MANTHAR-03: A HIGH-YIELDING CULTIVAR OF WHEAT RELEASED FOR GENERAL CULTIVATION IN SOUTHERN PUNJAB

We report the release of a new wheat variety Manthar-03. Manthar-03 is a high yielding and rust resistant variety of bread wheat with erect growth habit. It was released in the year 2003 as a general purpose variety. Manthar-03 is a selection from CIMMYT material (Entry No. 42 of 29th International Bread Wheat Screening Nursery) made at Regional Agricultural Research Institute (RARI), Bahawalpur during 1996-97. This strain has the famous CIMMYT line ‘Kauz’ in its parentage (KAUZ//ALTAR 84/AOS). Its pedigree is CM11163- 6M-20Y-10M- 0M-0B. It is a more adapted and a high yielder. Genetically, this strain differs from existing commercial cultivars of Punjab. Resistance against leaf rust (5MRMS to 10MR), RRI value of 6.7 and 7.6 for leaf rust and ACI values of 3.4 0.7 for leaf rust) and high yield potential (6300 kg ha^-1 ) are the major attributes of Manthar- 03 that make it a superior variety for its target regions. Manthar-03 is tolerant to wheat aphid and Helicoverpa armigera. The thousand seed weight of this variety is 40-44 g. Seed is amber in color and contains 12.97% protein, 8.2% dry gluten and 1.55% ash. It has good chapati making quality. Plant type of Manthar-03 is erect with plant height 94 cm and droopy flag leaves. It is lodging resistant. It completes heading in 98 days and matures in 142 days. Manthar-03 performs better when planted from 15th November to Ist. December, keeping 125 kg ha^-1 seed rate and 125-85-50 kg NPK ha^-1 are applied.