Pusa 372
A bold-seeded desi type that earns a better market price per quintal than the average local chana.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Gram (Chana)
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- 130–140 days
- Expected yield
- 20–22 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Release
- Released 1993 by ICAR-IARI; recommended for the Central Zone, North-East Plains Zone and North-West Plains Zone; long used as the national check variety for late-sown trials
About this variety
Pusa 372 is a widely adapted desi chickpea released in 1993 by ICAR-IARI, recommended across the Central Zone, North-East Plains Zone and North-West Plains Zone and long used as a national check variety in late-sown trials — a sign of how well-established it became. It was originally valued for its drought tolerance, but an academic review of chickpea molecular breeding notes that its drought performance has declined in recent years under field conditions, which is why ICAR later used marker-assisted backcrossing to introgress the ‘QTL-hotspot’ drought-tolerance region from the landrace ICC 4958 into Pusa 372’s own background, producing the improved variety Pusa 10216.
Key characteristics
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
130–140 days
Expected yield
20–22 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
- Wide zonal adaptability — one of the few desi varieties recommended across three separate agro-climatic zones at once
- Suitable for late-sown conditions, giving some flexibility when the main sowing window is missed
Things to consider
- A multi-race Fusarium wilt screening study found Pusa 372 giving a ‘susceptible’ reaction to some of the races tested — worth reading alongside this record’s existing ‘moderate wilt tolerance’ rating rather than as a contradiction of it, since moderate tolerance to the disease overall is consistent with susceptibility to specific newer races
- Its original drought tolerance has reportedly weakened over decades of field exposure, which is why the MABC-improved Pusa 10216 line now exists as its successor for drought-prone tracts
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttar Pradesh
- Madhya Pradesh
- Rajasthan
Frequently asked questions
Is Pusa 372 still a good choice for drought-prone land?
It still performs reasonably, but its drought tolerance has weakened somewhat over decades of field use. ICAR-IARI has since bred an improved successor, Pusa 10216, by introgressing a stronger drought-tolerance region into Pusa 372’s own background — worth asking your local KVK whether that newer line is available where you farm.
Why is Pusa 372 used as a ‘check’ variety in trials?
Because it has been grown across three agro-climatic zones for three decades with well-documented, stable performance, national trials use it as the known baseline against which newer late-sown chickpea lines are compared.
Sourced from: Molecular Breeding and Drought Tolerance in Chickpea — PMC, Identification of multi-race Fusarium wilt resistance in chickpea using rapid hydroponic phenotyping — Phytopathologia Mediterranea. editorial policy.