YIELD GAP OF POTATO IN MEGHALAYA:A SEASONAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Potato cultivation in Meghalaya is peculiar owing to its high consumption and
cultivation in all the four seasons. Hence, the study was conducted during the year of 2022-23
in the state to investigate the yield gap and factors affecting it in two seasons, viz., summer and
winter, by employing both primary and secondary data. The Yield Gap I and II (YG I and YG II)
were higher for winter potato whereas, summer potato had higher realized experimental yield. Size
of farm, late blight incidence, lack of access to markets and prices of chemicals were positively
related with the yield gap having the highest effect. Among the negatively related factors, the
climate had the highest significant effect followed by fertilizer application. The study found that
winter potato was not cultivated by many farmers due to higher cost of cultivation and concluded
that the YG I was higher than the YG II. Given that YG I is largely limited by environmental and
genetic factors, efficient demonstrations of technologies in farmer’s field by ICAR institutes and
CAU scientists along with the low-cost organic inputs to farmers can narrow down the yield gap
II even more efficiently.