Scientific Technological Interventions on Rapeseed and Mustard: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

Abstract

In order to increase production, popularization of improved technology as well as for uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the small and marginal farmers of Sonitpur district which typically lies in North Bank Plain Agro-climatic Zone of Assam, a Crop demonstration was conducted among 100 numbers of agricultural beneficiaries in 5 clusters namely Chaiduar, Bihaguri, Balipara, Dhekiajuli and Gabhoru in the year 2020-2021 for the popularization of technology as well as cultivars. Selection of the beneficiaries and Villages were done based on their cropping sequence by the resource person working under the project entitled "Augmenting Rapeseed-Mustard Production of Assam farmers for Sustainable Livelihood Security" linked with Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) scheme. During the period of the cropping season, the selected farmers for adoption had shown keen interest in attending farmer’s technical training programme conducted at the cluster level for adopting scientific production techniques and methods gradually, which was considered as a very important technique to be followed by the marginal farmers of Assam to obtain good crop population and ultimately higher yield. Adopting scientific agricultural techniques had helped farmers to reduce the labour cost thus benefitted the farmers by reducing the cost of cultivation. Due to its suitable soil and agro-climatic conditions as well as through their dedication and continuous efforts towards farming, they could be able to achieve higher yield and income within a short period of time as well as could motivate the other small and marginal farmers of nearby villages for further uplifting their economic status thereby preserving their ancestral occupation for future generations.