Boosting Summer Mungbean Production through Frontline Demonstration

Among the different transfer of technologies, Front line demonstration (FLD) is one of the most powerful tools to disseminate the latest technologies or crop varieties to the farmers through Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs'). Keeping in view of an effective extension approach of FLDs for dissemination of summer mungbean technology, FLDs on mungbean were conducted in different villages of Ambala district in Haryana state during 2006 to 2011 at farmers' fields. Rice-wheat cropping system is prevalent in the Indo-Gangetic plains for the last three or more decades. The continuous dominance of rice-wheat cropping sequence in irrigated agro-ecosystem particularly in Punjab and Haryana has resulted in many types of agro-ecological problems viz., depleting status of soil physical, chemical and biological health, herbicide resistant in wheat, excessive use of water resources and over exploitation of underground water. The practice of cultivation of summer rice has further worsened the situation. The burning of combine-harvested residues of both rice and wheat has altered the biological properties of soil resulting in decrease of nutrient use efficiency and decrease of organic matter. The all-apparent consequences of this cropping system are reflected in either stagnating or decreasing productivity of rice and wheat crops. There is great scope of judicious utilization of fields vacated by wheat before transplanting of rice during summer. The summer mungbean can be easily infused in rice-wheat cropping sequence.