Landmark Achievements

First in the World

• HB 1 — Grain Pearl Millet hybrid (1965)
• PC 6 — Determinate African Sarson variety suitable for mechanical harvesting (2016)

First in India

• Paras — Single cross maize hybrid (1995)
• PAU Bt 1 — Bt cotton variety (2005)
• GSC 5 — Canola-quality Gobhi sarson variety (2005)
• RLC 3 — Canola-quality, yellow-seeded & white-rust-tolerant Indian mustard variety (2015)
• Unnat PBW 343 — Wheat variety developed through marker-assisted selection (MAS) (2017)
• PBW 1 Zn — Zinc-biofortified wheat variety (2017)
• RCH 1 — Canola-quality Indian mustard hybrid (2019)
• PBW Zinc 2 — Zinc-biofortified wheat variety (2023)
• PBW RS1 — Low glycaemic index wheat variety for diabetics (2023)

Other Landmark Varieties

• CoJ 64 — Early-maturing sugarcane variety that transformed Punjab into a high sugar-recovery zone (1975)
• PR 106 — Mega rice variety that ruled Punjab for three decades; released in Venezuela as Araure 3 (1976)
• F 414 — The first early-maturing cotton variety that enabled the cotton–wheat double-cropping system (1977)
• PBW 343 — Mega wheat variety that covered 93.5% of Punjab’s wheat area and ~70% of NWPZ, setting records for fastest adoption (1995)
• SML 668 — Bold-seeded, early-maturing mungbean that revolutionized spring and summer mungbean cultivation in Punjab and other states (2002)

Crop-wise salient achievements are given below :

Rice :

Varieties released (42)

Non basmati: 27, Basmati and aromatic varieties: 15

Landmark variety

PR 106 was released during 1976. It possessed long slender, clear translucent grains. It matured in 145 days after seeding and its average paddy yield was 2600 kg per acre.

Wheat Section

Thrust areas

• 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.

Varieties released (Wheat: 53, Barley: 8, Triticale: 5)

*varieties developed by other institutes and released by PAU are not included

Landmark varieties of wheat and barley

• C306: Last tall cultivar with excellent chapati quality. Still used under rainfed conditions in Central India.
• WL 711: Provided a yield increase over the pre-existing semi-dwarf cultivars. Occupied large area in Pakistan also.
• PBW 343: Marked a new threshold in yield. Generated additional income to the Punjab farmers to the tune of Rs. 3300 crores.

Most important facilities in Wheat section

Quality lab, molecular lab, tissue culture lab, screening on insect pest and glass house for screening of diseases.

Cotton Section

Varieties/hybrids released (57)

*including 13 private sector hybrids

Landmark varieties

Landmark cultivars developed and released include F 414, F 846, LH 900, LHH 144 and LD 327. F 414 was a short duration variety of American cotton which made cotton-wheat rotation possible. LHH 144 was the first American cotton cultivar resistant to CLCuD in the country.

Sugarcane Section

Varieties released (24)

Impact of the varieties: Release of CoJ 64 variety in 1976, heralded an era of intense breeding for short duration early maturing sugarcane genotypes in the whole of the North West zone. Sugar recovery increased from 8.5% to 10.5 % thus changing the status of Punjab from low recovery zone to the high recovery zone of the country. Release of improved varieties (CoJ 85, CoJ 88) tolerant to red rot disease supplemented with new seed cane production and protection technologies has led to the increase in productivity from 27.90 t/ha (1966-67) to 70.4 t/ha (2010-11). These PAU varieties are being preferred in adjoining states (Haryana & UP) for juice and jaggery production and presently occupying an area of 10-15 per cent in these states, beside Punjab.

