Impact of front line demonstration on yield enhancement of onion

Abstract

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the important commercial vegetable crops grown in India for both domestic consumption and export. The major constraints identified in onion cultivation include lack of awareness of improved varieties and non-adoption of improved package of practices. Therefore, efforts have been made to demonstrate a high yielding onion variety (Bhima Super) with recommended production technologies to increase productivity. The present front line demonstration (FLDs) was carried out by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Chitradurga, Karnataka during Kharif season in consecutive years, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The mean result of three years revealed that demonstrated technology recorded higher bulb yield of 27.63 t/ha compared to farmers practice (20.63 t/ha). The bulb rot incidence was lowest (10.70%) in demonstrated technology compared to farmers practice (17.97%). The demonstrated practice gave higher gross return, net return with a higher benefit cost ratio when compared to farmers practice. The average extension gap of 7 t/ha was observed during the demonstration period. The average yield of onion increased 33.88 per cent over the farmers practice. The results of the study indicate the positive effects of frontline demonstration over the existing practices towards enhancing the yield of onion.