Strategic Research to Enhance the Yield Potential Through Redesigning of Wheat Plant Architecture

Abstract

In India wheat is the second most important crop occupying 27.3 millionhectare area with production and productivity of 72 million tonsand 2.64 tons per hectare, respectively. To cope up the ever increasingdemand which will be 109 million tons by the year 2020, the presentlevel of productivity has to be increased to 4.4 tons per hectare.The only approach for achieving quantum jump in productivity is torestructure the wheat plant architecture which can yield up to 8tons/hectare. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi,India has developed new plant type (NPT) wheat, utilizing a localgermplasm SFW and released wheat and genetic stocks, which has high1000 grain weight (45-50g), high number of grain per spike (90-100),higher biomass, thick, broad, semi erect and dark green leaves, thickstem, plant height 85-100cm and good root system. Efforts are onto increase the productive tillers in these wheats along with diversegenes for resistance to diseases in order to break the yield barrier.