International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Bhavani B, Pradeep Kumar PB, Satya Priya Lalitha V and Bharathalakshmi M

abstract
Rice fallow pulse, particularly blackgram, is widely cultivated in North Coastal Andhra Pradesh as a profitable relay crop, utilizing residual soil moisture and nutrients with minimal additional investment. In Anakapalle district, however, the productivity of rice-fallow blackgram is significantly lower than the state and national averages, reflecting a considerable yield gap. Major constraints include scarcity of quality seeds of improved varieties, pest and disease pressure (notably yellow mosaic virus, powdery mildew and Maruca pod borer), delayed sowing due to late rice harvest, cultivation on marginal lands, and limited adoption of integrated crop management (ICM) practices.To address these constraints, the District Agricultural Advisory and Transfer of Technology Centre (DAATTC), Visakhapatnam conducted frontline demonstrations during 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 across five locations in Anakapalle district of Andhra Pradesh under the ANGRAU-Biotech KISAN Hub project. The high-yielding and yellow mosaic virus resistant variety, GBG-1 was evaluated using an improved production package comprising seed treatment with imidacloprid 600 FS (5 ml/kg seed), mancozeb (3g/kg seed) followed by Rhizobium culture (20g/kg seed), spray of neem oil 1500 ppm (5 ml/L) + monocrotophos (1.6 ml/L) at 20-25 DAS, light irrigation followed by post emergence herbicide, imazethapyr application (500 ml/ha) at 20-25 DAS, and foliar application of 19:19:19 (5 g/L) at 30-45 DAS and 13: 0:45 (5g/L) at 55-60 DAS, novaluron (1ml/L)+ neem oil (5ml/L) at flowering and acephate (1.5 g/L) + neem oil (5 ml/L) at pod formation. The results revealed that the improved production technology recorded an average yield of 7.23 q/ha, representing a 48.42% increase over the farmers’ practice (4.87 q/ha). This resulted in an additional yield advantage of 2.36 q/ha and a higher benefit-cost ratio (2.43) compared to the farmers’ practice (1.94). Key yield attributes, including germination percentage, plant height, number of pods per plant, and 100-seed weight, showed a positive and highly significant influence on yield. These results demonstrated the potential of improved production technologies to substantially enhance the yield and profitability of blackgram in rice fallow systems of the region.