Impact of pulses on technological gap and socio-economic status of farmers in North Eastern India

Abstract

The study was carried out to assess the performance of cluster frontline demonstrations (CFLDs) in terms of the Technological gap and Socioeconomic status of farmers in fieldpea crop in three states of North East i.e. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim. Krishi Vigyan Kendras of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim conducted 1285 demonstrations in 465 ha area, 465 demonstrations in 270 ha area, and 126 demonstrations in 50 ha area, respectively in four years using improved production technology. The results revealed that the average yield of demonstration plots was highest in Arunachal Pradesh i.e 1,543 kg/ha during 2019-2020 as compared to farmers’ practices 1008 kg/ha with 53.07 percent increase in yield followed by Assam 1297 kg/ha during 2018-2019 compared to farmers’ practices (921 kg/ha). Results showed that net return in demonstration plots was Rs. 28,539/- per ha in Assam, Rs. 46,726/- per ha in Arunachal Pradesh, and Rs. 45,393/- per ha in Sikkim over farmer practices (Rs. 13,890, Rs. 24,108 and Rs. 24,056, respectively). The majority of farmers (62.66 percent) belong to medium level of knowledge in Assam and also it has adopted most of the improved technologies (53.02%), followed by Sikkim (48.99%) and Arunachal Pradesh (47.00%) which is highly encouraging and it is suggested to adopt these technologies for sustainable production of fieldpea in North East India.