Wheat is leading cereal grown over 220.7 mha worldwide with the production of about 785 mt. The socio-economic importance of wheat and its contribution to the diets of humans and livestock is significant. In India, wheat is grown over ~31.23 mha with total production hovering around 112.92 mt and productivity of 36.15 q/ha. India witnessed an all-time high wheat production during the year 2023-24. The barley crop is very hardy and nutri rich, it has been grown in an area of 0.55mha area with a production of 1.65mt and productivity of ~30q/ha during 2023-24 in India.
ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research works in close collaboration with its cooperating centres. The Indian wheat growing regions have been categorized into five major zones (NHZ, NWPZ, NEPZ, CZ, PZ) based on agro-climatic conditions, soil topography and disease & pest dynamics. Currently, wheat AICRP programme is being implemented with the help of 29 funded and nearly 50 voluntary centres. Barley coordinated programme is being executed in association of 11 main and 27 voluntary centres in the country. ICAR – IIWBR is committed for enriching bio-diversity in the country and in this direction working in active collaborations of CG centres namely, CIMMYT, ICARDA and other foreign organizations. The institute is involved in developing sustainable technologies and high yielding disease resistant genotypes with good quality parameters. Several awareness and capacity building programmes have been implemented through SCSP, MGMG, Farmers First, ARYA, integrating social media with stakeholders’ community for faster dissemination of production technologies and knowledge empowerment. This is also evident from increased rate of publications from institute in high impact factor journals over the years and during 2023-24 institute has published 51 research publications in >6 NAAS rated journals along with several other publications.
Further, timely monitoring and vigil by the team of scientists across wheat and barley production regions as well as contingent advisories through multiple platforms including social media has kept the wheat and barley production in safer hands. Institute is working on several thrust areas of wheat and barley research including prebreeding, nutritional quality enhancement, improved agronomic practices for coping climate change, natural farming, improving input use efficiency, diversification of wheat based cropping systems, cost effective production and protection technologies, blast and Karnal bunt resitance, genomic selection and genome editing. The big data analysis, robotics, machine learning etc. are being further explored in networking mode.
Seed production and technology dissemination plays pivotal role in increasing crop productivity and farmers income. In this direction about 20000 q breeder seed was produced for 128 wheat varieties under the umbrella of AICRP to make seed available to the various agencies at a faster pace. To further strengthen breeder seed chain and fast seed delivery, 851 MoA for seed licensing were done by ICAR-IIWBR which also supported faster replacement of old seeds in farmers field and revenue of more than Rs. 6.0 crores was generated at institute. Thus, with the concerted effort of AICRP, research and extension activities institute has contributed significantly for increasing the income of the farmers.
The ICAR – IIWBR, Karnal, is proud to be part of IARI teaching hub. This state-of-the-art facility aims to enhance the quality of agricultural education and research, providing advanced resources and innovative learning environments for students and researchers. The hub will facilitate cutting-edge research, foster collaboration among scholars, and promote the dissemination of knowledge in wheat and barley cultivation. By integrating modern technology and expert-led instruction, the new teaching hub is poised to become a centre of excellence, driving forward advancements in agricultural practices and contributing to the sustainable development of the sector.
Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan Jai Anusandhan!
