Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
Three PAU maize hybrids identified for release at National Maize meet
Babushahi Bureau
Ludhiana (Punjab), April 15, 2025: In a remarkable achievement, three maize hybrids developed by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have been identified for national release by the Varietal Identification Committee (VIC) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
The identification took place under the chairmanship of Dr DK Yadava, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences), ICAR, during the 68th Annual Meeting of the All India Coordinated Research Programme (AICRP) on Maize, held at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, recently. The varieties comprised Punjab Baby Corn 3, PMH 18 and PMH 19.
Punjab Baby Corn 3 (JH 32484) was identified for release in four of the five AICRP maize zones—Zone I, III, IV, and V—covering a wide range of states including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand (Hills), the North Eastern Hill Region, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The hybrid demonstrated up to 36.69% higher baby corn yield over existing checks.
PMH 18 (JH 20088), a medium-maturing Kharif hybrid, was identified for the Central Western Zone (CWZ), comprising Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. It recorded an average grain yield of 8,068 kg/ha, outperforming checks BIO 9544, CMH08-292, and LG 34.05 by 9.6%, 11.08%, and 14.4%, respectively.
PMH 19 (JH 18056), a medium-maturing Spring maize hybrid, was identified for the North-Western Plains Zone (NWPZ), which included Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand (Plains), and Western Uttar Pradesh. It yielded an average of 10,441 kg/ha, showing 6.4% and 17.1% superiority over the checks BIO 9544 and DHM 117, respectively.
Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor of PAU, expressed immense pride at this feat, stating, “The simultaneous identification of three PAU maize hybrids in a single meet is a prestigious honour for the University and a testament to the strength of our maize research programme.” He congratulated the Maize Research Team for their exceptional work.
The achievement was also applauded by Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research, and Dr GS Mangat, Additional Director of Research. Special appreciation was extended to Dr Surinder Sandhu, Incharge, Maize, and her team comprising Dr Tosh Garg, Dr Gagandeep Singh, Dr Rumesh Ranjan, Dr Ashutosh, Dr Mahesh Kumar, Dr Harleen Kaur, and Dr Jawala Jindal.