Most important facilities in the section

• A well equipped quality laboratory with modern equipments like Sucrolyser, fermenter, baggase dryer, a poly-carbonated chamber for growing the sugarcane seedlings, apparatus for the moist hot air treatment for the production of breeder and foundation seed
• For maintenance of red rot pathotypes and efficient screening of sugarcane clones against this disease, a Pathology lab with basic components, viz, laminar air flow, incubator, microscope, humidifier etc. is available

Oilseeds Section

Varieties released (47)

Impact of the varieties/technologies

The PAU was the first in the country to release CMS based hybrid PGSH 51 (Brassica napus) and Atrazine resistant variety GSL 2 (Brassica napus) and canola/double low variety GSC 5 (Brassica napus) in rapeseed-mustard. Second institution in the country to have developed zero erucic acid variety RLC 1 and canola/double low variety RLC 3 of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea). Productivity of rapeseed-mustard in the state is higher and that of sunflower is about two and half times that of national average.

Most important facilities in the section

PCR, Electrophoresis chambers, Gel Documentation System,  GC, Nitrogen Generator, Olympus Inverted Research Microscope with florescence attachment, NMR, NIRS, UPLC, UV-Visible Spectrophotometer, Lyophiliser, Growth chamber

Pulses Section

Varieties released (74)

Impact of the varieties/technologies

With the release of mungbean variety SML 668, the area under summer mungbean has substantially increased in Punjab. Farmers can take an additional crop between wheat and rice.

Maize Section

Varieties/hybrids released (46)

Landmark varieties

• Ageti 76 (1976) – An early maturing composite for cultivation across all zones at national level
• Navjot (1982) – An early maturing disease resistant composite for cultivation across all zones at national level
• Kiran (1988) – An early maturing composite for cultivation across all zones at national level
• J 1006 (1988)-A dual purpose (fodder and grain) composite for Punjab.
• Paras (1995)-First high yielding single cross hybrid in India for cultivation under irrigated conditions in Punjab.

• Parkash (1997)-First high yielding, drought tolerant, short duration single cross hybrid for irrigated and rainfed conditions in Punjab. Recommended for baby corn cultivation (1998) and national release (1999).
• PMH 1 (2005, 2006) – A high yielding, single cross hybrid of maize for cultivation under irrigated condition in Punjab state and North-Western plains of India.
• Punjab Sweet Corn 1 (2008) – First composite variety of sweet corn for cultivation in Punjab state.

Impact of the varieties

During 1960-61, the maize production in Punjab was 371 thousand tonnes from 327 thousand ha with productivity of 1135 kg/ha. With the introduction of high yielding single cross hybrids, the productivity has further increased to 3708 kg/ha during the year 2017-18 from 114 thousand ha with production of 423 thousand tonnes. Introduction of improved production technology such as spring maize, August sown maize and baby corn cultivation has opened new opportunities for generating additional farm income and this also helped in crop diversification programmes. MoUs have been signed with various agencies to strengthen hybrid seed production programme.

Forage and Millet Section

A. Forage Crops

Varieties released

Total varieties released (53)

Impact of the varieties

Varieties of fodder crops, viz. BL 22 (Berseem), OL 125 (Oats) and PBRG No.1 are amongst the National and Zonal checks in All India coordinated trials. Moreover, there is a huge demand for breeder seed of varieties like BL 10 and BL 42 (Berseem), Kent (oats), J 1006 (maize), PBN 233 and PBN 346 (Napier Bajra), FBC16 (Bajra) and PSC-4 (Sorghum) every year. Many a times, about 50% of the total breeder seed indent at national level is for PAU varieties.

Pearl millet

Varieties/hybrids released (13)

Impact of varieties

The first ever hybrid HB1 developed and released by PAU in 1965 resulted in breakthrough in grain yield of bajra and area under the crop was increased. Grain bajra hybrid PHB 2168 with high grain yield and downy mildew resistance was released during 2006 which was later released at national level in 2007. Recently in 2015, a new high grain yielding hybrid PHB 2884 was released with long and thick ears having resistance to major diseases.

Facilities available in Forage and Millet Section

Well equipped forage quality evaluation laboratory, Forage plant pathology laboratory. Field laboratory, Animal shed for feeding trials, store for seed storage and threshing.