The wheat variety PBW 826 developed by the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana has been again ranked first for grain yield at the national level across the entire North India in the All India Coordinated Varietal Trials, conducted during 2024-25 crop season under irrigated timely sown conditions. The results of these trials were shared at the All India Wheat Research Workers Meeting held recently at RVS Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior (MP). The wheat variety PBW 826 repeated its historic rare distinction of standing first for grain yield in two major wheat zones of India i.e. the North Western Plains Zone (NWPZ) and the North Eastern Plains Zone (NEPZ) of India. These trials are conducted under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi wherein the best candidate varieties developed by various wheat breeding programs across the country including ICAR Research Institutes, 29 State Agricultural Universities and even private sector companies are nominated, evaluated for three years and subsequently released.

PBW 826 had earlier been evaluated in these trials where it ranked first for three consecutive years, leading to its release in the year 2022 for the entire NWPZ and NEPZ. The North Western Plains Zone of India comprises the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan (excluding Kota and Udaipur division), Western Uttar Pradesh (except Jhansi division), Jammu and Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir, Paonta Valley and Una district of Himachal Pradesh, and Tarai region of Uttarakhand. The North Eastern Plains Zone of India comprises Eastern UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and plains of North Eastern States.

During 2024-25, the Advanced Varietal Trial for irrigated timely sown conditions of NWPZ consisting of 17 best wheat varieties currently available across India was conducted at 13 locations situated in seven states. In these trials, PBW 826 ranked first for grain yield, recording an average of 65.7 q/ha and significantly outperforming other recently released or popular competitors like DBW 222 (64.4 q/ha), HD 3386 (64.0 q/ha) and HD 3086 (59.9 q/ha).

Similarly, the Advanced Varietal Trial for irrigated timely sown conditions of NEPZ consisting of 14 best wheat varieties was conducted at 14 locations situated in five different states. In these trials, PBW 826 ranked first for grain yield, recording an average of 53.6 q/ha and significantly outperforming other recently released or popular competitors like DBW 187 (51.6 q/ha) and HD 3086 (49.5 q/ha).

Thus, the variety PBW 826 has reaffirmed its supremacy at the national level, proving it to be the highest yielding wheat variety available in India as on date for irrigated timely sown conditions of both NWPZ and NEPZ. Inclusion of a released variety as check in national varietal yield trials is a great honour for the university/research team which developed that variety, and when this check variety gives outstanding performance in national trials, it is a proud moment for that university research team.

Congratulating the team of wheat scientists, Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said that the exemplary performance of PBW 826 in the national competitions is a matter of great pride and honour for PAU. This outstanding performance over several years and across wide geographical area is a testimony to climate resilience of PBW 826 wherein it has given high grain yield even under drastic aberrations in climatic conditions, he observed.

Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research, said that since its release in 2022, PBW 826 has been well-received by farmers across several states and its quick adoption can be judged from the seed demand at the national level. In a short span of time, PBW 826 has featured among the list of top 10 most popular wheat varieties of India from amongst 142 wheat varieties in seed chain during 2024-25 based on the breeder seed indent and production finalized and compiled by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, he added. Notably, at the state level also, the variety PBW 826 released in the year 2022 for cultivation in the Punjab state under irrigated timely sown conditions has been widely adopted by the farmers of the Punjab state and became the most popular variety occupying about 40% of wheat area in the state during 2024-25 crop season, he disclosed.

Sharing the economics of this variety, Dr VS Sohu, Incharge, Wheat Section, divulged, “The fiscal benefits to the farmers of the Punjab state alone accrued to the cultivation of PBW 826 have been estimated to be around Rs 1,280 crore for the year 2024-25 only.” Besides its high and stable yielding ability and climate resilience, PBW 826 is slightly shorter duration variety maturing in about 148 days under irrigated, timely sown conditions of Punjab, he said. With a plant height of 100 cm, it is slightly shorter than most recent releases, added he. “PBW 826 has heavier grains and a higher hector litre weight. The variety gives an average grain yield of 24 quintals per acre, with many farmers reporting 26–28 quintals and in exceptional cases even higher. It is moderately resistant to yellow and brown rust diseases. Seed of PBW 826 is in great demand and the area under this variety is likely to expand further,” observed he.