Bhatia Advance Agro Products

Wheat Variety Guide

Scan the bag QR any time to check sowing window, duration, yield and disease notes for the varieties in this season's lot.

Compiled from ICAR / IARI / PAU / IIWBR release records. Italicized figures are either a general zonal recommendation (not variety-specific) or drawn from a secondary/trade source rather than the releasing institute directly — cross-check those against this year's state package-of-practices bulletin before printing. Rust resistance in particular can weaken over the years a variety is in circulation. DBW-327's seed rate and maturity days couldn't be found in any source checked (very recent release) — still needs sourcing before this goes to print.

HD-2967

IARI · 2011

Irrigated, timely-sown bread wheat — one of India's most widely grown varieties.

Zone
NWPZ & NEPZ, irrigated
Sowing window
1 – 15 Nov
Seed rate
~100 kg/ha — see current POP
Maturity
~143 days (NWPZ)
Yield
~50 q/ha avg, up to 56 q/ha
Disease resistance
Strong vs. yellow & brown rust; good Karnal bunt tolerance; heat tolerant

Notes: Excellent chapati quality with high iron/zinc content; a long-standing benchmark check variety.

PBW-343

PAU · 1996

Once India's most-grown wheat — rust resistance has since weakened.

Zone
NWPZ, timely sown, irrigated
Sowing window
Late Oct – late Nov
Seed rate
~100 kg/ha (40 kg/acre)
Maturity
~155 days
Yield
~57 q/ha (historical)
Disease resistance
Yellow rust resistance broke down after ~2010 (Ug99-type strains) — largely superseded

Notes: Good chapati quality. "Unnat PBW 343" is the later, rust-resistant successor bred to replace it — confirm which you're sowing.

PBW-502

PAU · 2004

Timely-sown irrigated bread wheat, NWPZ.

Zone
NWPZ, timely sown, irrigated
Sowing window
4th week Oct – 4th week Nov (optimum: 1st fortnight Nov)
Seed rate
~100 kg/ha (40 kg/acre)
Maturity
See current POP
Yield
~20.4 q/acre reported (secondary source)
Disease resistance
Resistant to yellow rust, brown rust and Karnal bunt

Notes: Sowing window/seed rate are PAU's standard figure for this zone/sowing class, not variety-specific — PBW-502 has been superseded by newer PAU releases and no longer appears individually in the current POP table.

PBW-373

PAU · 1997

Timely-sown irrigated bread wheat, NWPZ.

Zone
NWPZ, timely sown, irrigated
Sowing window
4th week Oct – 4th week Nov (optimum: 1st fortnight Nov)
Seed rate
~100 kg/ha (40 kg/acre)
Maturity
~140 days
Yield
~16.4 q/acre reported (secondary source)
Disease resistance
High resistance to yellow & brown rust at release (1997) — verify current status

Notes: Sowing window/seed rate are PAU's standard figure for this zone/sowing class. Released over 25 years ago — rust resistance in older varieties often weakens over time, so re-check locally.

DBW-303 Karan Vaishnavi

IIWBR · 2021

Early-sown, high-fertility irrigated wheat — biofortified.

Zone
NWPZ, early sown, high fertility, irrigated
Sowing window
Last week Oct – first week Nov
Seed rate
100–125 kg/ha (IIWBR zonal range, not variety-specific)
Maturity
~156 days
Yield
Avg 81.2 q/ha, potential 97.4 q/ha
Disease resistance
Resistant to leaf rust, stripe rust and wheat blast

Notes: Biofortified — 12.1% grain protein with high iron/zinc; good chapati quality; ~42g test weight.

PBW-550

PAU · c. 2006–08

Timely-sown irrigated bread wheat, NWPZ.

Zone
NWPZ, timely sown, irrigated
Sowing window
2nd – 4th week Nov
Seed rate
~111 kg/ha (45 kg/acre)
Maturity
~145 days
Yield
~57 q/ha (historical)
Disease resistance
Resistant to yellow & brown rust at release — resistance has partly weakened since

Notes: Later succeeded by "Unnat PBW 550" / PBW 761, bred with restored rust resistance — confirm which strain is in this lot.

WH-711

CCS HAU · 2002

Timely-sown irrigated bread wheat, Haryana / NWPZ.

