Recommended Technology is Boon or Bane for Cotton Crop in Punjab

Abstract

To assess the performance of recommended technology at farmer's field an economic study was carried out on 100 farmers selected from 7 blocks of cotton belt of the state. The study revealed that during 2015 only 81.15 percent area of selected farmers followed the recommended time of sowing which subsequently increased to 95.58 percent during 2016. Similarly, 15.3 percent increase in adoption of recommended Bt hybrids was reported in 2016 over 2015. The data suggested that only 40 and zero percent of selected farmers followed the recommended dose of Nitrogen and Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) fertilizers in 2015, whereas this level increased to 67 percent and 50 percent, respectively after the campaign during 2016. Further as per the use of recommended insecticides is concerned, the investigation reported that only 23 percent of the farmers used up to 6 recommended insecticides during 2015 which increased to 91 percent in 2016. So present study gives a clear indication that campaign to revive the cotton crop in Punjab played an important role and increased the cotton yield from 195 kg per hectare in 2015–16 to 756 kg per hectare during 2016–17, which is a record production all the time in the country. The study further revealed that the recommended technology played a vital role in the uplifting of cotton yield and proved as a boon for the cotton growers of Punjab.