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HQPM-5 quality protein maize hybrid Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

HQPM-5 quality protein maize hybrid

HQPM-5 (Hisar Quality Protein Maize-5) is a single-cross quality protein maize hybrid developed at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, and released through AICRP-Maize for irrigated medium-to-late kharif cultivation. Together with HQPM-1, HQPM-4 and HQPM-7, it forms the Hisar QPM hybrid series — the most widely grown set of public-sector quality-protein maize hybrids in India.

Why it matters

QPM hybrids correct the deficit of lysine and tryptophan in normal maize (Hqpm 1 Iari Quality Protein Maize). HQPM-5 was bred specifically to push the QPM platform into longer-duration, higher-input irrigated kharif environments of Punjab, Haryana and western UP, where yield potential exceeds 8 t/ha and where the larger ear-size of late-duration hybrids gives a stronger grain-volume signal in mandi sales.

Key facts

  • Breeder: CCS HAU, Hisar
  • Released: 2007 by AICRP-Maize for kharif (north-western plains zone)
  • Type: single-cross hybrid, opaque-2 allele
  • Recommended zone: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand plains, western UP, Rajasthan
  • Duration: 95-100 days (kharif); medium-to-late
  • Yield potential: 7.0-8.0 t/ha under irrigation; on-farm 5.5-6.5 t/ha
  • Grain: yellow semi-flint, ~310 g per 1000 kernels
  • Lysine in protein: 4.0-4.2%; tryptophan: 0.9-1.0%

Agronomy

Adapted to medium-to-high-fertility alluvial soils under assured irrigation. Seed rate 20 kg/ha at 60 × 20 cm. Fertiliser: 180:80:60 NPK kg/ha plus 25 kg ZnSO4 + 15 kg sulphur/ha; N split into four doses (basal, V4, V8, tasseling). Sowing window: 15 June-10 July under monsoon; the hybrid responds to ridge-furrow planting for drainage in heavy soils. Pre-emergence atrazine 1.0 kg a.i./ha plus one inter-cultivation around 30 DAS.

Pests and diseases

Moderately resistant to maydis leaf blight (Bipolaris maydis) and to banded leaf and sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani), the latter increasingly important in dense, high-N stands of the north-western plains. Susceptible to fall armyworm (Maize Faw Spodoptera Frugiperda National) and to pink stem borer in delayed plantings. Charcoal rot can appear in moisture-stressed late-kharif tail-end conditions.

Adoption and use

HQPM-5 grain feeds the dense poultry cluster of Barwala (Haryana) and the layer integrators of western UP. As with other QPM hybrids, integrators pay a small premium because higher endogenous lysine reduces synthetic-lysine inclusion in least-cost feed formulae (Maize Poultry Feed Link India). National Food Security Mission promotes HQPM-5 as a QPM option for irrigated zones of north India; Haryana State Seed Corporation produces certified seed and supplies KVKs across the zone.

See also: Hqpm 1 Iari Quality Protein Maize, Hqpm 7 Quality Protein Maize, Pusa Qpm 5 Hybrid Maize, Vivek Qpm 9 Maize, Maize Crop Overview, Maize Poultry Feed Link India, Maize Faw Spodoptera Frugiperda National.

Sources

  1. Quality Protein Maize varieties. ICAR-IIMR, Ludhiana. https://iimr.icar.gov.in/?page_id=2247
  2. AICRP-Maize annual report 2022-23. ICAR-IIMR. https://iimr.icar.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AR-2022-23.pdf