Bridging Yield Gaps in Lentil through Front Line Demonstrations in Bihar and Jharkhand, India

Abstract

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is an important pulse crop in eastern India, but productivity remains below attainable potential where improved varieties and recommended production technologies are not fully adopted. This study assessed the long-term performance of Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) on lentil productivity and profitability in Bihar and Jharkhand over seven consecutive rabi seasons (2017–18 to 2023–24). A total of 6,124 ha involving 17,070 farmers were covered, comprising 1,342 ha and 4,111 farmers in Jharkhand and 4,782 ha and 12,959 farmers in Bihar. Improved lentil varieties, including IPL-321, IPL-316, IPL-220, IPL-203 and Pusa Ageti-4717, were demonstrated along with recommended crop-management practices. Annual programme data from demonstration and farmer-practice plots were compiled, and grain yield, percentage yield increase, cost of cultivation, gross return, net return and benefit ratio were assessed using descriptive statistical parameters. In Jharkhand, mean grain yield increased from 7.15 q ha⁻¹ under farmer practice to 10.13 q ha⁻¹ under demonstrations, representing an average yield advantage of 41.9%. In Bihar, mean yield increased from 9.61 to 13.20 q ha⁻¹, with an average advantage of 37.4%. Demonstration-yield variability remained relatively low, with coefficients of variation of 4.51% in Jharkhand and 6.74% in Bihar. Economic performance also improved: the mean benefit:cost ratio increased from 0.81 to 1.39 in Jharkhand and from 1.21 to 1.78 in Bihar, while mean net returns increased from Rs. 15,691 to Rs. 30,626 ha⁻¹ and from Rs. 27,768 to Rs. 43,489 ha⁻¹, respectively. Overall, the programme-level evidence indicates that FLDs consistently improved lentil yield and economic returns under the observed conditions.