Lauding the efforts of scientists of Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) in developing new varieties of basmati, chairman of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) MS Swaminathan said farmers of Punjab, Haryana and parts of UP have reaped benefits from new seeds.

He said the farmers have been able to raise Basmati production three times and gained over 50% more in terms of export prices. Announcing the ?Borlaug Award?, constituted by Coromandel International, at an event, Swaminathan said two IARI scientists had developed new basmati varieties, which have redefined the way farmers cultivate and enable them yield better and prices in the international markets.

Nearly 70% of the total basmati cultivated area are under new varieties and farmers are happy to see that as against 15 quintal per hectare they can yield nearly three times more or around 45 quintal per hectare. They could also generate 50% to 60% more revenue and would be making an additional revenue of R5,000 crore through exports and domestic sale, Swaminathan maintained. ?These scientists have made great contribution to the country and farmers started benefiting immensely,? he added.

These scientists have contributed significantly towards devising the breeding strategy for combining poly-genes for various Basmati quality traits including linear cooked kernel elongation ? a main feature of Pusa Basmati 1121, currently the most widely cultivated rice variety. They also assisted pyramiding of bacterial blight resistance genes in Pusa Basmati varieties and incorporated bacterial blight resistance genes in parental lines of Pusa varieties, carrying blast resistance and tolerance to salinity.

Earlier announcing the Borlaug Award, managing director of Coromandel International Kapil Mehan said KV Prabhu and Ashok Kumar Singh of IARI have been shorlisted for this year’s award. Both these scientists have contributed immensely in development of new rice varieities, which enabled farmers benefiting immensely. MS Swaminathan is the jury member of this award.

The award will be given on November 28 to these scientists by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.