IARI Invents Pusa JG 16 – New Drought-Tolerant Chickpea Variety

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), also known as the Pusa Institute, in collaboration with Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV) Jabalpur, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior and ICRISAT, Patancheru Hyderabad has developed ‘Pusa JG 16’, a drought-tolerant and high yielding variety of Chickpea. 

The Pusa JG 16 cultivar was created using genomic breeding methods by precisely introducing the drought tolerance gene from ICC 4958 into the parent cultivar J.G.16.  A countrywide experiment was done by the All India Collaborative Research Program on Chickpeas to verify the drought resistance of this variety. The variety has an ability to give the production of 2 tonnes per hectare under drought stress; also it is resistant to Fusarium wilt and stunting disease and has a quick maturation period (110 days).

Fusarium Wilt

The widespread plant disease Fusarium wilt is brought on by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum, which lives in the soil. Plant species including commercially significant food crops like sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, melons, banana (called as Panama wilt) and many other crops gets infected by this wilt. F. oxysporum may survive indefinitely in soil without contact with a living host plant and thrives at soil temperatures above 24 °C (75 °F).

Symptoms of Fusarium wilt

• Seedling, when infected, wilts and die.
• Plants remain stunted, with leaves that progressively die and slide upward from the stem’s base after going from a pale green to a golden yellow colour.
• Occurrence of black streaks on xylem vascular tissue of roots and lower stems leading to decaying of roots.