Anurag Sharma, Meera Devi, Amit Vikram, Bharti, Arti Shukla, Inder Dev, Rajesh Kumar Rana, Yourmila Kumari, Garima and Renu Kapoor
Abstract
Maize/Corn (Zea mays L) is the third most significant grain crop gown on an area of 10.04 million hectares with an average yield of 3.35 metric tons per hectare and an annual production of 33.62 million metric tons. The average productivity in India is lower than the global average productivity of 5.8 metric tons per hectare which may be contribute to lack of suitable high yielding varieties as well as poor knowledge about production practices. The productivity could be increased with the selection of high yielding cultivars and by adopting recommended scientific and sustainable management practices. Cluster Frontline Demonstrations (CFLD) were conducted methodically in farmersâ fields to demonstrate the worth of a new variety and persuade farmers to embrace better production management in order to increase corn yield. The demonstrations were conducted in two clusters by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Solan, Himachal Pradesh during the kharif seasons of 2023-2024 and 2024-25. Data on yield and other agronomic traits were recorded. Economic parameters such as cost of cultivation, gross return, net return, and benefit-cost (B:C) ratio were calculated. To quantify the impact of CFLDs, technology gap, extension gap, technology index and Client Satisfaction Index (CSI) were computed. The demonstrated yield ranged from 49.45 to 51.21 q/ ha, compared to 33.89 to 34.56q/ha under local check, resulting in a substantial yield advantage of 43.08 to 48.86 per cent. The technology gap varied from 4.57 to 6.33 q ha-1 and the extension gap ranged from 14.89 to 16.65 q ha-1 while the technology index varied from 8.19% to 11.35 %. Demonstration plots recorded substantially higher gross returns, ranging from Rs. 93,460.50 to Rs. 96,786.90 per hectare, compared to Rs. 64,052.10 to Rs. 65,318.40 ha-1 under local check. The cluster frontline demonstrations led to considerable improvements in yield, quality and economic returns in corn and large-scale adoption of the interventions in a short span of time over a large geographical region.