Performance of frontline demonstrations on sesame in Erode district of Tamil Nadu

Sesame isone of the most important oilseed cropscultivated over 7000 ha inErode district of TamilNadu. Attempts were made to improve the productivity of sesame by adopting integrated crop management practices. The practices comprised demonstrations on introduction of high yielding variety, seed treatment and integrated nutrient and plant protection measures. The results showed that the higher grain yield of 762 kg/ha was recorded in demonstrations compared to 670 kg/ha in farmers’ practices with an yield advantage of 13.23 per cent. The average extension gap, technology gap and technology index were 88 kg/ha, 92 kg/ha and 10.82 per cent respectively. The integrated crop management practices gave higher benefit-cost ratio of 2.12 compared to farmers’ practices (1.96).