VL Masoor 507 (VL 507) (National Identity No. IC 530548) is a bold seeded lentil variety developed by Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (ICAR), Almora and was identified by the All India Annual Workshop and subsequently released by Central Sub-committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Variety vide notification No. SO 599(E) dated 24.4.2006 for the commercial cultivation in Indian Himalayan region covering the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, ‘VL Masoor 507’ is the first bold seeded lentil variety released for Himalayan hills.
VL Masoor 507 has been developed through single plant selection from the material received from ICARDA, Syria, (ILL7978). Prior to submission of VL 507 as an entry to the All India Co-ordinated system, VL 507 was selected as an entry in station trial for yield and other ancillary attributes for two years at Experimental Farm, Hawalbagh and subsequently tested in Co-ordinated programme (IVT/AVT) as VL 507 for three years by the AII India Co-ordinated Research Project, MULLaRP, Kanpur. VL 507 was evaluated in Indian Himalayas at Hawalbagh, Srinagar and Berthin during three years. It ranked first at 5 out of 6 locations for yield indicating a wider adaptability of this variety. On an average, it yielded 12.04q/ha and the maximum yield was obtained at Hawalbagh (15.4q/ha) in 2004–05. It exhibited a yield advantage of 14.9% over the best check DPL 62 followed by 19.1% over DPL 15, 28.6% over LH 84-4 and 36.7% over L4076. During farmer's participatory programme, this variety was preferred by farmers because of its dense canopy and bold seeds. VL Masoor 507 has semi-erect growth habit (49 cm) and requires 169 days (162 to 179 days) to mature, while at Srinagar (J&K) it took 192 to 209 days to mature. The mean 100-seed weight of VL Masoor 507′ is 3.32 g which higher than DPL 62 (3.25 g) and L 4076 (2.94 g). The variety VL 507 possesses higher degree of resistance against wilt (2.3 to 4.5%). The protein content of VL Masoor 507 was recorded as 33.59%. VL Masoor 507 is the first variety developed out of ICARDA material and released for Indian Himalayas.VL Masoor 507 (bold seeded) may ensure nutritional security of the hilly people to the otherwise under-nourished hill population.
