SOYBEAN FRONT LINE DEMONSTRATIONS IN JHALAWAR DISTRICT OF RAJASTHAN FOR MINIMIZING THE YIELD GAP Arjun Kumar Verma, Ram Raj Meena and Bhim Singh 1* Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jhalawar - 326 001 (Rajasthan), India. 1 College of Horticulture and Forestry, M.P.U.A.T. Campus, Jhalarapatan, Jhalawar - 326 023 (Rajasthan), India. Abstract Soybean possesses a very high nutritional value along with high yield potential. It contains about 40% high quality protein and 20% oil. Soybean is the major growing crop (more than two lakhs hectare) during kharif in the district with low productivity i.e. equal or less than 1.4 t/ha. The major reason of low yield of soybean crop was gap between improved package and practices (IP) and farmers practice (FP). The present study was carried out to know this gap along with impact of the front line demonstrations (FLDs) conducted by K.V.K., Jhalawar. It was found that the adoption gap of soybean technologies were more in nutrient management followed by methods of sowing, seed rate, weed management, seed treatment, time of sowing, high yielding varieties, irrigation and plant protection measures. The yield under IP ranged from 1510 to 2350 kg/ha. The per cent increase in yield with IP over FP was recorded in the range of 18.06 to 30.19. Key words : Frontline demonstration, improved package and practices, farmer practice, adoption. Plant Archives Vol. 13 No. 2, 2013 pp. 715-718 ISSN 0972-5210 Introduction Soybean is an important oilseed crop of India. Soybean possesses a very high nutritional value due to its high yield potential the crop is being cultivated over million hectares of area spread over a wide range of agro-climate conditions both in tropical and subtropical regions of India. Productivity of soybean varies widely in India. The yield levels of soybean crop often fluctuate due to vagaries of monsoon, use of old varieties, etc. The government of India/ICAR is operating various schemes for transfer of technology to farmer’s field. Front line demonstrations (FLDs) is one of them, which emphasises to increase production by supplying limited critical inputs along with proven technology through the scientists of state agricultural university (SAU). Use of improved seed, recommended dose of fertilizer, plant protection and weed control measures, sowing time, seed rate and treatment increase the yield of soybean as compared to the traditional practices followed by farmers. Keeping the above facts in view, a study was carried out to find out the barriers influencing the production gap of soybean. Materials and Methods During 2004 to 2007, total 121 front line demonstrations were conducted in different villages of Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. To carry the demonstration, farmers were randomly selected in adopted villages of K.V.K. viz. Khedla, Phoongahedi, Bhadkadi, Badodiya, Jhoomaki and Rajpura of Jhalawar district based on practices being adopted by the farmers. Interventions were identified by PRA survey to enhance the productivity of soybean (table 1). In the district, major constraints identified were the use of old varieties, imbalance use of chemical fertilizer, higher seed rate, no seed treatment, irregular sowing time, defective method of sowing, no weed management and no plant protection measures, etc. Considering these factors farmers from each village of varied size holding were selected. The intervention viz. use of high yielding varieties, proper seed rate, seed treatment, proper sowing time, suitable sowing method, timely irrigation, weed management and plant protection measures were demonstrated at the farmer’s field alongwith control (farmer’s practice) (table 1). An area of one acre was taken as demonstration block and yield were recorded through crop cutting survey. In all villages, soybean crop was sown during last week of June to first week of July or onset of monsoon. The demonstrations were carried out on shrink soils of Jhalawar district. All the other soil characteristics and average weather parameters of the district are *Author for correspondence- E-mail : bhimsingh1@gmail.com