Agri varsity breaks previous seed sale records
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has shattered its previous seed sale records, selling over 12,000 quintals of various paddy varieties across the state. This marks a significant increase from the 7,500 quintals sold during the previous year.
Despite challenges related to Out Turn Ratio (OTR) last year, PR-126 continues to be the most popular choice among farmers in several districts, including Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Saheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Ludhiana, Moga, Barnala, Patiala and Sangrur. This year, PAU has sold more than 5,000 quintals of PR-126 seed, up from 4,700 quintals sold last year.
Meanwhile, PR-131 has emerged as the top choice in districts such as Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Fazlika and Sri Muktsar Sahib, with sales reaching 4,000 quintals this season, a sharp increase from 1,800 quintals in 2024.
Dr Gurjit Singh Mangat, Additional Director of Research (Agriculture), shared that the response to PAU’s seed sale counters has been unprecedented, with farmers flocking to purchase seeds during the current crop season. He noted that other popular paddy varieties included PR-114, PR-128, PR-121 and PR-130.
This year, PAU also introduced a new rice variety, PR-132, which requires only 75 per cent of nitrogen (equivalent to 1.5 bags of urea) and yields an average of 31.5 quintals of paddy per acre.
In the Basmati category, seed sales have remained consistent with last year, with Punjab-1509 gaining traction, followed by Punjab-1718, which has replaced the formerly popular Punjab-1121 variety.
Dr Mangat advised farmers to consider growing short-duration varieties to conserve natural resources and suggested they begin cultivating the new varieties on a small scale in the first year. He emphasised the importance of sourcing seeds from reliable suppliers such as PAU, Ludhiana, PUNSEED, or NSC.
Additionally, farmers were advised to skip phosphorus application if it had already been applied to the preceding wheat crop.
Ludhiana