Punjab Agriculture Department

Achievements

a) VARIETIES RELEASED

Sr. No.	Crop	Variety		Year of Release	Yield Potential (kg ha^-1)
1	Potato	1	Ultimus*	1963	22000
		2	USA-5*	1963	22000
		3	Multa*	1969	25000
		4	Desiree	1969	25000
		5	Patrones*	1969	25000
		6	Giewont*	1969	25000
		7	Wilja*	1975	26000
		8	Cardinal	1975	30000
		9	Spunta*	1975	30000
		10	Ajax*	1975	30000
		11	Laal-e-Faisal*	1986	32000
		12	Diamant	1986	38000
		13	Sialkot Sufaid*	1990	30000
		14	Faisalabad White	2000	34000
		15	Faisalabad Red	2000	32000
		16	SH-5	2006	48700
2	Watermelon	1	T-14*	1963	37000
2	Watermelon	2	Sugar baby	1969	15000
3	Tomato	1	T-10*	1964	45000
		2	T-43*	1964	45000
		3	Roma	1969	45000
		4	Red Top*	1969	45000
		5	Nagina	1991	40000
		6	Pakit	1992	30000
4	Muskmelon	1	T-96	1963	9000
5	Peas	1	H-57*	1964	4000
		2	P-8*	1964	4500
		3	Samarina Zard	1990	6000
		4	Climax Improved	1990	10000
		5	Meteor Faisalabad	2008	12000
		6	Peas-2009	2009	13000
6	Chillies	1	Gola Peshawari	1969	4000
6	Chillies	2	Tatapuri	1969	5000
7	Garlic	1	GS-I*	1971	11500
7	Garlic	2	Lassan Gulabi	1976	12000
8	Radish	1	40-Days	1990	80000
		2	Mino	1992	100000
		3	Lal Pari	1996	80000
9	Onion	1	Phulkara (Punjab)	1990	25000
10	Brinjal	1	Nirala	1992	52000
		2	Bemissal	2000	54000
		3	Dil Nasheen	2000	52000
11	Coriander	1	Dilpazeer	1992	12000
12	Spinach	1	Desi Palak	1992	35000
13	Okra	1	Sabz Pari	1996	30000
14	Tinda Gourd	1	Dilpasand	1963	15000
16	Bitter Gourd	1	Faisalabad Long	2008	17000
17	Bottle Gourd	1	Faisalabad Roud	2008	30000
18	Carrot	1	T-29	2006	68000
19	Turnip	1	Golden	2006	48000
20	Fenugreek	1	Methi Qasoori	1975	20000

Total varieties evolved = 52

* Out of cultivation.

b) Pipe line Varieties/Hybrids

S. No.	Crop	Cultivar	Special Characters
1	Potato	FD-8-1	Red skin, high yielding, tolerant to viral & blight diseases, yield potential 35 tons ha^-1.
1	Potato	SH-704	High yielding, Sharp red skin tubers, tolerant to viral diseases.
2	Chillies	CH-11 F₁	Plant tall & bushy, Fruit medium conical and light green chillies yield potential 10 tons ha^-1.
3	Tomato	LITTH-514 F₁	Indeterminate hybrid suitable for tunnel cultivation. Fruits are of large size with oblong shape having good shelf life. Fruit yield potential is 179 t/ha.
		LITTH-545 F₁	Indeterminate hybrid suitable for tunnel cultivation. Fruits are of large size having oblong shape with good shelf life. Fruit yield potential is 159 t/ha.
		07001	Determinate pure line suitable for field cultivation. Fruits are of large size having oblong shape with acceptable shelf life. Fruit yield potential is 53 t/ha. Tolerant to tomato diseases/ viruses.
4	Onion	Dark Red	High yielding, heat tolerant, dark red bulb color, medium bulb size with good storability.
5	Brinjal	VRIB-95	High yielding with attractive fruit color & shape and tolerant to root rot disease.
6	Turnip	Purple Top	High yielding, top of root color purple, early bulking, heat tolerant and suitable for early planting.
7	Radish	Mino Wase	High yielding, smooth long white root, dark green leaves, tolerant to low temperature &suitable for mid & late seasons.
8	Muskmelon	Ravi	High yielding, yellowish green rind color, off-white flesh color, sweet in taste and early maturing.
9	Okra	Ikra-1	High yielding, green fruit color, tolerant to yellow mosaic virus.

c) TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED

1) Local production of healthy seed potato

Now, the virus free seed is directly introduced in autumn season and growers can carry this seed in autumn to autumn cycle for many years without any significant decline in yield due to virus diseases. By the introduction of this technology, the import of seed potato has been reduced to negligible quantity i.e. for less than 2% of the potato area. In this way a huge amount of foreign exchange is being saved every year.

2) Introduction of turmeric cultivation in Pakistan

After intensive research, it was found that turmeric can successfully be cultivated in Pakistan by mulching the fields with sugarcane trash. The introduction and adoption of this technique resulted in local production of turmeric and now we are not only meeting our demand locally but also exporting to other countries of the world.

3) Off-season onion production technique

Keeping in view the high prices of onion in the aforesaid period, new crop has been introduced in the Punjab. The nursery for this crop is sown during July /August and transplanted in September. This crop provides green onion from mid November to March, which not only provides onion in the scarcity period but also maintains the price at reasonable level. Dry onion can also be harvested in April. This crop receives longer period for growth, it flourishes well and also attains big bulb size resulting in better yield.

4) Off-season vegetable production

Vegetable forcing means growing of vegetables out of their normal season. Plastic tunnels are used to grow summer vegetables in winter. Summer vegetables like tomato, chillies, sweet pepper, cucumber, squashes, bitter gourd, red gourd, sponge gourd and bottle gourd are being grown successfully under plastic tunnels in Punjab.

5) Technology for the control of collar rot in chillies

It was found that if the chillies nursery plants are treated with Ridomil/Derosal before sowing and transplanted on ridges where the seedlings do not come in direct contract with irrigation water, then there is no spread of disease.

6) Popularization of kitchen gardening

To encourage the people for kitchen gardening, a kit containing all the important vegetables sufficient to be sown for 5 to 8 marlas of land, is prepared and supplied on cheaper rats along with their production technologies.