​Impact of Cluster Front Line Demonstrations on Productivity and Economics of Lentil (Lens culinaris L.), Chickpea (Cicer aeritinum L.) and Field Pea (Pisum sativum L.) in Old Alluvial Zone of Malda, West Bengal, India

Cluster frontline demonstrations (CFLDs) on improved technology (Table 1, 2 and 3) were conducted by Malda Krishi Vigyan Kendra of West Bengal in rabi pulse crops viz. lentil, chickpea and field pea during 2017/18-2020/21 under irrigated conditions on 80 hectare area covering 205 farmers. The study area is located in Old Alluvial Zone of Malda, West Bengal with tropical to sub-tropical climate. Location and soil properties of the experimental fields are reflected in Table 4. Soil testing (pH, organic carbon, available N, P, K, B, Zn) was done by the instrument MRIDAPARIKSHAK (MINILAB, Developed by ICAR, Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal). In CFLDs’ plots, full package of recommended practices were adopted whereas, in the adjoining farmers’ fields, crops were grown as per farmers’ practices which served as control/local check.
 

 

 

 

 
Collection of data
 
The data of grain yield in demonstrations’ and farmers’ practices were collected from the beneficiary farmers through personal interviews followed by tabulation and analysis to reach the conclusion. The increased yield in demonstrations over farmers’ practice was calculated by using the following formula:  
Technology gap, extension gap and technology index were calculated by using the formulae stated below: (Kadian et al., 1997) :  
Extension gap = Demonstration yield- Farmers’ yield (control).
Technology gap = Potential yield- Demonstration yield.
 
Economic analysis
 
Economics were computed based on current market prices for input and outputs.

Yield performance
 
Lentil
 
The average yield and percent yield increase over control with IPL-406 variety was recorded 843 kg ha^-1 and 23.8% during 2017/18 and 897 kg ha^-1 and 19.3% during 2018/19, respectively. The variety KL-320 showed 1119 kg ha^-1 yield and 40.2% yield increase over farmer’s plot during 2020/21.
 
Chickpea
 
The average productivity of JAKI-9218 variety varied from 1155 kg ha^-1 (2017/18) to 1234 kg ha^-1 (2018/19) with 54.4% (2017/18) and 52% (2018/19) yield increase over farmers’ plot. The variety NBEG-49 showed 1298 kg ha^-1 yield and 51.8% yield increase over farmers’ plot during 2020/21.
 
Field pea
 
Demonstration plots with field pea variety IPFD-10-12 showed 1387 kg ha^-1 yield and 48.2% yield increase over control during 2018/19.
 
Seed treatments with rhizobium culture improve nodulation and better fixation of nitrogen in legumes which improve yield (Laguerre et al., 2007). So, in demonstration plots seed treatments were done with rhizobium to enhance productivity. The yield potentiality of local variety is quite low because the varieties are old and more prone to disease and pest. The variety in demonstration like chickpea var. JAKI-9218 is resistant to fusarium wilt, root rot and collar rot and NBEG-49 is tolerant to wilt. Lentil var. IPL-406 is resistant to rust and KL-320 is moderately resistant to wilt and rust. Field pea var. IPFD-10-12 is a resistant to powdery mildew and tolerant to rust. These special characters of these varieties minimized the cost of cultivation of the pulse crops by reducing the injudicious application of pesticides against these diseases which ultimately increased the yield in demonstration.

Extension yield gap
 
Successful research planning and suitable methodologies are important for development and implementation of recent advanced technologies. Extension gap can be minimized by bringing awareness and motivation among the farmers for acceptance and adoption of improved technologies in place of their traditional practices (Cramb, 2003).

Maximum and minimum extension yield gaps were observed in field pea IPFD-10-12 (451 kg ha^-1) during 2018/19 and in lentil var. IPL-406 (145 kg ha^-1) during 2018/19 (Table 3). The extension yield gap in lentil varied from 162 kg ha-1 (2017/18) to 321 kg ha^-1 (2020/21) and in case of chickpea, it was from 407 kg ha^-1 (2017/18) to 447 kg ha^-1 (2018/19).
 
