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New maize hybrid an answer to nutritional needs of poor

DEHRA DUN: There is good news for those looking for milk-like nutrition elsewhere, thanks to an early maturing quality protein maize hybrid, Vivek QPM-9, developed by the Vivekanand Institute of Hill Agriculture in Almora and released for cultivation in Uttarakhand by the State Variety Release Committee.

The Vivek QPM matures in about 90 days, making it suitable for almost the entire country.

A few villages in Uttarakhand have been identified where the QPM hybrids will be introduced for converting them to QPM maize villages, according to the Institute Director H.S. Gupta.

The protein quality of QPM is considered 90 per cent of milk protein and it would go a long way in supplementing the nutritional needs of the children and the poor if introduced in their meals, according to P.K. Agrawal, Principal scientist at the Institute.

Maize is an important food and feed crop of India and ranks fifth in acreage and third in production.

Most of the maize grown here is the late variety deficient in essential amino acids like lysine. The Quality Protein Maize with opaque-2 gene along with associated modifiers purportedly contains twice as much lysine and tryptophan and 30 per cent less leucine than the normal maize.

The reduced level of zein further improves the nutritional quality of the QPM, the scientists said, hoping that farmers would take to the QPM variety to improve food and nutritional security.

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