Abstract
Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques were used to identify reasons for low yield in sorghum crop. Poor crop establishment was identified as a major cause of low yield and seed priming was agreed upon as an intervention to circumvent this problem. The effect of on-farm seed priming on sorghum yield was studied in the farmer’s fields during kharif 2001 to 2003. Seed priming improved germination and vigour of the crop which helped to establish a good plant stand, which in turn led to significantly higher grain yield (9.5 %) of sorghum over non-primed. The effect of seed priming was maximum in medium deep as compared to shallow as well as deep soils. Cultivars didn’t differ significantly in their performance. However, cultivar BJH-117 responded significantly to seed priming in terms of grain yield than CSH-9.
Farmer’s opinioned that seed priming helped in hastening germination, maturity and harvest and some extent reduced the effect of dry spell as well as pest and disease incidence in sorghum.
Key words:
India; On-farm seed priming; Participatory Rural Appraisal; Participatory evaluation; Rainfed sorghum; Vertisols