JG 11
An early-maturing chickpea (about 95–100 days) with strong original resistance to Fusarium wilt — the single biggest yield-killer on land with a wilt history.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Gram (Chana)
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- 95–100 days
- Expected yield
- 18–20 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Clay / black soil
- Release
- Released 1999, developed jointly by ICRISAT, PKV Akola and JNKVV Jabalpur; officially recommended for India’s Southern Zone (Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu)
About this variety
JG 11 is a bold-seeded desi chickpea released in 1999, bred jointly by ICRISAT, Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) Akola and JNKVV Jabalpur. It is an early-maturing variety, at about 95–100 days, with a bold seed of around 22 g per 100 seeds. Its official release recommendation is India’s Southern Zone (Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu), but its bold seed and short duration have also driven wide farmer adoption in central India — this record’s states list carries both the four officially recommended Southern Zone states and Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, where front-line demonstrations, diffusion studies and ICRISAT’s own reporting of a "non-traditional area" adoption wave confirm real cultivation.
Key characteristics
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
95–100 days
Expected yield
18–20 q/ha
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
Pest & disease considerations
Major diseases
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Bold, attractive seed (commonly reported around 22 g/100 seed) that fetches a better market price than an average local desi chana
- Early maturity lets it fit into tight rabi windows and frees the field sooner for the next crop
Things to consider
- JG 11 was released with strong Fusarium wilt resistance, but a multi-race screening study found the original JG 11 line giving a ‘susceptible’ reaction to some of the newer wilt races/isolates tested — more than two decades of pathogen evolution have eroded part of the resistance it was released with, which is why breeders have since used JG 11 as the base for wilt-resistance-restoring lines like KCD 11
- On land with a recent, heavy wilt history, pair JG 11 with seed treatment and rotation rather than relying on its resistance alone
- This states list mixes the official Southern Zone recommendation (Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu) with documented farmer adoption in Madhya Pradesh (Bundelkhand front-line demonstrations, commercial seed trade out of Indore) and Maharashtra (ICRISAT’s own reporting of a "silent chickpea revolution in non-traditional areas" naming Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra together) — treat the zone states as the formal recommendation and the rest as regions where cultivation is documented but not officially notified.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Andhra Pradesh
- Karnataka
- Odisha
- Tamil Nadu
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
Frequently asked questions
Is JG 11 still fully resistant to Fusarium wilt today?
Not against every wilt race. It was released with strong resistance in 1999, but a multi-race screening study later found the original line susceptible to some newer races, which is why it is now mainly used as a breeding parent for further wilt-resistance work rather than treated as immune.
Is JG 11 only meant for the Southern Zone, or does it also grow well in central India?
Its official release recommendation is India’s Southern Zone — Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. But farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have widely adopted it too, drawn by its bold seed and short duration — ICRISAT itself has documented this spread as a "silent chickpea revolution" reaching well beyond the zone it was officially released for. This page lists both the official zone and these documented adoption states together, since a variety can be worth growing in a state even without a formal recommendation there.
Sourced from: Identification of multi-race Fusarium wilt resistance in chickpea using rapid hydroponic phenotyping — Phytopathologia Mediterranea. editorial policy.