Wheat verieties.

• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) scientists have developed three climate-smart varieties of wheat.
• These varieties are characterised by “mild vernalisation requirement” i.e., need for a certain minimum period of low winter temperatures for initiation of flowering.
• Three varieties are: HDCSW-18 (officially notified in 2016), HD-3410 and HD-3385.
• HD-3410 (released in 2022), has higher yield potential (7.5 tonnes/hectare) with lower plant height (100-105 cm).
• HD-3385 variety looks most promising. With the same yields as HD-3410, plant height of just 95 cm and strong stems, it is least lodging-prone and most amenable for early sowing.
  • Lodging refers to permanent displacement of aboveground parts of a crop from its upright position.

About Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)

• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), popularly known as Pusa Institute, began in 1905 at Pusa (Bihar) with the generous grant from an American philanthropist, Mr. Henry Phipps.
• Following a devastating earthquake in 1934, the institute was shifted to Delhi on 29th July 1936.
• Post-independence, the institute has been renamed as Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).
• The green revolution bloomed from the fields of IARI with the development of famous wheat varieties that ensured mass production.