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