Zone
NWPZ (Haryana), irrigated
Sowing window
2nd week Nov – 1st week Dec (trade source, not HAU-original)
Seed rate
See current POP
Maturity
125–130 days (trade source, not HAU-original)
Yield
45–50 q/ha (trade source, not HAU-original)
Disease resistance
See current POP

Notes: Least documented of this set — CCS HAU's own package-of-practices PDF couldn't be retrieved, so several figures above come from seed-trade listings rather than the university itself. Confirm all figures locally before printing.

DBW-327 Karan Shivani

IIWBR · c. 2022–23

Early-sown irrigated wheat with notable heat and drought tolerance.

Zone
NWPZ & Central Zone, early sown
Sowing window
20 Oct – 5 Nov
Seed rate
See current POP
Maturity
See current POP
Yield
Avg 79.4 q/ha, potential 87.7 q/ha
Disease resistance
Highly resistant to stripe & leaf rust; some Karnal bunt resistance

Notes: Strong heat/drought tolerance indices; high grain zinc (~40.6 ppm).

PBW-826

PAU · c. 2022–23

Timely-sown irrigated wheat — among PAU's highest-yielding current releases.

Zone
NWPZ, timely sown, irrigated
Sowing window
Late Oct – late Nov
Seed rate
~99 kg/ha (40 kg/acre)
Maturity
~148 days
Yield
~59–70 q/ha
Disease resistance
Moderately resistant to yellow & brown rust; tolerant to wheat blast

Notes: High test weight and grain quality; currently cited by PAU as one of its highest-yielding notified varieties.

DBW-187 Karan Vandana

IIWBR · 2019

Early and timely-sown irrigated wheat, stable across NWPZ, NEPZ and Central Zone.

Zone
NWPZ, NEPZ & Central Zone, irrigated
Sowing window
Early: 25 Oct – 5 Nov · Timely: 5 – 25 Nov
Seed rate
~100 kg/ha (40 kg/acre)
Maturity
~155–160 days (secondary source)
Yield
Avg ~60–61 q/ha, potential 75.4 q/ha
Disease resistance
Resistant to leaf, stripe and stem rust

Notes: Biofortified (>11% protein), good test weight; performs stably across diverse growing conditions.

General Crop Management

Applies to normal irrigated wheat across the varieties above, unless a variety's own notes say otherwise. Region matters here — fertilizer and spray doses differ by zone, so use the group that matches where the crop is being grown.

Punjab & Haryana — NWPZ

Source: PAU Package of Practices for Crops of Punjab, Rabi 2025–26. Haryana growers should cross-check against CCS HAU's own bulletin — doses are usually close but weren't independently verified against a current HAU document.

Fertilizer dosage

Irrigated, timely-sown — Nitrogen (N)
50 kg/acre (~124 kg/ha), as 110 kg urea/acre
Irrigated, timely-sown — Phosphorus (P₂O₅)
25 kg/acre (~62 kg/ha), as 55 kg DAP/acre (or 155 kg SSP/acre)
Irrigated, timely-sown — Potash (K₂O)
12 kg/acre (~30 kg/ha), as 20 kg MOP/acre — only on potash-deficient soils, not a blanket dose
Irrigated, late-sown (after mid-Dec)
Apply 25% less nitrogen than the timely-sown dose; phosphorus and potash unchanged
Split timing
Full P (and K, if used) drilled at sowing — skip sowing-time urea if DAP is the P source. Timely-sown: 45 kg urea/acre with the 1st irrigation + 45 kg urea/acre with the 2nd. Late-sown: 35 kg urea/acre at each irrigation. If the 2nd irrigation is delayed by rain, apply that urea dose at 55 days after sowing regardless.
Zinc (soil application)
25 kg zinc sulphate (21%)/acre — lasts roughly 2–3 seasons, not needed every year
Zinc (foliar, if deficiency symptoms appear)
1 kg zinc sulphate + 0.5 kg unslaked lime in 200 L water/acre

Seed treatment (pre-sowing)

Fungicide — loose smut / flag smut
Tebuconazole (e.g. Orius 6FS): 13 mL in 400 mL water, for 40 kg seed
Insecticide — termite protection
Thiamethoxam (e.g. Cruiser 70WS): 1 g/kg seed — or Neonix 20FS: 2 mL/kg seed
Biofertilizer
Consortium biofertilizer, 500 g + 1 L water per acre's seed — apply after the fungicide and insecticide coating has dried. Sequence: fungicide → insecticide → biofertilizer.
Karnal bunt
No dedicated seed treatment beyond the smut fungicide above — managed mainly by sowing resistant varieties (e.g. WHD 943, PDW 291) rather than chemical seed treatment.

