Moth bean [Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) marechal] as an alternative crop to groundnut in the rainfedareas of northern parts of Tamil Nadu, India

Moth bean is an important dry land crop, requires less water and external input for their cultivation. Even though it has great importance, moth bean cultivation is ignored as minimum attention by the farmers. The major reasons for the low productivity of moth bean was the lack of adoption of improved production technologies and non-availability of high yielding variety seeds, timely guidance from village extension workers. Hence, it is imperative to improve the productivity of moth bean through demonstrations under rain-fed conditions.

With the aims to improve the livelihood of farmers and crop diversification, the field demonstrations of the moth bean variety TMV 1 with integrated crop management practices were conducted by ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Villupuram. To improve the productivity of moth bean and farmers income through field demonstrations with improved production technologies compared to groundnut cultivation as farmers practice under rainfed condition.

Results on package-wise cost (ha^-1) for three years average incurred for land preparation Rs. 9300, Seed cost Rs. 2400, weed management Rs. 9000, plant protection Rs. 8500 and harvesting cost was Rs.15000. The cost of plant protection and harvesting costs are same for moth bean and groundnut and remaining costs are varied for both crops. The yield was 1595 kgs.h^-1 , gross income Rs. 130000, cost of cultivation Rs. 46,400, net income Rs. 83,700 and benefit-cost ratio Rs. 2.80. The average cost of cultivation for groundnut cultivation (farmers practice) for the three years is Rs. 76,300; gross income Rs. 1,43,000 and net income Rs. 66,700. Hence, moth bean cultivation proved to be better economically than groundnut cultivation in the rainfed ecosystem of Tamil Nadu, contributing to crop diversification and improved livelihood of farming communities.