Born in Tirupati, this ‘Konark’ groundnut variety is set to reach the kitchens of Odisha and West Bengal to titillate the taste buds in eastern India soon.
After 12 years of research, the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) in Tirupati, a unit of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), developed this variety.
This variety has been found exactly suitable to the climatic conditions of Odisha and West Bengal, and has been named ‘Konark’.
Initially dubbed as ‘TCGS 1707’, the variety was developed from the cross GPBD-4 x FDRS (ICG) 79. This medium-duration crop is known for efficient water use and gives yield in 105 to 110 days. The Spanish bunch possesses uniform maturity, the pods of which have an attractive rose testa colour.
“Konark is identified for cultivation in kharif season with yield potential of 25 quintals per hectare, with an impressive 70 to 75% of shelling out turn and 49% of kernel oil content,” says V. Sumathi, Associate Director of Research, RARS, Tirupati. Its 100-kernel weight is 40 to 45 gm and protein content is 29%.
“The variety not only offers moderate resistance to foliar diseases and soil-borne diseases such as stem rot, dry root rot and collar rot, but also has tolerance to sucking insects like leafhoppers and thrips”, adds K. John, Principal Scientist (Plant Breeding), who was associated in the development of the Konark variety.
“We will take up seed production of ‘Konark’ on a large scale,” asserts A. Srividya, a scientist involved in developing groundnut varieties.
Ahead of Konark, the Tirupati RARS had developed and released ‘Dheeraj’ groundnut variety in 2018, ‘Visishta’ in 2022 and ‘Himani’ in 2023 for sowing in Andhra Pradesh. The ‘Dharani’ variety developed here in 2012 had become hugely popular among the farmers.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), on its X (formerly Twitter) page, has officially recommended the ‘Konark’ variety to be sown in Odisha and West Bengal.