Fungicide & pesticide — in-season

Yellow & brown rust
Propiconazole 25EC (Tilt / Shine / Bumper / Stilt / Compass / Markzole): 200 mL in 200 L water/acre, sprayed as soon as disease is noticed
Black / stem rust
PAU's bulletin doesn't give a separate dose — presumed covered by the same propiconazole spray above, but unconfirmed. Check an IIWBR advisory if stem rust is a specific local concern.
Aphids
Thiamethoxam 25WG (Actara / Taiyo): 20 g in 80–100 L water/acre, at a threshold of roughly 5 aphids per ear-head
Karnal bunt (foliar spray)
Propiconazole 25EC (Tilt): 200 mL in 200 L water/acre at ear-emergence — recommended only for seed-production crops, not general grain wheat
Termite (standing crop)
Fipronil 0.3G (Mortel): 7 kg/acre — or Chlorpyriphos 20EC (Dursban): 1.2 L/acre, mixed with 20 kg moist sand and applied before the first irrigation

Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand — NEPZ

Source: ICAR-IIWBR's NEPZ package of practices (Wheat Cultivation in India Pocket Guide). GBPUAT Pantnagar's and CSA Kanpur's own bulletins weren't directly reachable, so treat these as a solid starting point to cross-check against your local university's current document, not a substitute for it.

Fertilizer dosage

Irrigated, timely-sown (10–20 Nov) — N : P₂O₅ : K₂O
150 : 60 : 40 kg/ha
Irrigated, late-sown (after 25 Nov) — N : P₂O₅ : K₂O
120 : 60 : 40 kg/ha
Split timing
1/3 of the nitrogen, plus the full phosphorus and potash, applied as basal dose at sowing. Remaining nitrogen split in two equal doses at the 1st irrigation (~CRI stage) and 2nd irrigation (~late tillering/jointing).
Zinc (soil application, deficient soils)
25 kg zinc sulphate/ha once a year, or 10 kg/ha every crop
Zinc (foliar)
0.5% ZnSO₄ solution (2.5 kg zinc sulphate + 1.25 kg unslaked lime in 500 L water/ha) — 2–3 sprays at 15-day intervals

Seed treatment (pre-sowing)

Fungicide — loose smut / seed-borne fungal disease
Carboxin 75WP or Carbendazim 50WP: 2.5 g/kg seed — or Tebuconazole 2DS: 1.25 g/kg seed. Apply 1–2 days before sowing.
Insecticide — termite protection
Chlorpyriphos 20EC: ~4.5 mL product/kg seed — or Thiamethoxam 70WS (e.g. Cruiser): 0.7 g a.i./kg seed
Karnal bunt
No zone-specific seed-treatment dose found — Karnal bunt infects at flowering (soil/air-borne), so it's managed via resistant varieties and, where needed, a foliar spray at flowering rather than a seed treatment. Don't assume the loose-smut treatment above also covers it.
Biofertilizer
Azotobacter/PSB culture seed treatment is commonly recommended in UP/Uttarakhand extension material generically, but a specific NEPZ dose wasn't confirmed — check local KVK guidance.

Fungicide & pesticide — in-season

Foliar blight / spot blotch — the main NEPZ-specific concern
IIWBR's primary defense here is resistant-variety choice (e.g. HD 2985, HI 1563, DBW 39, NW 1014, NW 2036) rather than a standard spray schedule. Where a spray is used, field-trial data from the Eastern Gangetic Plains supports Tebuconazole 50% + Trifloxystrobin 25% WG (e.g. Nativo): 1 g/L, 3 sprays at 7-day intervals starting near flowering — this is trial-backed rather than an official IIWBR zone dose, so treat as indicative.
Rust (yellow/brown/black)
Not independently confirmed for NEPZ specifically — the commonly cited India-wide standard is Propiconazole 25EC @ 0.1% (~500 mL in 500 L water/ha) at first appearance, repeated after 15 days if needed. This matches the Punjab guidance too, so verify it isn't just being carried over before printing.
Aphids
Imidacloprid 200SL: 20 g a.i./ha, foliar spray targeted at border rows and ear heads
Termite (standing crop)
Chlorpyriphos 20EC: 3 L mixed with 50 kg soil, broadcast at 15 days after sowing