Srinagar, May 06: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir-developed hybrid maize variety has been released recently at the national level for cultivation in the cold climatic Northern Hill Zone of the country.
Cold resistant early maturing high yield maize composite, KDM-30, suitable for cultivation in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Ladakh and Manipur, was recently released in the 66th Annual Maize Workshop held at GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.
“The variety (KDM-30) performs better than the best national check, Vijay with 13% more grain yield and moderate resistance to diseases and pests like Turcicum Leaf Blight and Maizw Stem Borer,” said Dr Zahoor Ahmad Dar, associate director at the SKUAST-K’s Dryland Agriculture Research Station (DARS), Rangreth, Budgam.
Dar, who was leading the team of scientists involved in developing this cold-resistant maize variety, said KDM-30, besides being highly cold tolerant, gives more yield and better disease protection than Vijay, which is considered the best maize variety in the country.
The maize composite is derived from materials obtained from international and national nurseries, which were subsequently hybridized with the local material to incorporate uniqueness like cold tolerance, early maturity, and high grain quality.
The variety possesses a high level of carotenoids as well as the unique expression of cold-tolerance-regulated enzymes at the molecular level. The KDM-30 is going to replace Kishen Ganga-1 (KG-1) variety in high-altitude areas of the Northern Hill Zone (up to 2500m amsl) and can be a potential candidate to serve in cold arid Ladakh Region as a dual-purpose crop where it has been initially evaluated for grain-to-grain maturity in native cropping window.
While congratulating Dr Zahoor Ahmad Dar and his team for developing the high-yield maize variety, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, directed upscaling seed production and utilizing rain-fed ecologies for grain and fodder production to sustain the dairy and poultry industry.
