The Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) has released six new varieties of wheat for multiplication and distribution to the country’s wheat farmers, offering increased production to Nepal’s nearly one million wheat farmers and boosting nutrition to its 28mn wheat consumers
Varieties derived from materials developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) include five varieties bred for high levels of critical micronutrient zinc, and Borlaug 100, a variety well known for being high yielding, dry-and heat-resistant and resistant to wheat blast, as well as high in zinc.
“Releasing six varieties in one attempt is historic news for Nepal,” said CIMMYT Asia regional representative and principal scientist Arun Joshi.
“It is an especially impressive achievement by the NARC breeders and technicians during a time of COVID-related challenges and restrictions,” said NARC Executive Director Deepak Bhandari.
“This was a joint effort by many scientists in our team who played a critical role in generating proper data, and making a strong case for these varieties to the release committee,” said Roshan Basnet, head of the National Wheat Research Programme based in Bhairahawa, Nepal, who was instrumental in releasing three of the varieties, including Borlaug 2020.
Nepal produces 1.96mn tonnes of wheat on more than 750,000 ha, but its wheat farmers are mainly smallholders with less than one-hectare holdings and limited access to inputs or mechanisation. In addition, most of the popular wheat varieties grown in the country have become susceptible to new strains of wheat rust diseases.
The new varieties — Zinc Gahun 1, Zinc Gahun 2, Bheri-Ganga, Himganga, Khumal-Shakti and Borlaug 2020 — were bred and tested using a “fast-track” approach, with CIMMYT and NARC scientists moving material from trials in CIMMYT’s research station in Mexico to multiple locations in Nepal and other Target Population of Environments (TPEs) for testing.
The varieties are tailored for conditions in a range of wheat growing regions in the country — from the hotter lowland, or Terai, regions to the irrigated as well as dryer mid- and high-elevation areas — and for stresses including wheat rust diseases and wheat blast. The five high-zinc, biofortified varieties were developed through conventional crop breeding by crossing modern high yielding wheats with high zinc progenitors such as landraces, spelt wheat and emmer wheat.
“Zinc deficiency is a serious problem in Nepal, with 21% of children found to be zinc deficient in 2016,” explained said CIMMYT Senior Scientist and wheat breeder Velu Govindan, who specialises in breeding biofortified varieties. “Biofortification of staple crops such as wheat is a proven method to help reverse and prevent this deficiency, especially for those without access to a more diverse diet.”
