Wheat variety Pusa Basant (HD2985) for late sown conditions

Pusa Basant (HD 2985), 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.632 (E) dated March 25 2011 for commercial cultivation under late sown conditions in North Eastern plains zone (NEPZ). The variety was evolved from the cross PBW343/ PASTOR. Shuttle breeding approach has been successfully utilized in the development and subsequent selection of HD2985, which fulfills the essential requirements of the rice-wheat cropping system. The variety has been tested in the all India Wheat Coordinated trials for three years at 32 locations across the zone. The average yield of HD2985 is 37.4 q/ha with genetic potential of 51.4 q/ha. On the basis of its average yield (weighted mean) the variety showed superiority over all the checks and other testing strains in the trials. It gave 12% higher yield over the most popular variety of the region i.e., HUW 234. The variety HD2985 also showed enhanced yield performance (2 to 4%) over qualifying varieties viz., HD2982, HD2983 and MP3224. This variety appeared 20 times in first non-significant group out of 32 trials indicating wide adaptability.