Haryana Agricultural University develops bio-fortified millet

Tribune News Service
Hisar, November 26

Scientists in the bajra section of the department of genetics and plant breeding in Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) have developed a new bio-fortified variety of millet.

The HHB 311 variety has been notified and released by the Crop Standards, Notification and Approval Central Sub-Committee of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation in the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

The variety has been developed by Dr Ramesh Kumar, Dr Dev Vrat, Dr Virendra Malik, Dr MS Dalal, Dr KD Sahrawat, Dr Yogendra Kumar, Dr SK Pahuja, Dr Anil Kumar, Dr LK Chugh, Dr Narendra Singh, Dr Kushal Raj, Dr M Govindaraj and Dr Anand Kanati.

Vice-Chancellor Samar Singh said the variety contained high iron and zinc content at 83 mg and 42 mg per kg, respectively. “The HHB 311 variety has the potential of 18 quintal yield per acre. This variety is resistant to downy mildew and matures in between 75 and 80 days,” he said.