The wheat variety HD 3385 has been developed as a high-yielding, heat-tolerant, and rust-resistant, specifically designed to address the challenges faced in the North Western Plains Zone (NWPZ), North Eastern Plains Zone (NEPZ) and Central Zone due to climate change. This variety was developed by complete indigenous efforts with parentage HD2967/HD2887//HD2946/HD2733.
This variety has been registered under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act (PPVFRA). HD 3385 demonstrated its high yield potential in almost all parts of India during last year and realising more than 7 tonnes/ha at many locations. During testing it has out yielded HD 2967 (by 15%), HD 3086 (by 10%), DBW 222 (by 6.9%), and DBW 187 (by 6.7%).
With a plant height of 98 cm, it exhibits strong lodging tolerance, ensuring better stability under high-input conditions. One of the key attributes of HD 3385 is its "Beat the Heat" feature, making it highly resilient to terminal heat stress, which is crucial for sustaining wheat production under changing climatic conditions. Additionally, this variety is highly resistant to yellow, brown, and black rust, offering broad-spectrum disease resistance and reducing the dependency on fungicides.
The variety also boasts excellent tillering capacity, which contributes to its superior productivity. HD 3385's adaptability to early seeding and conservation agriculture practices makes it an ideal choice for farmers in irrigated regions, ensuring better resource utilization and improved profitability. Its introduction marks a significant step in developing climate-resilient wheat varieties capable of withstanding the twin challenges of heat and disease pressures. Early seeding is almost sure shot for higher yield realisation and this variety has shown exceptionally good performance as per the farmers feedback throughout India and more particularly from Central India including MP and Gujarat and even Maharashtra.
Variety HD 3410
HD 3410 (Pusa Jawahar Gehun 3410) is a high-yielding indigenous wheat variety developed for the Central Zone (CZ), and have been released for Madhya Pradesh early sown condition and also for plains of northern India surrounding Delhi. It has an average yield of 65.91 q/ha and has demonstrated significant yield advantages over major check varieties, outperforming HD 3086 by 24.04%, DBW 187 by 6.83%, WH 1270 by 23.06%, and DBW 303 by 24.19% in BMZ, High Yielding Performance Trials (HYPT), and Multi-location Trials (MLT) in Madhya Pradesh. This yield superiority makes it a top-performing variety for the Central Zone.
HD 3410 is nutritionally enhanced with a high protein content of 12.6%. It also has a high hardness index of 80.8, ensuring better milling quality and processing efficiency. Additionally, it is highly resistant to all three rusts—stripe rust, leaf rust, and stem rust—providing strong protection against major wheat diseases. Moreover, it exhibits high Karnal bunt resistance (3.3%), which is significantly lower than DBW 187 (7.8%), WH 1270 (8.2%), and DBW 303 (10.7%), making it a superior choice for disease resistance and grain quality.
With its high yield potential, excellent disease resistance, superior nutritional content, and outstanding milling properties, HD 3410 (Pusa Jawahar Gehun 3410) stands as a highly valuable wheat variety for farmers in the Central Zone. It offers higher productivity, improved grain quality, and better economic returns, making it a profitable and resilient choice for wheat cultivation in the region.
Variety HD 3388 (Pusa Yashodhara)
HD3388 (Pusa Yashodhara) is a high-yielding, with superior nutritional quality and developed for Timely Sown Irrigated Conditions of the North Eastern Plain Zone (TS-IR-NEPZ), covering Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal (excluding hills), Odisha, Assam, and the plains of North-East India. It has demonstrated an average yield of 52.0 q/ha with a genetic yield potential of 68.8 q/ha, making it one of the highest-yielding varieties in this region. Comparative trials have shown that HD3388 outperforms key check varieties, yielding 11.6% more than HD 3086, 10.3% more than HD 2967, 8.2% more than DBW 222, 5.3% more than PBW 826, 4.7% more than DBW 187, and 4.3% more than HD 3249, highlighting its superior productivity.
In terms of grain quality, HD3388 exhibits high protein content (11.47%). It has excellent chapati-making quality, rated at 8.0, ensuring consumer preference for soft and high-quality flatbreads. Additionally, it shows superior resistance to major wheat diseases, including stripe rust, leaf rust, and stem rust, while also exhibiting high Karnal bunt resistance (5.05%), significantly lower than other commercial varieties.
HD3388 also excels in gluten content, with wet gluten at 25.8% and dry gluten at 8.8%, which contributes to improved dough strength and baking quality. Furthermore, it has demonstrated heat stress tolerance with an HSI of 0.89, ensuring better adaptability in rising temperature conditions. With its exceptional yield potential, superior nutritional quality, strong disease resistance, and adaptability, HD3388 (Pusa Yashodhara) stands as an excellent choice for wheat farmers in the NEPZ region, promising both higher economic returns and better food security.
Variety HD 3390
HD 3390 is a high-yielding wheat variety developed for the Delhi and NCR for timely sown irrigated condition. It has an average grain yield of 62.36 q/ha. The variety has exhibited a significant yield advantage over major check varieties, yielding 1018% more than HD 3086, 15.98% more than HD 2967, 3.65% more than DBW 187, 0.62% more than DBW 222, and 6.85% more than HD 3226 in multi-location trials.
HD 3390 matures in 144 days and has a plant height of 102 cm. It is nutritionally enhanced, featuring a good level of protein content (12%), and has a very high hectoliter weight of 78.2 kg/hl along with an excellent grain appearance score of 6.4, making it highly suitable for chapati making.
The variety is highly resistant to major wheat diseases, possessing the stripe rust resistance gene Yr10, which provides resistance against all virulent pathotypes of stripe rust in India. It has demonstrated a very high level of resistance against all three rusts, with ACI (Average Coefficient of Infection) values of 0 (Natural) and 0.2 (Artificial) for stripe rust, 0 (Natural) and 4.2 (Artificial) for leaf rust, and 8 (Artificial) for stem rust. Furthermore, HD 3390 has a high level of resistance against powdery mildew (rating of 3), ensuring better crop protection and sustainability.
With its high yield potential, excellent nutritional and processing qualities, strong disease resistance, and adaptability, HD 3390 is an ideal wheat variety for farmers in the Delhi and NCR region, offering higher productivity, improved grain quality, and greater economic returns, making it a highly profitable choice for wheat cultivation.
(The writer is a Principal Scientist at IARI, New Delhi)