Yield gap might be due to adoption of improved technology especially high yielding disease resistant varieties sown with balanced nutrient, seed treatment, weed management and plant protection measures in demonstrations which resulted in higher grain yield and higher economic returns than the traditional farmers’ practices. The area of cultivation of lentil in Malda district is increasing day by day. Moreover in this region farmers are not habituated with the cultivation of field pea and chick pea but cultivation of chick pea in Malda district is little bit higher than field pea. So, the best result obtained with lentil followed by chickpea and field pea. Hence, for sustainable crop productions, there is an urgent need to aware and educate the resource poor farmers for the adoption of location specific technology to reduce the extension yield gap (Choudhary et al., 2010; Bhowmik et al., 2019).
 
Technological yield gap
 
The technological yield gaps were highest in field pea var. IPFD 10-12 (1113 kg ha^-1) during 2018/19 followed by chickpea var. JAKI-9218 (845 kg ha^-1) during 2017/18 while lowest yield gap was observed in lentil var. KL-320 (481 kg ha^-1) during 2020/21. Irregular distribution of rainfall, differences in soil fertility, cultivation on marginal lands may be the possible reasons for the technological gaps observed in CFLDs even after strong management by the scientists in the demonstration plot. To minimize the yield gaps, strengthening the site specific crop management practices are essential.
 
Technology index
 
Potentiality of new technology in the farmers’ field under existing agro climatic situations depends on technology index (Kumari et al., 2007). The technology will be more viable by lowering the technology index (Meena and Singh, 2017). The insufficient transfer of proven technology to cultivators and lack of adequate extension services for transfer of technology resulted higher technology index. In this present study, lowest and highest technology index were recorded in lentil var. KL-320 (30.1%) during 2020/21 and field pea var. IPFD-10-12 (44.5%) during 2018/19 (Table 5). Technology index ranging from 30.1% to 39.8% in lentil and 35.1% to 42.3% in chickpea were observed in demonstrated plots. In this present study, higher technology index might be due to recent introduction of all the varieties of lentil, chickpea and field pea in Malda district of West Bengal. Higher technology index in lentil during 2017/18 (Table 5) might be due to blast disease which is very common in Malda district due to fluctuation of temperature and occurrence of fog during the end of January and in case of chickpea, it is due to infestation of pod borer.  The study reflected that low technology index can be achieved by adoptability of location specific proven technology along with introduction of high yielding disease resistant varieties and its proper demonstration under CFLDs’ followed by intensive training and awareness campaign among the farming community in this region.
 

 
Economic analysis of cluster front line demonstration on pulse
 
Economic returns considered as a function of gain yield and selling price varied during different years. The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) varied between 2.04 (lentil var. IPL-406) to 2.90 (chick pea var. NBEG-49) in demonstration plots during 2017/18 and 2020/21, respectively. In farmers’ plots, BCR were varied between 1.62 (chick pea var. B-108) to 1.95 (field pea var. HUDP-154) during 2017/18 and 2018/19, respectively (Table 6). The higher economic returns under demonstrations might be attributed due to improved technology, scientific monitoring and timely operations of crop cultivation.
 

Lentil var. KL-320, chickpea var. NBEG-49 and field pea variety IPFD-10-12 showed promising performances in Malda, West Bengal region. Moreover, lentil var. KL-320 (90-120 days), chickpea var. NBEG-49 (90-105 days) and field pea variety IPFD-10-12 (110-115 days) are short duration in nature and so these varieties are more suitable to fit in various cropping systems.
 
Present study clearly indicated that due to technology and extension gaps, there exists a wide yield gaps among potential, demonstration and farmers’ plots under pulses. Moreover, sluggish growth in yields and stagnant acreage are major concerns in pulse production in this region. It is also noted that varietal replacement coupled with improved agro-techniques can boost up pulse productivity, profitability and ultimately give livelihood security in a sustainable manner by increasing cropping intensity by diversifying their cropping system through introduction of pulses in Malda district. Improved farm technology has great impact on yield enhancement of crops reported in earlier studies of FLDs’ (Kumar et al., 2016; Kumar et al., 2015; Sharma et al., 2012).

At last main emphasis will be made to disseminate the economically viable crop production technology along with short duration HYV’S suitable for local situation from small to large scale farmers’ field through intensive training and demonstration for ensuring food and nutritional security to the resource poor farmers.