Enhancing Lentil (Lens culinaris M.) Production in North Western States of India for Achieving Self-sufficiency

AbstractThe importance of lentil in providing nutrition and ensuring food security has long been recognized; however, its productivity in India is a major concern. A multi-location field experiment have been carried out at farmer’s fields in North-Western states i.e. Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttarakhand. The study presents the yield gains at the state level across different agro-climatic zones using selected varieties, when compared to the local check varieties. In different Agro-climatic zones of selected states, a total of 712 field trials were conducted on an area of 119.0 ha during 2019-20, while 669 field trials were organized on 98.8 ha in 2020-21. However, priority was given to replacing the seed of outdated varieties by popularizing newly released varieties i.e. LL-1373, PL-9, and IPL-316. During 2020-21, an increment in average yield was recorded in the Sub-mountain Undulating Zone of Punjab and Hill Zone of Uttarakhand as compared to 2019-20. This analysis will help scientists to improve the production and area under lentil in North Western states of India by focusing on various gaps.