Chitwan, Sept. 22 -- Agricultural scientists at the National Maize Research Programme in Rampur, Chitwan, have developed a new hybrid maize seed capable of withstanding extreme drought, erratic rainfall and prolonged waterlogging.

Named 'Saugat'-which literally means a gift in Nepali-the new variety is expected to restore farmers' trust in domestically produced high-yielding seeds and curb the country's reliance on imported hybrids. The variety, currently coded as CAH-1511, is on the verge of official certification and release after nearly 11 years of rigorous multi-stage field trials and continuous testing.

Tirthraj Rijal, senior scientist and chief of the Rampur research facility, said they began working on this candidate line in 2015...