Promotion of Heat-Resistant Variety of Wheat

About the Heat resistant variety of wheat:

• During the crop season 2021-22, the varieties namely DBW187 and DBW222 have shown heat tolerance with yield gain of 3.6% and 5.4%, respectively as compared to HD-3086.
• The Government aims to promote the use of heat-resistant varieties amongst the farmers through public and private partnership and providing seed directly to the farmers.
• To promote the use of these varieties, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barely Research (IIWBR), Karnal under ICAR has signed 250 Memorandum of Agreements (MoAs) for DBW 187 and 191 MoAs for DBW 222 with private companies for seed production.
• The ICAR-IIWBR Karnal has initiated a specific research project entitled “Breeding high yielding wheat genotypes for stress conditions of warmer regions of India” on heat tolerant varieties.
• Besides, ICAR-IIWBR Karnal is also collaborating with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico on development of climate resilient wheat varieties.

Q1) What is ICAR?

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, established on 16 July 1929 with its headquarters at New Delhi. The Council is the apex body for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country. With 111 ICAR institutes and 71 agricultural universities spread across the country this is one of the largest national agricultural systems in the world.

Source: PIB