Wheat variety HD 3043 (Pusa Chaitanya) for restricted irrigated conditions

HD 3043 (Pusa Chaitanya), a bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety has been developed by the Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. The variety was released and notified by the Central Sub-Committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties for Agricultural Crops, Government of India vide Notification number S.O.456 (E) dated March 16, 2012 for commercial cultivation under restricted irrigated conditions in North Western Plains Zone (NWPZ). The variety has been evolved from the cross PJN/BOW//OPATA*2/3/CROC_1ME. SQUARROSA(224)//OPATA. Shuttle breeding approach has been successfully utilized in the development and subsequent selection of HD 3043, which fulfills the essential requirements of the different cropping systems of the zone. The variety has been tested in the all India Wheat Coordinated Trials for three years at 15 locations across the zone. The average yield of HD3043 is 42.8 q/ha with genetic potential of 50.2 q/ha. On the basis of its average yield (weighted mean) the variety showed superiority over all the checks and other testing strains. Its average yield was highest among the test entries including three checks. It gave 35.4% higher yield than the most popular variety of the region i.e., C 306. The variety HD 3043 also showed enhanced yield performance (7.8 to 35.4%) over check varieties WH 1080, PBW 175, PBW 396 and C 306. It has appeared 7 times in first non-significant group out of 15 trials indicating wide adaptability. HD3043 possesses a good degree of tolerance against brown rust as the average coefficient of infection (ACI) under artificial conditions ranged from 5.7 to 8.8, which was lower than the most popular variety of the zone C 306. The variety HD 3043 has been postulated to carry leaf rust resistance genes Lr13+10+, which characterizes adult plant resistance. The ACI for stripe rust was also recorded low ranging from 0.9 to 14 which was within the acceptable limit. The average incidence of foliar blight recorded was comparatively low (57) as compared to checks. A high level of resistance to diseases like Fusarium head blight and powdery mildew was also recorded.