Assessment of biofortified wheat varieties for nutritional security in Eastern India

The present study was carried out during the rabi seasons of 2021-22 and 2022-23 at farmers’ fields under ICAR-ATARI, Patna with the help of 7 KVKs to assess the performance of 4 biofortified wheat varieties for mitigating hidden hunger and malnutrition in pregnant women and preschoolers. Standard norms of frontline demonstration were adopted at 10 sites involving farmers at 100 different locations. Primary data on yield parameters of the demonstration plot and secondary source data of district level, state level and potential yield level of biofortified wheat varieties were collected and statistically analyzed. The highest demonstration yield (55.5 q/ha) was recorded in Muzaffarpur var. DBW 332 under ACZ-I. The state yield was 29.5 q/ha against the potential yield of 48.80 to 78.30 q/ha for different biofortified varieties. The local check yield was highest (43.2 q/ha) in Muzaffarpur district which lies in Bihar ACZ- I. The district level absolute yield gap w.r.t potential yield was highest in Muzaffarpur in DBW 332 variety (56.27 q/ha) followed by Kishanganj in var. HPBW 01 (29.33 q/ha). Maximum technology gap (30.52 q/ha) was recorded in Kishanganj district with highest technology index (59.03 %) while highest extension gap (12.90 q/ha) was recorded in Muzaffarpur district. Higher net returns (32.92%) and B:C ratio (2.81) under demonstration over farmer’s practice was recorded in Muzaffarpur.