Pest resistant high yielding variety of soybean MACS 1407 for Indian farmers

28 May 2021, New Delhi: Indian agricultural scientists have developed a high yielding and pest resistant variety of soybean. This newly developed variety named MACS 1407 is suitable for cultivation in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and North East and its seeds will be made available for sowing to farmers during the Kharif season of 2022. 

In the year 2019, India produced nearly 90 million tonnes soybean. It’s a major source of protein for animal feed as well as many packaged foods and places India among the world’s leading soybean producers. 

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MACS 1407 yields 39 quintals per hectare of Soybean 

Scientists from Agharkar Research Institute  (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology,  Government of India, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, developed this high yielding varieties of soybean. 

They developed MACS 1407 using traditional cross-breeding techniques, which makes it a high yielding variety, yielding 39 quintals per hectare, and is known for its resistance against Girdle Beetle, Leaf Minor, Leaf Roller, Stem Fly, Aphids. Its thick stem, pod height above ground and resistant to pod scattering also make it suitable for mechanical harvesting. It is suitable for rainfed conditions of Northeast India.

ARI scientist Mr. Santosh Jaibhai, who led this research, said that ‘MACS 1407 increased the yield by 17 percent as compared to the best tested variety and showed a 14 to 19 percent higher yield advantage than the eligible varieties. This soybean variety is highly suitable for sowing during June 20 to July 5 without any yield loss. This makes it more resistant to monsoon uncertainties than other varieties.

MACS 1407 requires an average of 43 days for 50 percent flowering and has a maturity period of 104 days. It has white colored flowers, yellow seeds and black hilum. Its seeds contain 19.81 percent oil content, 41 percent protein content and it shows good germination capacity. This variety of soybean, which is high yielding, pest resistant, requires less water and fertilizer and is suitable for mechanical harvesting, has recently been notified and released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.