Imagine 2.25 tons of chickpea variety harvested in just 75 minutes. The process, including cutting and threshing, would normally take three days and this is made possible due to the breeding of a taller chickpea variety, Hyderabad-headquartered International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) said.
The chickpea variety, NBeG 47, is the first machine harvestable variety released in Andhra Pradesh suitable for the state's variable climate, ICRISAT said in a statement.
A demonstration in this regard was recently done in a farmer's fields in Anantapur district showing how farmers can "save time and money".
The chickpea variety planted in farmer B Rameswar Reddy's field was developed by Dr Veera Jayalakshmi, Principal Scientist (Chickpea Breeding) at Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University in Nandyal, with support from ICRISAT, it said.
The breeding material for developing this variety and technical support was provided by ICRISAT.
"Currently, chickpea farming in AP is partially mechanised. The total mechanisation of harvesting is cost effective and quicker, reducing the risk of the ripened crop's exposure to untimely rain or extreme weather conditions," said Dr Pooran M Gaur, Principal Scientist, Chickpea Breeding at ICRISAT.
"The innovative variety was developed to address the issue of labour shortage on farms and reduce drudgery, especially for women laborers. The yield of this new variety, 2.25 tons per ha, is on par and in some conditions better than the existing ruling variety JG 11 (1.75 to 2.5 tons per ha), provided the prescribed plant spacing is followed," ICRISAT said.
More research efforts are underway to develop machine harvestable chickpea varieties suited for other parts of India like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, it said.
