Enhancement of Mustard (Brassica juncea) Productivity and Profitability through Front Line Demonstrations in Kota district of Rajasthan

Mustard is a major rabi oilseed crop in Kota district of Rajasthan. To demonstrate production potential of improved agro-techniques of mustard crop, cluster front-line demonstrations were conducted during rabi 2016-17 to 2018-19 on selected farmer fields of the Kota district. Technological interventions demonstrated based on technological gap analysis consisted of varieties NRC HB-101 & Giriraj, Seed treatment with metalaxyl @ 6.0 g kg -1 seed and imidacloprid48 FS @ 6 ml kg -1 seed, soil treatment with Trichoderma viride @ 2.5 kg ha -1 , sowing of crop in row of 30 cm apart, optimum seed rate @ 4 to 5 kg ha -1 , recommended doses of fertilizers (NP @80:40 kg ha -1 , sulphur @ 25 kg ha -1 and zinc sulphate@ 25 kg ha -1 ) and need based plant protection measures. A perusal of three years data revealed that application of improved technologies resulted in substantially higher mustard seed yield with mean seed yield of 2099 kg ha -1 which represents 24.61 per cent yield enhancement over local check (1685 kg ha 1 ). Demonstrated techniques fetched average net returns of Rs 54467 ha -1 with B:C ratio of 3.08, higher in comparison to local practice (Rs 41192 ha -1 , B:C ratio 2.75). An average additional return of Rs.13275 ha -1 was obtained due to demonstrated technologies with incremental B:C ratio of 5.07. Yield gap analysis showed extension gap in the range of 376 to 437 kg ha -1 , emphasizes the need for transferring the feasible improved technologies among farmers to bridge the wide extension gap. Technology gap values observed to be in the range of 344 to 784 kg ha -1 and technology index in the present study varied between 13.76 to 28.51 per cent and averaged 21.04 per cent.


INTRODUCTION
Oilseed crops, accounting about 19 per cent of global area with around 2.7 per cent of global production, hold the second most important determinant of Indian agricultural economy only next to cereals. India occupies a significant position in the world as forth leading oilseeds producing countries lacking behind only to USA, China and Brazil (Reddy & Emmanuel, 2017).
Domestic consumption of edible oils has increased substantially in India, over the years, with increasing population. The Government decided to achieve self-sufficiency in edible oilseeds production by various technological interventions to overcome stagnant oilseed production through promoting latest production technologies in oilseed production.
Mustard crop accounts for nearly onethird of the oil produced in India, making it the country's key edible oilseed crop. Rajasthan is the major Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) producing state in India. Also, it is a major rabi oilseed crop of the district Kota covering about 20 per cent acreage of total rabi sown area. Mustard is cultivated in area of around 40 thousand ha in the district with the average productivity varying in between 1677 to 1932 kg ha -1 during 2016-17 to 2018-19 (GOR, 2018and Anonymous, 2019. Major factors responsible for low productivity of mustard in the district includes use of old variety seeds, improper nutrient management, improper crop geometry by use of high seed rate and inadequate plant protection measures against biotic and abiotic stresses. There exists ample scope to enhance the productivity of mustard up to at least 2000 kg ha -1 by the adoption of new varieties and improved agro-techniques. Organization of front-line demonstrations (FLD's) is most effective tool for transfer of new profitable & sustainable technologies among the farmers and making them acceptable. Therefore, frontline demonstrations were conducted during rabi seasons of the year 2016-17 to 2018-19 on selected farmer's fields of the operational area of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kota with the objective of exhibiting the performance of newly released high yielding variety Giriraj (DRMR IJ-31) & NRC HB-101 along with recommended cost-effective agro-techniques which could be adapted by the farmers for yield enhancement. Farmer's for the CFLD's were selected based on group meeting taking in to consideration mainly the easy accessibility and effective applicability of demonstration technologies. Farmer were selected from 13 different villages of operational area of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kota namely Rajpura, Gandifali,Galana, Nangalheri, Aanwa, Kalyakhedi, Gokulpura, Bhandahera, Umarda, Tankarwada, Madhopur, Laxmipura and Suhana. Kota District falls under Agro-climatic Zone-V "Humid Southeastern plain zone" of Rajasthan. The climate in the district is semi-arid and moderate. Soils of the study area clay loam in texture with low nitrogen, low to medium phosphorus, high in available potassium and widely deficient in zinc.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The area under each FLD's were kept 0.4 ha with farmers practice as control plots. Technological interventions under demonstration were decided based on technological gap analysis (Table-1). Based on gap analysis, technological interventions demonstrated consisted of use of improved varieties NRC HB-101 and Giriraj (DRMRIJ-31), optimum seed rate @ 4 to 5 kg ha -1 and sowing in 30 cm row spacing, seed treatment with metalaxyl @ 6.0 g kg -1 seed and imidacloprid 48 FS @6 ml kg -1 seed, recommended doses of NP fertilizers @ 80-40 kg ha -1 , use of zinc sulphate @ 25 kg ha -1 , bentonite sulphur @ 25 kg ha -1 and need based plant protection measures for painted bug and aphid. Farmers were also suggested for efficient use of fertilizers by drilling in furrows, need based weed management & thinning at 15-20 DAS and irrigation at critical stages. Selected farmers were provided trainings on advanced production technology for effective application of improved technologies of mustard. Critical inputs were also provided to the farmers and other inputs were suggested as per need. Crop was timely sown i.e. during first to last week of October and sown in 30 cm rows apart. Farmers applied 1 to 2 irrigations at critical growth stages of the crop. All steps like site and farmer selection, layout of demonstration, farmer's participation etc. were followed as suggested by Choudhary (1999). Monitoring of FLD sites were done by periodical visits and needful suggestion were given to the farmers. Field days were also organized at crop maturity to demonstrate the results of FLD among other farmers of the local area for horizontal spread of technologies. The crop was harvested during first fortnight of March. Data related to yield and cost particulars were collected separately for FLD plots and farmers practice. The average prices of inputs and outputs commodities prevailed during each year of demonstrations were taken for calculating cost of cultivation, net return and benefit cost ratio. The technology gap, extension gap and technology index were calculated as suggested by Samui et al. (2000).

