Pakistan's Seed Council approved thirteen new seed varieties

Thirteen new seed varieties approved by a high-powered committee of agricultural experts. The Seed Council has accorded approval to 11 newly developed seed varieties of different crops for commercial cultivation. Ayub Agriculture Research Institute (AARI) Faisalabad Director General Dr Noorul Islam said that after extensive experiments, experts approved 13 new seed varieties which included five varieties of wheat, two varieties of olive and one variety each of sesame, canola, fodder, gram, sugarcane and helianthus (moong). These seed varieties not only give high yields but are also disease-resistant.

Director General said that out of the total, 11 seed varieties were developed by scientists of AARI, working at main research centres and affiliated institutes.

Dharabi-2011 is a wheat variety, which was developed by Arid Agriculture Research Institute Chakwal, which comes under AARI. This variety is not only disease-resistant but can be cultivated in Barani and Potohar areas of Punjab. Wheat variety Punjab-2011 was developed by Wheat Research Institute, AARI Faisalabad, which cannot be harmed by diseases and global warming. Millat-2011 is another wheat variety which gives a high yield and is resistant to many diseases. R-356 wheat variety was developed by Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Islamabad and it could be sown in all parts of the country, except for hilly areas. Regional Agriculture Research Institute Bahawalpur developed wheat variety Aas-2011 which contains high levels of protein.

The AARI DG said Oilseed Research Institute developed sesame variety TS-5 and Faisal Canola which gave high-quality yield compared to other varieties.

Fodder Research Institute Sargodha developed a new variety of fodder named Ot-2011 while Arid Agriculture Research Institute Chakwal developed two varieties of olive Bari-1 and Bari-2.

The olive varieties have the potential to give high-quality yield for more than 200 years in different cities of Pakistan.