Economic impact of high yielding rust resistant wheat varieties suitable for hill region of Uttarakhand

Abstract

Wheat is a major rabi crop grown in hills of Uttarakhand although still under subsistence farming at a majority of the places. Consequently, there is a great scope of increasing the production and productivity in the region with scientific interventions. Frontline demonstrations (FLDs) of improved high yielding varieties viz., VL Gehun 907 and VL Gehun 953 were conducted by ICAR-VPKAS, Almora during rabi 2014-15, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 covering a total of 252 farmers. The yield and economic returns of FLD plots were compared with the corresponding farmers’ practices. Results revealed that technology index was much lower for VL Gehun 953 (range 8.2 to 23.6) than VL Gehun 907 (range 27.9 to 44.4) at farmers’ field which shows that VL Gehun 953 has more potential to achieve higher yield levels under hill conditions. Both the varieties recorded higher gross returns, net returns and B:C ratio in demonstrated plot. The profitability analysis exhibited that VL Gehun 907 with B:C ratio 2.06 (2014-15), 3.02(2016-17), VL Gehun 953 with B:C ratio 2.93(2016-17), 2.80(2017-18) and 2.91(2018-19) were more profitable than local wheat varieties.