As the main mandate of KVK is geared towards technology assessment, refinement and demonstration, it is not always easy to get new technologies adopted at a scale in a short period of time. However, there are certain technologies that get easily adopted at a scale if different extension approaches are carefully deployed. P N Ananth, A K Dash and J K Sundaray illustrate one such experience here.
CONTEXT
Khordha is one of the 33 districts of Odisha (India) which has a favourable climate for cultivating cereals, pulses, oilseeds and different vegetable crops. Many varieties of vegetables are grown during the winter (Rabi) season. Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK)-Khordha, under the administrative control of ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, is mandated to work in Khordha district. KVK has been responsible in the district for diversifying crops, introducing new varieties, and breeding of animal and fish species with scientific package of practices for improving production and farm income.
In Odisha, capsicum (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum Sendt) is grown on limited scale in different districts; predominantly, the supply to the state is from outside. The farmers in Khordha district used to grow chilli after paddy was harvested and were not aware of capsicum cultivation. In fact, they had the perception that it would not grow in their soil and also would not sell in the local market. KVK tried to change this preconceived idea of the farmers and introduced high-value and low-volume capsicum as part of crop diversification in the district.
Capsicum is also called bell pepper and is one of the high-valued vegetables with a high content of antioxidants. Nutritionists indicate that a small bell pepper could provide up to three times the recommended daily amount of vitamin C, compared to any citrus food. The vegetable also possesses a very high content of vitamins A, C and E (all antioxidants) that help to effectively neutralise free radicals. India contributes one-fourth of the world production of capsicum with an average annual production of 0.9 million tons from an area of 0.885 million hectare with a productivity of 1266 kg per hectare (Sreedhara et al., 2013).
GOOD PRACTICES IN PROMOTING NEW CROP ESTABLISHMENT
Awareness Building
Like any other crop introduction in the district, KVK too started organising awareness programmes for farmers to cultivate capsicum by replacing chillies to an extent with a view to increasing farmers’ income. With this initiative, KVK regularly reminded farmers that capsicum could indeed be grown in Khordha district and the market could be developed over time. A great opportunity to introduce the crop came to KVK during 2011 after floods hit the district.
Provision of seedlings
KVK worked on the flood assistance programme and farmers were provided with seedlings of vegetables. Along with other vegetable seedlings, capsicum seedlings were also provided. As the need of the hour, farmers accepted the seedlings of capsicum and were astonished to see capsicum growing and thriving in their fields. Today the crop has spread to 550 farmers in the district due to the initiation by KVK and through introduction of capsicum by state schemes.
The pathway to new crop development: It took five years to influence the farmers to adopt this crop. The timeline of the introduction is presented below:
Table 1: Timeline of capsicum as a newly introduced crop in Khordha district
| Year | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-16 |
| Pathways |
|
|
|
|
Influencing input dealers to stock capsicum seeds
In 2011-12, capsicum seeds were procured from other districts as there were no local input dealers who were interested to market. It was after floods (Cyclone Phailin) that flood assistance made 150 farmers accept and try the crop from KVK. With a strong presence and contact with the input dealers, KVK influenced them to procure capsicum seeds. Today, it is invariably available in all input shops, which has paved the way for farmers to adopt this crop.
Varietal Assessment and Demonstrations
Varietal assessment and frontline demonstrations were carried out in farmers’ fields selecting a hybrid variety ‘Indra’ to assess its suitability to open-field condition as well as the profitability of capsicum crop over green chilli. Today, the district has more than 550 farmers who are cultivating both open-pollinated and hybrid varieties of capsicum while adopting scientific management practices.
From the trial results, it was observed that the net income was 142.7–163.2% higher with an increase in yield of 170.8–215.1% by adopting capsicum in open-field condition compared to farmers’ practice of cultivating green chillies. Farmers adopted a closer spacing of 60X45 cm for the hybrid var. Indra instead of 75X60 cm as the plant growth is not vigorous in open-field condition. The results of the assessment trials are presented below in Table 2.
Table 2: Results of Varietal Trials on Capsicum
| Year | No of Trials | Yield (q/ha) | Net returns (in Rs/ha) | % of increase over control | ||
| Farmers’ Practice | Recommended Practice | Farmers’ practice | Recommended Practice | |||
| 2012-13 | 10 | 112.0 | 353.0 | 130057 | 3,42,399 | 215.1 |
| 2013-14 | 20 | 123.6 | 334.7 | 238251 | 5,78,348 | 170.8 |
It was further observed that though fruiting continues in the plant with increase in temperature, there is a reduction in fruit size. Upon successful trial of capsicum, KVK took another initiative of introducing maize as an intercrop in capsicum as capsicum is a shadeloving crop.
