Evaluation of Technology Dissemination through Demonstration on the Yield of Kharif Onion Bulb Production

Onion (Allium cepa) is one of the most important bulb crops in India, which plays a major role in supplementing the Income of small and marginal farmers of different district in Madhya Pradesh. One of the major constraints of Kharif onion farming is poor nursery and low productivity due to non adoption of recommended package of practices and improved verities. To replace this anomaly, National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation, Indore (M.P.) had conducted TDTD (Technology dissemination through demonstration) under National Horticulture Mission, Govt. of India, at adopted farmers’ fields. Cultivation practices comprised under TDTD viz., use of improved variety/season specific, nursery raising, soil/seed treatment, transplanting, fertilizer application and control of purple blotch disease, showed that percentage increase in the yield of onion ranged from 31.07% to 36.40% over local check during the course of study from 2012-13 to 2016-17. The technology gap of 6.2 q/ha during 2016-17 from 27.6 q/ha at the initial stage of study (2012-13) shows the gap in demonstration yield over potential yield, but the above gap reduced subsequently in the following years.