KAU Punya (MO 25): A High Yielding Red Kernelled Rice Variety for Kuttanad

KAU Punya (MO 25, KAUM 192-1-1-1-2-1, IET 27315) is a short duration red kernelled rice variety released from M. S. Swaminathan Rice Research Station, Moncompu for the agro-ecological unit, Kuttanad. The variety has a duration of 110 days with an average yield of 5000 to 5500 kilograms per hectare. KAU Punya is developed from a cross between the two most popular rice varieties of Kerala, Jyothi (PTB 39) and Uma (MO 16). It is a semi-tall, photo-insensitive, non-lodging variety with long bold red kernelled grains. The variety possesses seed dormancy of about two weeks and is moderately tolerant to major pests and diseases like stem borer, blast, sheath blight and brown spot. MO 25 has good hulling and milling recovery with excellent cooking quality, better than that of the parental varieties, Jyothi and Uma. KAU Punya (MO 25) was released by the 29th State Seed Subcommittee meeting of the Government of Kerala, suitable for cultivation in agro ecological unit 4, Kuttanad.