Relative Performance and Outscaling of Basmati Varieties in Northern India Ahmad Nafees, Joshi Pratibha*, Sharma Nishi, Dabas J.P.S., Kumbhare N.V., Punitha P., Chakravorty S., Maurya P.P., Kishore Nand Centre for Agricultural Technology Assessment and Transfer, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012 *Corresponding author email id: pratijosh12@gmail.com
Abstract Paddy is an important cereal crop and is grown almost in every country of the world. In the Indian economy basmati rice assume importance as an important crop having export potential. Northern plain occupies a prominent place in basmati rice production on India. Scores of paddy basmati varieties have been developed by Indian Agricultural Research Institute over the last two decades to meet the growing demand in the Northern region of the country. Presently two front runner paddy varieties PB 1121 and PB 1509 have become widely popular in the region and acquired a major share in area and production under basmati rice in the country. An on-farm study was carried out in the project village Rajpur, Block Khair, District Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh). The two varieties were regularly demonstrated from 2015 to 2019 on the selected farmers’ fields in the village. The demonstration plots were regularly monitored in the crop season by a team of scientists. Focused group discussion method was employed to collect the data from farmers. The comparative analysis shows that both the improved varieties PB 1121 and PB 1509 have performed better than the local variety PB 1. Only in the starting year 2015, PB 1509 has lagged behind in yield (44.64q/ha) as compared to PB 1121 (51.15 q/ha). But thereafter in subsequent years from 2016 onwards, PB 1509 has surged ahead in productivity and profitability. The higher level of productivity of PB 1509 more than compensates the little lesser price it fetches in the market as compared to PB 1121, thereby establishing itself as the highest net earner per unit area. This intervention has resulted in out-scaling of the two varieties in the project village and its surroundings. The limited seed input supplied for demonstration yearly from 2015 to 2020, has led to their multiplication and spread in terms of increased acreage and production in the region. Within the span of 6 years, PB 1121 and PB 1509 have expected to spread in an area of 5577.82 ha and 3440.49 ha respectively. Top Keywords Basmati rice, Northern India, Relative performance, PB 1121, PB 1509. Top |