Livelihood security of farming community through frontline demonstrations in oilseed crops

The state of MP is spread over an expanse of 3.07 million hectares and has 50 administrative districts. The major farming community comes under small and marginal farmers, where the size of land holding is very low to achieve the standards of livelihood. To overcome this situation, oilseed, being rich source of quality nutrition and valuable crops, can play a vital role besides other crops. The objective of FLDs on oilseed crops organized by KVKs is to demonstrate the superior productivity potential of various location specific technologies to practicing farmers and test their viability and provide feedback for necessary changes to improve their acceptability and suitability in real farm situations vis-à-vis prevailing traditional practices. During the year 2010–11, a total no of 862 demonstrations covering an area of 357.2 ha were laid by KVKs of RVSKVV, Gwalior on major oilseed crops i.e. soybean, mustard, groundnut, sesame and safflower. The results of FLDs on oilseeds conducted by RVSKVV, Gwalior shows that the highest percentage increase in yield over the local check of Mustard (51.5%) followed by Soybean (46.6%), Groundnut (38.66%) and sesame (31.0%). This enhanced yield achieved through adoption of improved production technologies in oilseed crops brought the livelihood security of the farming community.