Pakistan - Hybrid wheat seed to boost yield by 40%

A leading Pakistani seed company has claimed to have achieved significant success by producing a hybrid wheat seed in collaboration with China.

Its yield is 40% higher per acre than conventional varieties. Experiments are underway to achieve 100% higher yields from the seed. The company hopes that this seed will be available in the next three to four years.

Shehzad Ali Malik, head of Seed Company, said that we have been in the process of producing hybrid wheat seeds for the last four years so that the production can be increased.

“Now, with many years of hard work, we have been able to increase production by 40% with hybrid seeds produced with local varieties and Chinese hybrids, but we intend to bring it to commercial cultivation with 100% higher production capacity,” he said.

He said that during the current season, this hybrid seed was cultivated over 25 acres of land across the country on a trial basis.

Plots of one acre have been cultivated at 25 different places in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan so that production and suitability can be tested according to different seasonal patterns.

Shehzad Ali Malik added that he hoped that the desired results would be achieved in the next two years, and after completing the registration process, the new seed will be available for commercial sowing in the next four years.

He hoped for a new hybrid wheat seed which has all the characteristics of the local variety but would yield 100% more than the current average yield of 30-35 maund per acre.

He said that though the maturity period of Chinese wheat seed was long, the maturity period would be equal to the present traditional Pakistani wheat varieties by combining local and Chinese characteristics.

Shehzad Ali Malik said that he was also working on developing a hybrid for cotton.

He was of the view that farmers could be re-attracted to cotton sowing, only better and stronger seeds would yield more per acre. He said that his company initially introduced hybrid rice seeds in Sindh which revolutionized the sector with over 100% production which brought prosperity to the farmers and the economy of the country.