ADOPTION OF IMPROVED POTATO CULTIVATION PRACTICES

Cultivation of vegetables and fruits is a viable commercial proposition. Vegetables provide a good source of income to the growers and play an important part in human nutrition. Potato is one of the major vegetable crops of the world. It is an important crop and it can supplement the food needs of the country in a substantial way as it produces more dry-matter food. Potato production in India has made tremendous progress only with the development of new technologies in different fields of agriculture. Due to the complexity in different technologies sometimes farmers find it difficult to understand and remember all the operations, as a result of which they lag behind in the adoption of recommended package of practices. In this context the need was felt to study the extent of adoption of potato cultivation practices. An interview schedule was prepared to collect the data from 160 vegetable growers from the state of Punjab. Recommended seed varieties of potato were adopted by 65.50 % of respondents whereas recommended dose of fertilizers were used by 45.00 % of respondents. About half of the respondents used recommended insecticides/pesticides, fungicides and storage practices. The data further revealed that majority of the respondents had low extent of adoption of recommended cultivation practices of potato crop. The data generated through this study can form the basis for planning integrated extension strategies to create more knowledge and awareness among the vegetable growers about the recommended cultivation practices of potato crop