SKUAST-K unveils disease-resistant maize varieties for organic farming in Sikkim

Srinagar,July 22: SKUAST-K a leading farm University of the country has carved out a niche at the national level through its cutting-edge research base especially in field crop area. The AICRP on Maize programme at SKUAST-K which is one of the top-ranking crop improvement programmes in the country has added one more accolade to its repository by release of two maize composites namely SKMC-3 and SKMC- 4 purely for organic conditions in the state of Sikkim.
The composites were released on 28th June 2024 by the SVRC of the state of Sikkim. The composite SKMC-3 is for elevations upto 1200m and composite SKMC-4 is for elevations more than 1200m. Both the composites are disease resistant which is an essential feature for release in Sikkim, also they surpassed national checks by 20 and 18 percent respectively in grain yield.
The varieties are an outcome of an effective collaboration between ICAR-RC-NEH Sikkim Centre and SKUAST-K. Sikkim an officially organic state grows maize on an area of 38000 hectares and poses unique challenges particularly in the areas of disease resistant varietal development as routine chemical sprays are not in vogue,
The varieties released have been developed utilizing the materials from International, Regional and Local Germplasm Resources to incorporate traits like disease resistance, cold tolerance and high yields. Commenting on the release of SKUAST-K bred varieties Vice Chancellor SKUAST-K, Professor Nazir Ahmed Ganai complemented the scientists of AICRP on Maize Srinagar Centre and emphasized on development of novel attribute possessing varieties to combat the challenges of biotic/abiotic stresses with nutritional enhancement.