22 April 2025, New Delhi: In a significant milestone for agricultural research, the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has achieved national recognition for three of its newly developed maize hybrids. These hybrids were identified for national release by the Varietal Identification Committee (VIC) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The announcement was made during the 68th Annual Meeting of the All India Coordinated Research Programme (AICRP) on Maize, recently held at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore. The session was chaired by Dr. D.K. Yadava, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences), ICAR.
The three maize hybrids include Punjab Baby Corn 3, PMH 18, and PMH 19. Punjab Baby Corn 3 (JH 32484) stood out with its widespread adaptability, gaining identification for release across four of the five AICRP maize zones—Zone I, III, IV, and V. These zones cover an extensive geographical range that includes states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, the hill regions of Uttarakhand, 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 delivered an impressive baby corn yield, surpassing existing checks by up to 36.69%.
PMH 18 (JH 20088), a medium-maturing Kharif maize hybrid, was identified for release in the Central Western Zone, which includes Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. This hybrid achieved an average grain yield of 8,068 kg per hectare and showed marked improvements over the existing 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), covering Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, the plains of Uttarakhand, and Western Uttar Pradesh. It exhibited a high average yield of 10,441 kg per hectare, outperforming the checks BIO 9544 and DHM 117 by 6.4% and 17.1%, respectively.
Expressing pride in the university’s accomplishment, Dr. Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor of PAU, called the simultaneous identification of three maize hybrids in a single meet a prestigious honour. He praised the excellence of the university’s maize research programme and congratulated the entire Maize Research Team for their outstanding contributions.
The achievement was warmly lauded by Dr. A.S. Dhatt, Director of Research, and Dr. G.S. Mangat, Additional Director of Research. Special acknowledgment was given to Dr. Surinder Sandhu, Incharge, Maize, and her team, including Dr. Tosh Garg, Dr. Gagandeep Singh, Dr. Rumesh Ranjan, Dr. Ashutosh, Dr. Mahesh Kumar, Dr. Harleen Kaur, and Dr. Jawala Jindal, for their tireless dedication to the programme.
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