KURNOOL: Scientists at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) in Nandyal, have developed a new variety of Chana (Bengal gram) seed and named it Nandyal Bengal Gram 857 (NBeG 857). The new variety seed which gives higher yield, is suitable for cultivation in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other Southern States.
Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, RARS principal scientist V Jayalakshmi and senior scientist J Manjunath said the newly developed NBeG 857 is recommended for cultivation as an alternative to JG11, Jaki 9218 and Super Annigeri 1 in Southern States. “It is a semi-spreading plant variety of medium height with attractive light brown seeds. NBeG 857 comes to harvest in 95 to 100 days,” she explained.
The new variety of Bengal gram is recommended for cultivation in Rabi under normal fertility with one or two protected irrigations. It can also be grown under rainfed conditions without undue yield reduction, she said. In All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRP) of chickpea trials conducted in the South Zone from 2018 to 2021, NBeG 857 has recorded higher yield (1,820 kg/ha) with yield advantage of 14.7% and 20.8% over popular varieties Jaki 9218 (1,587 kg/ha) and JG 11 (1,507 kg/ha) respectively. It has also recorded 9% and 8.3% yield advantage over other qualifying varieties DC 17-1111 (1,670 kg/ha) and RG 2016-134 (1,680 kg/ha) respectively.
In AP, NBeG 857 has yielded 3,782 kg per hectare compared to Super Annigeri 1 (2,540 kg/ha), JG 11 (2,300 kg/ha) and Jaki 9218 (1,866 kg/ha). Besides its higher yield advantage over popular chickpea varieties, NBeG 857 is tolerant to wilt and other diseases and resistant to pests. Its dhal recovery rate is around 75.5% compared to 74% of other varieties.