CIMAP-Pratap

CIMAP-Pratap was registered by CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, as a new high-yielding Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) variety developed through half-sib selection and specifically recommended for cultivation in drought-prone areas of India. In its registration trial it produced a dry root yield of 34.95 quintals/ha — against 21.99 quintals/ha for the best check variety it was compared with — alongside a total withanolide content of 0.31% (against 0.25% for the check) and a witheferin-A content of 0.720% in the dry leaves (against 0.528% for the check). It also gave high fresh and dry leaf yields of 5.39 and 0.87 quintals/ha respectively. Among the Ashwagandha lines with documented figures for this record, CIMAP-Pratap is the highest dry-root yielder, and its drought-prone-area recommendation makes it a natural fit for the same rainfed, marginal land most Ashwagandha is already grown on.

Plant typeOpen-pollinated
Maturity~180 ± 20 days to root maturity
Yield potentialDry root yield of 34.95 quintals/ha in the variety's own registration trial — against 21.99 quintals/ha for the best check variety — making it the highest dry-root-yielding Ashwagandha line documented for this record
Disease resistanceNot stated in the variety's registration trial record — bred and registered specifically for drought tolerance, evaluated there for yield and withanolide content rather than disease reaction
SoilSandy loam or light red soil, pH 7.5–8.0; bred specifically for drought-prone tracts
SeasonKharif

• Sowing timeDirect sowing: second week of July, once pre-monsoon showers have given a fine tilth. Nursery sowing: just before monsoon onset, transplanted 5–6 weeks later.
• Seed rate5–12 kg/ha for direct broadcast sowing (2–5 kg/acre); a nursery raised for transplanting needs only about 5 kg/ha of seed — the species-standard rate
• Spacing60×60 cm for a transplanted crop; a direct-sown stand is thinned at 25–30 days to about 20,000–25,000 plants/ha
• Sowing methodBroadcast directly into the field, or raise seedlings in a nursery bed and transplant into 60 cm furrows once 5–6 weeks old
• IrrigationBred and registered for drought-prone areas — little to none if the monsoon is on schedule; a life-saving irrigation only on a genuine dry spell, tolerating dry stretches better than a standard line by design
• FertilizerNone, by design — the crop runs on the residual fertility of a previous well-manured crop; on genuinely poor soil, a modest 20:20:0 kg N:P:K/ha is sometimes applied basal
• HarvestingHarvest January–March, about 180 ± 20 days after sowing, once the leaves have dried and the berries have turned yellow-red.

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

• Rajasthan
• Madhya Pradesh
• Gujarat

• Jawahar Asgand-20 (JA-20)

  The older of the two Ashwagandha varieties on ICAR-DMAPR's official released-varieties list — released 1989 by JNKVV, Mandsaur. Short-statured and bred for high-density planting.

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• Jawahar Asgand-134 (JA-134)

  The newer of the two Ashwagandha varieties on ICAR-DMAPR's official released-varieties list — released 1998 by JNKVV, Mandsaur, sharing JA-20's short-statured, high-density profile.

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• CIMAP-Chetak

  Released in 2011 by CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow, through half-sib family selection out of Nagori Ashwagandha stock — a high-yielding, semi-vigorous line bred for medium-irrigated areas, with dry root yield about double the check variety it was compared against.

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• Poshita

  A high-yielding Ashwagandha line developed and marketed by CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow — contact the institute directly for seed and planting-material availability.

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• CIM-Pushti

  Released in 2018 by CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow — a Withanolide-A-rich, leaf-blight-tolerant, high-yielding line bred from an intra-specific Nagouri × Kashmiri hybrid, with a distinctive whitish-cream, high-starch root prized for its texture.

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• Nagori

  A local Ashwagandha strain traded under the well-known name "Nagori", after Rajasthan's Nagaur district — prized for its starchy root, but not a formally released ICAR or state-university variety.

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