ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: The Punjab Seed Council has approved a new high yielding and disease resistant variety of lentil - Niab Masoor 2006 - for commercial growth. To improve yield potential and to sustain productivity in major lentil growing areas, mutation breeding efforts at the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (Niab) of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) have resulted in the release of this new variety, which was derived after seed irradiation of an exotic accession.

The new seed has shown superb yield performance in various yield trials conducted during 1993-2000 by producing 20 to 60 per cent higher seed yield as compared to standard check varieties - Masoor-85 and Masoor-93.

It was tested at the National Uniform Yield Trials’ one dozen locations including five areas of Punjab during 2001-03. This new variety was ranked the first by producing 1,406 kg per hectare during 2001-02 and second by producing seed yield of 2,145 kg per hectare during 2002-03 at different locations in Punjab.

The new variety has shown resistant against Ascochyta blight, rust, Botrytus and Pea Seed Borne Mosaic Virus (PSbMV).

Based on high seed yield potential along with other desirable traits, this variety is expected to increase lentil production and help Pakistan attain self-sufficiency. The variety is the outcome of concerted efforts of a team of scientists included Dr Mohammad Siddique Sadiq, Dr Mohammad Ihsanul Haq, Mohammed Saleem, Dr Sajjad Haidar and Ghulam Abbas.

In Pakistan, lentil is an important traditional winter pulse crop having about 25 per cent protein. It is planted on an area of 43,400 hectare with an annual production of 25,900 tonnes having an average seed yield of 597 kg per hectare. Punjab produces 67 per cent of the total lentil production of the country.