Technology gap = Potential yield -Demonstration yield
Extension gap = Demonstration yield -Farmers yield Technology index (%) = (Technology gap/ Potential yield) × 100 Cost Benefit ratio (C:B ratio) = Gross returns/Gross cost of cultivation

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the cluster frontline demonstrations conducted at farmers' field clearly reveal that yield of mustard was recorded substantially higher under demonstration plots in comparison to the local checks (farmer's practice) during all the three years (2016-17 to 2018-19 branching, vigorous growth and comparatively more number of pods per plant. Similarly, variety Giriraj performed well on farmer fields with better branching, high number of pods and greater number of seeds per pod. Both these varieties were observed to be less infected with white rust disease than other varieties under farmer's practice. Seed treatment with metalaxyl and imidacloprid were found effective against white rust disease and commonly occurred painted bug attack, respectively. Similar trends with regards to yield enhancement were also reported by Mitra et al. (2010) and Sharma et al. (2015). A perusal of data (Table-3) further shows that values for extension gap ranged from 376 to 437 kg ha -1 with a mean value of 415 kg ha -1 during the period of demonstration which emphasizes the need for transferring the feasible improved technologies among farmers to bridge the extension yield gap. Technology gap which imply researchable issues for realization of potential yield ranged from 344 to 784 kg ha -1 , with a mean of 567 kg ha -1 during three years of demonstration. Katare et al. (2011) reported that technology index shows the feasibility of evolved technology at the farmer's field and lower the value of technology index more is the feasibility of the technology. Technology index in the present study varied between 13.76 to 28.51 per cent and averaged 21.28 per cent. Variation in technology index during three seasons might be attributed to dissimilarity in the weather and soil condition. revealed that CFLD practice, fetched net returns of Rs. 54467 ha -1 with B:C ratio of 3.08, higher in comparison to local practice (Rs 41192 ha -1 , B:C ratio 2.75). An average additional return of Rs.13275 ha -1 was obtained under demonstrated improved technologies with incremental B:C ratio of 5.07 which might be attributed to yield enhancement under demonstration with least additional cost. Higher cost benefit ratio and additional returns clearly shows that demonstrated techniques were found cost effective & feasible for yield enhancement of mustard on farmer fields. Farmers were also found greatly convinced with the mustard varieties NRCHB-101 & Giriraj and other technological interventions due to higher economic returns with least additional investment and management practices. The variation in cost benefit ratio during different years might be due to variation in yield performance and input output cost in that particular year.