can yield 20 per cent to 25 per cent more than the existing varieties, had undergone multi-location trials at the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University research stations for a year and adaptive research trials at farm holdings in pulse growing areas across the State for 2-3 years.

Under rain-fed conditions, the yield will be 1,000 kg per hectare and under irrigated conditions, the yield will be 1,200 kg per hectare, he noted.

The variety is better both in terms of protein content and cooking quality.

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