Performance of 60-day Cowpea in the Fields of Uttarakhand Farmers: An Adoption Study

Abstract

Farmer participatory trials of Pant Lobia 1, 2 &3 varieties of '60-days cowpea' were conducted on 236 farms in  Uttarakhand and it was found through interviews and focused group discussions conducted on farmers' fields that 60-day  cowpea was short duration variety. Pant lobia 2 was more accepted as vegetable. Farmers had adopted simple practices  like sowing time and method; harvesting and storage; selection and preparation of field and selection of variety. But  important practices involving skills like weeding, disease and insect and pest management; seed treatment, fertilizer and  nutrient management and irrigation were adopted by relatively less percentage of farmers. Majority of farmers had  medium level of adoption of cowpea production technology and faced constraints like lack of knowledge about plant  protection measures. Problem of land fragmentation was more severe in hills as compared to plains where prevalence of  pests and diseases was more. It is implied that cooperative farming should be done in hills and specialized one day  trainings can be organized by extension agencies on specific problems