Author(s):

Abrar Yasin B and Tanweer UL Hussain Malik

Abstract: India witnessed Green Revolution with the introduction of semi-dwarf wheat varieties viz., Kalyan Sona and Sonalika from CIMMYT Mexico in 1963. With an increase in the wheat yield per unit area, the country became self-sufficient in wheat production. However, even after the green revolution, in India bulk of population below poverty line is the victim of protein malnutrition, because 70% of protein needed by human is met from cereal grains more particularly from wheat. On the other hand, leaf or brown rust, one of the dreaded diseases of wheat is more prevalent in Eastern India. Therefore, the protein content and leaf rust resistance were taken as the major parameters to determine the improvement in these traits through breeding research. The trial was laid down in randomized block design with four replications. The results indicated that K-816 contained the maximum protein content (12.40%), followed by K-9533 (12.30%) and PBW-343 (12.28%) among the 15 varieties including two checks (Kalyan Sona (11.90%) and Sonalika (11.78%). However, their differences in mean values were non-significant over checks. Almost all latest wheat varieties (except HUW-318, Veeri, K-816, Kalyan Sona and Sonalika) have shown a good degree of resistance to leaf rust races. It may be concluded from the present investigation that there has been no significant improvement brought in protein content through breeding research. However, resistance to leaf rust has been appreciated

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