Impact of Cluster Frontline Demonstrations on Yield of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Prakasam District of Andhara Pradesh, India

The Cluster Front Line Demonstrations (CFLDs) offer a unique approach to establish a direct interface between farmers and researchers, where the latter are involved in planning, executing, and monitoring the demonstrations. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of front line demonstrations conducted for chickpea crop in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh state. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a highly nutritious legume crop that is widely recognized as both a health food and a high-return crop. The front line demonstrations were conducted at the farmers’ fields to showcase the production potential and economic benefits of improved technologies. The findings revealed that the implementation of improved cultivation practices recommended under CFLDs, such as the use of recommended varieties, appropriate seed rate, timely sowing, and plant protection technology, resulted in a significant increase in gram crop yield compared to the check plots. The adoption of improved technologies led to higher yields, recording chickpea yields of 21.25, 21.75, and 19.50 q/ha during 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, respectively, which were 13.35%, 24.37%, and 22.22% higher than the prevailing farmer's practice. The average seed yield under improved practice (IP) was 20.83 q/ha, which was 15.48% higher than the farmer's practice (FP). The technology gap and extension gap ranged from 3.25 to 5.50 q/ha and 1.50 to 4.25 q/ha, respectively. The technology index value varied from 13.0% to 22.0% during the study period. The benefit-cost (B: C) ratio ranged from 2.23 to 2.84 under demonstration, while it was 2.15 to 2.57 under control plots. The average B: C ratio under IP (2.53) was 39.89% higher than that under FP.