Case Studies on Promotion of Pulses through Seed Production among Farming Community | Chapter 03 | Current Topics in Agricultural Sciences Vol. 5

 The national government executed the NFSM "Creation of seed hubs for promoting indigenous production of pulses in India" in 2016-17 with the goal of increasing pulses production and per capita consumption among Indian farmers. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Sirugamani, Tiruchirappalli district, is a pioneer knowledge resource centre, imparting the newest technology in agricultural crops, horticulture crops, and allied sectors to the Tiruchirappalli district farming community from seed to market. Tiruchirappalli promoted novel varieties including VBN 6 and VBN 8 in black gramme, CO 8 in green gramme, and CO (Rg) 7 in red gramme among farmers in Tiruchirappalli and adjacent districts as a seed hub centre, thanks to technical backstopping and interventions from KVK. From 2016 forward, farmers were encouraged to cultivate pure pulse crops through focus group talks, group meetings, field visits, off-campus trainings, and cluster frontline demonstrations. In the years 2017 and 2018, 72 farmers from the districts of Tiruchirappalli, Karur, Cuddalore, Perambalur, and Pudukkottai were registered to produce seeds under the Foundation stage I, Foundation stage II, and Certified stage. Farmers received a larger yield as a single crop than they did as a rice fallow pulse crop, with average net yields of Rs.75000/- per hectare. In the 2019-20 crop year, 95 farmers were registered to produce black gramme VBN 8 seed, indicating a growing trend in area and production. A young eager farmer experienced 832 kg per acre black gramme yield the same year. The rapid horizontal spread of black gramme seed production piqued the curiosity of a diverse range of farmers. Many successful farmers were able to achieve larger yields than their local counterparts. Farmers have produced 548 quintals of black gramme, 0.23 quintals of green gramme, and 4.81 quintals of red gramme through participatory farming. The value of cultivating pulses as a pure crop was pushed through mass media, newspapers, All India Radio and Doordharshan, TNAU agricultural magazine Uzhavarin Valarum Velanmai, exhibitions, campaigns, and trainings. Farmers in black gramme were able to achieve larger yields than local variety in two situations. Farmers have given positive feedback on the new varieties and the buy-back procurement policy used in this scheme. Under this initiative, a memorandum of understanding has been signed for the provision of seeds to the Department of Agriculture throughout Tamil Nadu.

Author(S) Details 

Noorjehan A. K. A. Hanif
KVK, Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu, India.

V. Dhanushkodi
KVK, Sirugamani, Tamil Nadu, India.

G. Amuthaselvi
AEC & RI, TNAU, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

V. Alex Albert
KVK, Sirugamani, Tamil Nadu, India.

N. Tamilselvan
KVK, Sirugamani, Tamil Nadu, India.

View Book:- https://stm.bookpi.org/CTAS-V5/article/view/5256