BHU’s HUM 27 Mung Variety Takes a Big Step from Research Farm towards Farmers’ Fields

A high-protein, heat-resilient mungbean variety developed by Banaras Hindu University is set to reach farmers, with the University transferring the technology of HUM 27 (Malaviya Jankranti) to Olympus Crop Care Ltd. The technology transfer is expected to facilitate large-scale seed multiplication and eventual commercial availability of the variety.

Developed by the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, HUM 27 brings together several farmer-friendly traits, high protein content, heat tolerance, short crop duration, bold seeds and resistance to Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Virus (MYMV). The variety was officially released in September 2023, through a Gazette notification of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India.

The university has inked an MoU for the formal transfer of technology to Olympus Crop Care Ltd. The MoU was signed by Shri Rajan Srivastava, Registrar, BHU, and Shri. Lakshmi Narayan Das Gupta, Marketing head, Sood Seed Pvt Ltd. as representative of Olympus Crop Care Ltd., in the presence of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi at the Central Registry. The Vice-Chancellor appreciated the efforts towards licensing and technology transfer of agricultural innovations developed at BHU. Noting the progress made by the Institute of Agricultural Sciecnes in this regard, he emphasised the need to take successful University-developed varieties from laboratories and research fields to the society. He also highlighted the scope for wider technology transfer of BHU's innovations in crops.

Dr. Anil Kumar Singh, current breeder of HUM 27, outlined the variety's distinctive characteristics and its potential for summer cultivation. He said that HUM 27 was developed with the objective of making productive use of the short interval between major cropping seasons. Its combination of heat tolerance, short duration, bold seed and high protein content makes it particularly relevant for efficient and climate-resilient crop production.

Prof. V. K. Mishra, Director, Institute of Agricultural Sciences; Prof. S. K. Singh, Head, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding; Prof. Geeta Rai, Chairperson, Intellectual Property Rights and Technology Transfer (IPRTT) Cell, BHU; and members of the Cell, Dr. J. P. Verma, Dr. Kiran Rajendra Giri, Dr. Prabhat Kumar Saha, and Dr. Abhishek Dutt Tripathi, were also present at the MoU signing ceremony. The IPRTT Cell serves as the nodal unit of the University for facilitating the transfer of technologies developed at BHU to industry. Prof. Geeta Rai stated that the Cell is actively working to facilitate the translation of innovations emerging from the University into technologies and solutions that can benefit society.

One of HUM 27's most significant strengths is its thermo-tolerance, enabling it to withstand temperatures of up to 45°C. This makes it particularly suitable for the summer window between the rabi and kharif seasons, allowing farmers with assured irrigation to bring otherwise fallow fields under cultivation after harvesting crops such as wheat or mustard. The recommended sowing period is 10-25 March.

The variety matures in 62-76 days, with an average productivity of 9 quintals per hectare and recorded maximum productivity of 18 quintals per hectare. Its compact plant stature of around 44 cm helps reduce lodging, while its bold, shiny green seeds weigh approximately 5 g per 100 seeds, giving it strong potential for grain and processed-food markets.

Adding to its nutritional significance, HUM 27 contains 28.9% seed protein, making it a promising crop for strengthening dietary protein availability. It has also shown high resistance to MYMV and recorded more than 15% yield superiority over prevailing mungbean varieties of the region.

Olympus Crop Care Ltd. will undertake the requisite seed multiplication process before introducing the variety to the market. The technology transfer marks another step in BHU's efforts to translate agricultural research and plant-breeding innovations into technologies with direct benefits for farmers.

HUM 27 was developed through the contributions of Dr. Anil Kumar Singh, Dr. M. N. Singh, Dr. Ramesh Chand, Dr. Prem Shankar Singh and Mr. Dinesh Kumar of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU.