On-farm Performance of Pusa Basmati 1847 under Frontline Demonstrations Compared with Farmer Practice Using Pusa Basmati 1509 across Seven Districts of Uttarakhand
Kanchan Nainwal *
GBPUA&T- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jeolikote, Nainital-263127 (Uttarakhand), India.
J. Kwatra
GBPUA&T- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jeolikote, Nainital-263127 (Uttarakhand), India.
Sanjay Kumar
GBPUA&T- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jeolikote, Nainital-263127 (Uttarakhand), India.
Purushottam Kumar
GBPUA&T- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jeolikote, Nainital-263127 (Uttarakhand), India.
A. Prabhakar
GBPUA&T- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jeolikote, Nainital-263127 (Uttarakhand), India.
Alankar Singh
GBPUA&T- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jeolikote, Nainital-263127 (Uttarakhand), India.
Avikal Kumar
GBPUA&T- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jeolikote, Nainital-263127 (Uttarakhand), India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Frontline demonstrations (FLDs) provide an opportunity to evaluate improved crop technologies under farmer-field conditions. This study assessed an FLD technology package centred on the short-duration Basmati rice variety Pusa Basmati 1847 in comparison with farmer practice using Pusa Basmati 1509 during Kharif 2025 across seven Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Uttarakhand. Five demonstrations were organised through each KVK, giving 35 farmer-participatory demonstrations in total. Agronomic traits, grain and straw yields, cultivation costs, and monetary returns were summarised descriptively. Across the seven district summaries, Pusa Basmati 1847 FLDs averaged 41.3 q ha⁻¹ grain yield and 47.0 q ha⁻¹ straw yield, compared with 37.3 and 42.5 q ha⁻¹, respectively, for the Pusa Basmati 1509 farmer-practice summary. The descriptive grain-yield advantage was 10.6%. Mean net return from the Pusa Basmati 1847 FLDs was Rs 57,808 ha⁻¹ with a mean benefit:cost ratio of 2.33, compared with Rs 49,053 ha⁻¹ and 2.11 under farmer practice. District-level grain yield ranged from 24.9 to 50.9 q ha⁻¹, indicating substantial spatial variation in field performance. Because the FLD combined Pusa Basmati 1847 with recommended production practices, the comparison represents a technology-package assessment rather than an isolated varietal effect. The results support further multi-season, paired on-farm evaluation of this package under the diverse production environments of Uttarakhand.
Keywords: Basmati rice, Pusa Basmati 1847, frontline demonstration, on-farm evaluation, profitability, Uttarakhand