Assessment of performance parameters of wheat cultivars through farmers ’perception

Uttar Pradesh is the leading State of India in wheat production and accounted for about 28.6 million tonnes out of a total production of 80.7 million tonnes in the country during 2009–10. A wide spectrum of wheat varieties has been developed by different research institutions for adoption in various regions of Uttar Pradesh. However, the adoption of a particular variety by the farmers depends on their perception of the attributes of those varieties. Also, the farmers ’preferences for varieties change over time due to changes in their problems and needs, and due to coming up of superior varieties. An attempt was made in this study to assess the performance parameters of selected wheat cultivars through farmers ’perception in western Uttar Pradesh. Meerut district was purposively selected for the assessment of four wheat varieties grown at the time of present study. Matrix ranking technique of PRA was used to obtain the farmers ’perception on 15 attributes of the selected wheat varieties. The study revealed that PBW-226 was the most preferred variety by the farmers followed by PBW-343, PBW-373 and HD-2733 in the succeeding order. Although PBW-343 and HD-2733 were rated better than PBW-226 with respect to lodging resistance, and grain and straw yield, PBW-226 was reported better than other varieties in all other attributes. PBW-226, being short duration, fitted well in the sugarcane-based cropping system in the area, and had better grain quality, taste and market demand. It was also found that the farmers having different socio-economic characteristics perceived the wheat varieties differently, which reveals that the dynamics of social change have significant role in the adoption of agricultural practices by the famers. This study provides feedback for incorporation of farmers ’preferred attributes in future wheat varieties and determining priorities for technology transfer on this aspect.