Use of different extension methods
For any crop to be established in the district there is a requirement of employing different extension methods for larger adoption. In this case, different extension methods, viz. individual, group and mass media were used for faster reach of this crop. On-farm trials, frontline demonstrations, technology week, farmer-scientist interactions, field days, exhibitions and trainings were the specific extension methods. During the period, all possible ways for larger adoption of capsicum was undertaken by KVK. Special attempts were also made towards using the mass media, especially Doordarshan, in documenting success stories. Farmers from all blocks have benefitted. KVK also worked on popularising the adoption of capsicum through the progressive farmers of the district as farmer to farmer extension will be faster. Above all, the convergence with ATMA yielded better results to scale up the cultivation and reach a target of 550 farmers. The employed extension methods and beneficiaries are presented below (Table 3).
Table 3: Extension Methods and Activities towards promotion of Capsicum in the district
| Year | Activity | Beneficiary | No. of
blocks covered |
| 2011-12 | Technology Week on Integrated
Agriculture |
Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
10 |
| State Level Exhibition of KVKs of
Odisha |
Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
7 | |
| 2012-13 | Orientation Training Programme | Progressive Farmers, Block-level ATMA Officials, Village
Agriculture Worker |
1 |
| Field Day | Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
1 | |
| 2013-14 | Vocational Training | Practicing Farmers | 1 |
| Field Day | Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
1 | |
| 2014-15 | Training of Extension Functionaries | Block-level ATMA Officials | 4 |
| Doordarshan Coverage | Farmers | 2 | |
| Exhibition at Regional and State
Level Krushi Mahostav |
Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments, NGOs |
10 | |
| Demonstration under ATMA | Farmers | 1 | |
| Farmer-Scientist Interaction | Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
4 | |
| 2015-16 | Pre-Rabi Sammelan | Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
10 |
| Exhibition at District Level Krushi
Mahostav |
Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
10 | |
| Distribution of extensión literature | Farmers, Extension Personnel of
Line Departments |
10 | |
| Training | Progressive Farmers | 7 |
IMPACT
One of the major impacts of the interventions by KVK have been on the availability of seeds with all input dealers in the district. As the seeds are available and farmers have started cultivating capsicum, its presence is widely seen in the local markets. Local production has, to a large extent, replaced the supply from Bangalore markets. Also, farmers are in an advantageous position as the crop fetches a good price in the market compared to chillies.
It is also observed that capsicum fetches a market price of Rs. 1600–Rs.4500/quintal during the months of January–April, which is a boon to the farmers. The demand for capsicum is increasing at the household level and at the burgeoning chain of fast food restaurants in rural and urban areas of the district. The capital city of Odisha, Bhubaneshwar, falls in Khordha district; hence, there is an assured market for capsicum. Udyan Fresh and Veggies Kart, the state government initiatives for horticulture crop marketing, are procuring capsicum from KVK-adopted farmers. Over a period of time, KVK expects that the district will be selfsufficient on availability of capsicum.
CONCLUSIONS
Upscaling new technologies at a scale through technology assessment and refinement process by KVK is often difficult as this would require large funds and support from the state extension system (Figure 1).
However, judicious selection of technologies and deployment of varied extension strategies can make a huge difference. To be successful, three aspects are important:
Firstly, the economics or the relative advantage of the technology one is promoting. In our case, the net income was 142.7–163.2% higher with an increase in yield of 170.8–215.1% by adopting capsicum in open-field condition compared to farmers’ practice of cultivating green chillies.
Secondly, employing a combination of extension methods can enhance awareness and adoption on a large scale.
Thirdly, for successful scaling of new technologies, one should partner with other organisations that have funds and better reach. The KVK has always been trying to link the technology assessment results to the state extension to scale up. In this case, the state department of horticulture and ATMA at the district level supported the KVK initiative with funds for additional demonstrations and promoting capsicum in their own demonstrations.
References
Sreedhara D.S, Kerutagi M.G, Basavaraja H, Kunnal L.B and M.T Dodamani (2013). Economics of capsicum production under protected conditions in Northern Karnataka. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci. 26(2):217-219.
P.N.Ananth, is Senior Scientist and Head, KVK-Khordha, ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, Odisha (ananthkvk100@gmail.com); A.K. Dash is Subject Matter Specialist (Horticulture), KVK-Khordha, ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, Odisha (ajayadashkvk@gmail.com) ; and J.K. Sundaray, is Director, ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, Odisha (jsundaray@gmail.com) .
