Upscaling of Barnyard Millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) through Popularization of Variety MDU 1 in Southern Part of Tamilnadu for Upliftment of Farmers Livelihood

The Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) is of national importance which would help in accelerating the agricultural production and also in improving the socio-economic conditions of the farming community. Demonstrations and training of farmers is a critical input for the rapid transfer of agriculture technology. Demonstrations are generally conducted by the Krishi Vigyan Kendras for farmers to introduce new varieties to the farmers. An experiment was conducted during the rabi seasons of 2017-18 and 2018-19 on Barnyard millet variety MDU 1 at the farmers’ field at Virudhunagar,Tamil Nadu,India. Major part of Virudhunagar district comes under rainfed and choice of crops is very limited. Farmers used to cultivate millets during the rabi season and 2000 ha area is under barnyard millet in Virudhunagar District. The farmers cultivate traditional / local varieties whose yield potential is very low. Therefore, to enhance the production and income per unit area, it was proposed to introduce Barnyard millet variety, MDU1, which will result in an increased production besides enhancing the income of farmers. Barnyard millet variety, MDU 1 has recorded 16.61 per cent higher yield than that CO (KV) 2. The increased yield resulted in higher gross return (Rs.24,222/ha), net return (Rs.13,569/ha) and BCR (2.28) over CO (KV) 2 under rainfed ecosystem.