Studies on Policy Option for Quality Seed Production and ... - NFPCSP

Table 4.3.4 Time line of maize cultivation in the study areasPeriod Variety Yield (t/ha) RemarksBijoynagar (Rajshahi)Before 2006 Indian, Khoi bhutta 4.5-5.0At present Pacific-11, Golda, Puja, NK-40 6.0-7.0Ksidanga (Dinajpur)1995-96 Pacific 60, Unknown varieties 4.0-5.0 Seed supplied by1998 Pacific 60 and Pacific 11 5.8-6.02000 900M, NK 40, 900M Gold, 1827, 1837, 1921 6.3-6.52006 Bijoy, Sampad (released from BARI) 5.4-5.7KishoregonjIntroduced in1983GKF, BRAC,DAE, SeedcompanyLocal 0.8-1.0 Performance ofAftab was notsatisfactory1996 Hira 3.5-4.02001 SP-100, Pacific 11, Golden, Aftab 4.5-5.02009 NK-40, SP-100, Pacific 11 6.0-6.5The introduction of maize in Kishoregonj area is not age-old. Maize was first introduced in 1983 (Table4.5.1). Local varieties were cultivated in and around the homesteads with very low yield (0.8-1.0 tha -1 ).Prior to this, farmers produced sugarcane in a large scale as a Contact Growers of the KaliachapraSugar Mills Ltd. Due to lay-off declaration, farmers under Kaliachapra Sugar Mills quickly shifted tomungbean and then to the maize cultivation in comparatively high lands. In 1996, a farmer firstcultivated hybrid maize variety Hira in 0.60 ha of land. Unfortunately total production was destroyeddue to insect attack. It was reported by the participants that during 2001 they cultivated four hybridmaize varieties namely SP-100, Pacific-11, Golden and Aftab. They also mentioned that theperformance of Aftab was not satisfactory. Other varieties gave an average yield of 5 t/ha. Since thenthe farmers of the area have been growing NK-40, SP-100 and Pacific-11 hybrid varieties and the maizeyield gradually increased to 6.5 t/ha.4.3.5 Preference ranking of information sources used by the maize farmersOverall preference ranking of existing information sources as utilized by the participants in Rajshahi isshown in Table 4.3.5. According to the exercise, DAE topped the list (score 77) followed byneighboring farmer (score 63). The farmers also gave much emphasis on dealer (score 58) and medialike radio, TV and newspaper (56). It is interesting to note that out of top ranking sources, farmers of allgroups preferred DAE the most as their source of information. This indicates that Sub-AssistantAgricultural Officers (SAAOs) under DAE play very important roles in providing the technical supportto the farmers. This also indicates that there is no other good alternative information source availableother than DAE.The respondent of Kishoregonj site identified information sources. It can be seen from Table 4.5.4 thatthe farmers used seven different types of information media. They indicated the name of DAE as theirfirst choice followed by neighboring farmers (rank 2). Similarly, other information sources had alsobeen cited by the participants, though their rank varied from category to category. Dealers, electronic85