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I appreciate the approach of KVK to try something which is not in practice or farmers were not aware of (capsicum cultivation). Appreciably, this KVK could successfully demonstrate that capsicum can be grown in their soil and also it can be sold in the local market against the perception of farmers that it is not possible. KVK tried to change this preconceived idea of the farmers by introducing high-value and low-volume capsicum as part of crop diversification in the district. May be these farmers also need interactions with some successful capsicum growers in other parts, who know & have the vast experience gathered over the years on this crop. I know one capsicum grower Mr Afzal in Bareilly district who is huge reservoir of knowledge on potato & capsicum cultivation. Congratulations to the authors for bringing this practical Good Practices Note, which is quite informative.
Dear Sir, I am thankful for your quick response on our good practice note. The data which we have projected in the document is from the on farm trail. We also have the data from the Front Line Demonstrations conducted. The trend what we have understood from the farmers is that the projected yield has been achieved by most of the farmers with which we are in contact. On an average the yield is between 280-312 q/ha compared to 320 q/ha through the trail. We decided to include this crop in the district on seeing that there is a demand for capsicum especially in the markets of Bhubaneswar city. On an average if you take 1 km distance in Bhubaneswar city, you can find at least two to three small fast food shops serving noodles, chowmin and other food products for which capsicum is one of the ingredients. All the extension methods including the traditional methods were used for scaling up. KVK also worked in convergence with ATMA and other line departments. The methods we used were also influenced by the guidelines of the various schemes. But we are also using the social media where we are registering capsicum farmers on Kisan Mobile Advisory Services. We have also taken special steps to form a Farmers Producer Company to further support farmers in realising better price for their produce. Apart from these, we are introducing maize along with capsicum as an intercrop. We are sensitive to the challenges of introducing a new crop. I personally have the experience of working in Kerala when the vanilla cultivation peaked in response to the global rise in vanilla prices and how farmers suffered when the prices fell. So we have to keen these factors in view. Sir, I appreciate your quick comments and very valuable advice.
Thanks to Mruthyunjaya sir for posting his compliments. Sir we do the best and I always feel team work in extension is crucial. My many many thinks to my colleague M.r A. K. Dash who introduced this crop has taken me widely to farmers field to document and write a good practice.
Sir, I appreciate your quick comments and very valued points.I am thankful for having responded to the good practice. The data which we have projected in the document is from the on farm trail. We also have the data from the Front Line Demonstrations conducted. The trend what we have understood from the farmers is that the projected yield has been achieved by most of the farmers with which we are in contact. On an average the yield is between 280-312 q/ha compared to 320 q/ha through the trail. We derived to include this crop in the district is only by seeing that there is a demand specifically the market of Bhubaneswar city for the farmers of the district. On an average if you take 1 km distance in Bhubaneswar city you can find profusely two to three small fast food shops providing noodles, chowmin and other food products for which capsicum is one of the ingredient widely used. Traditional extension methods- all the extension methods have been used that are traditional as the works for scaling up needs in a convergence mode with ATMA and line department. The methods that we use is based on the funds provided to organise and use traditional extension methods as per guidelines. The missing link may be the recent development in using the social media however, we are working on Kisan Mobile advisory services to the registered capsicum farmers. We have also taken special steps to form a Farmers Producer Company to further support for better price for the adopters which is in process. Along with that some more additional features are that we are introducing maize along with capsicum as an intercrop. Sensitivity of introducing a new crop we have the experience of Kerala when there was a boon for Vanilla and fall down from the homesteads. Personally I have worked on Vanilla in Kerala during the crop bloom in a KVK and the consequences of new crop establishment have to be kept in mind.
Thanks. It is a very convincing success story with judicious selection/magical combination of proven technology, extension method and partnership for promotion. The team lead by Ananth cannot end with anything other than Superb Success. Maidas Touch! Congratulations! Best regards.
Thanks for circulating this article – I read it with interest since it was mentioned that different / new extension approaches were tried for introduction of Capsicum cultivation in Khordha district of Odisha. While the trial results are very encouraging I somehow miss New or Innovative element in the approch – I find that conventional approaches are tried – unless I missed it. However, credit is due for trying combination of approaches. It would be interesting to know average production of Capsicum achieved by the 550 farmers who adopted cultivation of this vegetable (recording yilds with sampled farmers) – figures from trials can sometimes be misleading. A crucial factor not mentioned / discussed in the report is steps taken to make Capsicum cultivation sustainable. KVK or any other organisation introducing new crop or variety can support up a certain period – community mobilisation is essential to sustain benefit.