Menu

ਪੰਜਾਬ ਖੇਤੀਬਾੜੀ ਯੂਨੀਵਰਸਿਟੀ
PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

Menu

College of Agriculture / Plant Breeding & Genetics / Thrust Areas

Rice:
  • Development of lodging tolerant, disease and insect resistant hybrids with suitable grain quality and growth duration for Punjab conditions.
  • Development of less water requiring (aerobic) rice genotypes.
  • Development of semi-dwarf high yielding bacterial blight resistant basmati rice varieties possessing extra-long slender grains with strong aroma and excellent cooking/eating quality characteristics for export.
  • Development of high yielding lodging tolerant non-basmati varieties with multiple disease and insect pest resistance, abiotic stress tolerance (submergence, salinity) and possessing acceptable grain quality and suitable crop duration
  • Generation of appropriate production technologies through applied research for increasing and sustaining productivity and income from rice and rice-based cropping systems with special emphasis on labour and water saving.
  • Study on the occurrence and epidemiology of major rice diseases.
Wheat
  • Development of high yielding varieties through exploitation of diverse germplasm
  • Incorporation of diverse resistance genes against stripe and leaf rust besides Kernel bunt
  • Genetic improvement for nutritional and processing quality, improvement for heat tolerance and water use efficiency
  • Development of export purpose durum wheat varieties and development of malt and feed purpose barley varieties

Cotton

  • Development of higher yielding American cotton Bt cultivars with high fibre strength
  • Development of American cotton varieties suitable for high density planting system and mechanical picking
  • Development of desi cotton varieties with shattering tolerance
  • Pre-breeding in American cotton for the introgression of resistance/tolerance to cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) and sucking insect pests

Sugarcane

  • Development of high cane and sugar yield improved varieties with inbuilt resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses having more profitable values and wider adaptation
  • Exploring new possibilities of value addition to sugarcane crop
  • Best Management Practices (BMPs) encompassing sugarcane production and protection technologies that can enhance sustainable sugarcane production and productivity

Oilseeds

  • Development of high yielding, biotic and abiotic stress tolerant/resistant varieties and hybrids
  • Specialty hybrids in canola rapeseed-mustard and sunflower
  • Determinate, short duration, shattering tolerant varieties of rapeseed-mustard
  • Dual purpose canola (oil and fodder)
  • Confectionery purpose sesame and groundnut

Pulses

  • Development of early maturing and high yielding varieties of mungbean, urdbean, soybean and early maturing varieties/CMS based hybrids in pigeonpea
  • Development of high yielding desi, bold seeded kabuli chickpea and lentil varieties coupled with resistance to various diseases
  • Development of agronomy of new genotypes and effective weed management with herbicides and interculture
  • Exploiting microbial diversity for efficient Rhizobia and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for development of bioinoculants consortia
  • Development of effective protection technologies

Maize

  •        To develop high-yielding, long-duration, waterlogging-tolerant maize hybrids tailored for Kharif production environments.
  •        To breed climate-resilient maize combining resistance/tolerance to major biotic and abiotic stresses relevant to Punjab and the north-western plains.
  •        To accelerate trait-oriented improvement using doubled haploids, marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, and speed-breeding pipelines.
  •        To develop high-density planting–tolerant hybrids with enhanced nutrient-use efficiency and optimised fertiliser responses.
  •        To strengthen specialty maize programmes (QPM, waxy, sweet, high-starch, high-oil) and advance biofortification for superior nutritional quality.
  •       To enhance water-use efficiency in spring maize through breeding and integration of resource-conserving technologies.
  •        To develop superior fodder and silage varieties/hybrids with high biomass yield, and digestibility.
  •        To upgrade grain and end-use quality profiles (food, feed, starch, ethanol) aligned with industry specifications and farmer marketability.
  •        To utilise wild relatives, landraces, and exotic germplasm to introgress alleles for priority nutritional, biotic and abiotic stress tolerances.

Forage Crops

  • Germplasm enhancement in the forage crops and grain bajra
  • To breed varieties of forage crops having low anti-quality components and inbuilt resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses
  • To breed quick growing water use efficient varieties of forage sorghum and bajra having high regenerability for multicut to increase the total forage production
  • Development of erect type varieties of cowpea to increase the area under cowpea as fodder crop
  • Integrated nutrient management, weed management and reduction of anti-nutritional components through agronomic manipulations
  • Management of insects-pests and diseases of all forage crops Development of high grain yielding hybrids having inbuilt resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses
  • Development of dual purpose bajra varieties/hybrids
  • Development of new CMS lines having diversified CMS sources