Breakthrough for Punjab Farmers: PAU wheat varieties clinch top ranks in national trials
Babushahi Bureau
Ludhiana (Punjab), September 24, 2025: In a significant milestone, two wheat varieties PBW 872 and PBW 833, developed by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), have earned the top spot at the national level, enabling the agri-varsity to retain its aura across the country and trust among the agricultural community.
PBW 872: The variety PBW 872 was the highest yielding variety under early sown, high input conditions of the North Western Plains Zone (NWPZ) of India in the National Wheat Varietal Trials, conducted during 2024-25 crop season.
The results of these trials were shared at the All India Wheat Research Workers Meeting, held recently at RVS Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior (MP).
These trials are conducted by the All India Coordinated Wheat and Barley Improvement Project (AICW&BIP) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi wherein the best candidate varieties developed by various wheat breeding programs across the country including ICAR Research Institutes, 29 State Agricultural Universities, and even private sector companies are nominated, evaluated for three years and subsequently released.
PBW 872 was previously evaluated in these trials where it gave outstanding performance, culminating in its release in the year 2022 for the entire North Western Plains Zone of India comprising the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan (excluding Kota and Udaipur division), Western Uttar Pradesh (except Jhansi division), Jammu and Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, Paonta Valley and Una district of Himachal Pradesh, and Tarai region of Uttarakhand.
During 2024-25 crop season, the Advanced Varietal Trial for early sown, high input conditions of NWPZ was conducted at various locations across NWPZ. In these trials, PBW 872 occupied the first rank for grain yield, recording an average of 79.6 q/ha and significantly outperforming other recently released competing varieties like DBW 327 (78.3 q/ha), DBW 371 (78.1 q/ha), DBW372 (74.1 q/ha) and DBW 187 (73.4 q/ha).
This has confirmed that PBW 872 remains the highest yielding variety under high input conditions of NWPZ that includes heavy dose of organic and inorganic fertilizers coupled with application of fungicides and growth regulators.
These results are published in the Annual Progress Report of the AICW&BIP, compiled by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal. Notably, these series of trials under high input conditions were not conducted in the North Eastern Plains Zone of India (Eastern UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and plains of NE States) since majority of farmers in these states are not in a position to apply even the recommended doses of fertilizers.
It is worth mentioning here that the PAU, Ludhiana has always advocated judicious use of inputs and thus has not recommended the cultivation of PBW 872 under high input conditions in Punjab state, keeping in view the environmental concerns and to avoid overuse of agricultural chemical inputs.
Thereafter, the variety PBW 872 was subjected to testing under normal recommended doses of fertilizers/inputs and subsequently released in 2025 for cultivation in Punjab state under irrigated timely sown conditions with normal fertilizer doses.
Based on multi-year research and adaptive trials conducted under timely sown, irrigated conditions with normal or recommended inputs, PBW 872 recorded an average grain yield of 24.4 quintals per acre, showing consistent yield advantages of +2.9%, +8.3%, and +11.7% over check varieties PBW 826, PBW 766, and DBW 222, respectively.
The variety has shown moderate resistance to both yellow and brown rusts under natural and artificial conditions, reducing the risk of yield loss due to disease. PBW 872 has a mean maturity duration of 152 days (range: 146–156 days), fitting well into Punjab’s intensive rice–wheat cropping system. Its average plant height is around 100 cm (range: 98–102 cm), making it less prone to lodging.
The grains are bold and attractive, with a 1000-grain weight ranging from 40–48 g and an average of 45 g, ensuring excellent test weight and market appeal. Its balanced combination of yield stability, disease resistance, grain quality, and agronomic adaptability makes it a promising choice for farmers aiming for high returns under Punjab’s prevailing agro-ecological conditions.
PBW 833: Another wheat variety PBW 833 was included as check variety in the Advanced Varietal Trial for late sown conditions of NEPZ (North Eastern Plains Zone of India. The variety recorded a grain yield of 45.7 q/ha, which was the highest yielding variety in this trial of 12 varieties, conducted at 13 locations across NEPZ. In comparison, other recently released check varieties DBW 107 and HD 3118 yielded 42.5 q/ha and 40.9 q/ha, respectively.
Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU; Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research; and Dr VS Sohu, Head, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, congratulated the wheat scientists for adding a series of accolades via winning of national recognition for three wheat varieties, namely PBW 826, PBW 872 and PBW 833, thus bringing glory to the PAU as well as the rural community.
Dr Dhatt and Dr Sohu informed that the seed of the variety PBW 872 will be sold at all the PAU Kisan Melas and will be a key attraction for the farmers.