Cluster Front Line Demonstration as an Effective Tool for TOT A Study in Malwa Plateau Agro Climatic Zone of Madhya Pradesh M P

Abstract

Pulse crops play an important role in Indian agriculture. Besides being rich in protein, pulses are the main sources of essential amino acids for predominantly vegetarian population of India. They contain 22-24 per cent of protein, which is almost twice the protein in wheat and thrice as that of rice. In India, owing to its diverse agro- climatic conditions, pulses are grown throughout the year and plays an important role in crop rotation, mixed and inter-cropping, maintaining soil fertility through nitrogen fixation, release of soil-bound phosphorus and thus contribute significantly to sustainability of the farming systems. In the production process, pulses require less water than cereals. India has made remarkable progress in enhancing production of pulses during the past 15 years. During 2005-06, the total production of pulses in India was 13.38 million MT, which increase to 25.58 million MT during 2020-21. This shows an impressive growth of (91%) or a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of (4.42 %). During 2020-21, chickpea pigeon pea contributed (16.2%) moonbeam (10.3%) urd bean (9.3%), lentil (4.9%) and other pulses (9.9%). During the past 15 year, the highest growth in production was observed for moonbeam (178%) followed by chickpea (125%), urd bean (90%), pigeon pea (51%) and lentil (34%) (Source: Pulse development Statistics 2022. DPD, Bhopal). newline newlineCluster Front Line demonstrations (CFLDs) is a unique approach by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research on Oilseed and Pulse crops to provide an direct newline newlineinterface between researcher and farmers as the scientists are directly involved in planning, execution and monitoring of the demonstrations. newline newline newlineIndian Council of Agriculture Research, New Delhi introduced Cluster Frontline Demonstration (CFLDs) with the inception of technology Mission of Pulses and Oilseed crops from 2015-16. The Cluster Frontline Demonstration took place under the technical supervision of KVK Scientists all over India. newlineSo, with this background, it was very important to conduct study on Clu