Thursday, November 10, 2011

Skuast develops Kohsar Rice

Giving a boost to the prospects for paddy cultivation in high altitude areas of the Kashmir Valley, the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agriculture, Science and Technology (SKUAST) has developed a new high-yielding rice, dubbed  "Kohsar". According to officials of the State Agriculture Ministry, the variety has a high yield potential of 5 tonnes per hectare. In addition, four other high-yielding rice varieties developed by SKUAST are in the pre-release stage. As per the report of the Ministry of Agriculture, four high-yielding rice varieties -- SKAU-382, SKAU-341, SKAU-292 and SKAU-403 -- with a yield potential of 9.0, 9.5, 9.0 and 8.5 tonnes per hectare, respectively, are in pre-release stages. These have been tested and evaluated in farmers' fields in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture(Kashmir) and experimental farms of SKUAST (Kashmir). Rice is a major kharif crop of the Kashmir Valley, covering an area of about 1.45 lakh hectares. Pusa Sughand-3, an aromatic and basmati type rice variety developed by SKUAST, has already been introduced in the Valley,it said, adding that the aromatic rice variety has a yield potential of 50 quintals

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