Farmers' perception on new wheat varieties in Madhya Pradesh

Future wheat varieties to succeed in the field must have the perceived desirable traits and liking of the farmers. In present study, promising new wheat varieties recommended for the Central Zone, for various cultivation conditions were tested in farmers' fields' to know farmers' opinion and feedback on new wheat varieties in Madhya Pradesh. During 2010-11 to 2015-16, a total of 194 Wheat Frontline Demonstrations on sixteen varieties with three checks were conducted at farmer's field (avg. plot size: 0.46 ha) in 41 villages of seven Districts. The results revealed that six important desirable traits of wheat varieties as perceived by wheat farmers of M.P., in order of preference by farmers were: yield, hard threshing, short plant stature, suitable for early sowing, heat & drought tolerant and good grain appearance (shine, boldness and uniformity). On the basis of desirable traits, farmers ranked newly introduced top five wheat varieties as HI 8663 (Rank 1), HI 8737 (Rank 2), HI 1544 (Rank 3), HI 8713 (Rank 4), and HI 1531 (Rank 5). Farmers perceived major constraints in wheat productivity as: limited availability of seeds of new varieties, non-availability of critical inputs like fertilizers, machinery and labour etc. at proper time, forced sale of farm produce at nonremunerative prices/unorganized marketing, increasing cost of cultivation and sowing unsuitable varieties for early as well as late sown conditions. Future varieties to succeed in the field must have these desirable traits. Thus, it is crucial to involve farmers at every stage of technology (variety) development in participatory mode for successful development, adoption and dissemination of the new wheat varieties and associated technologies.