Dissemination of Gobhi Sarson Technology through demonstrations in Tarn Taran district of Punjab

Rapeseed and Mustard is a prominent Rabi oilseed crops of India next to food grains. It can play a key role in crop diversification. Among Rapeseed and mustard, Gobhi Sarson (Brassica napus) varieties are canola varieties which contain < 2 per cent erucic acid present in the oil and < 30 micromoles glucosinolates per gram in a defatted meal. It is cultivated successfully in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The production of oilseed crops is low in the district as the farmers are growing these crops at borders of wheat or berseem crop without adoption of recommended practices. However, due to its great demand because of higher yield with good oil content in the local market there is a need to raise the Gobhi Sarson production through an increase in area and productivity. Therefore, 80 demonstrations were conducted by Farm Advisory Service Centre during 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively for popularizing Gobhi Sarson variety GSC-7 in Tarn Taran District. The agronomic parameters were studied to show the practicability of the demonstration to the farmers and the average results of yield attributes like plant height (158.33 cm), number of primary branches (4.67) , number of secondary branches (5.25), number of siliquae (247.3) per plant, number of seeds per siliqua (17.75), the weight of 1000 seed (4.77) and crop duration (152.67) and irrigations applied (2.33) were studied. The average results of demonstrations of both years showed that Gobhi Sarson variety GSC-7 gave an average yield of 20.60 q/ha as compared to 15.74 q/ha in local check with an increase in yield of 30.90 per cent over local variety. The values of technology gap, extension gap and technology index were 1.65 q/ha, 4.86 q/ha and 7.41 per cent, respectively. The average returns over variable costs were higher in demonstration plots (44,217.13/ha) as compared to the local check variety (29,045.6/ha). Similarly B:C ratio was also higher with demonstration (2.05:1) from the local check variety (1.421). So, it has been proved that with the introduction of high yielding varieties and demonstration of improved technology through demonstrations on Gobhi Sarson would eventually lead to higher adoption among the farmers.