Weather-based Agro advisory services: Impact on cotton yield, economics, and perception of farmers in rainfed areas of the Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

The District Agro Met Unit (DAMU) at KVK, Banavasi provides weather-based agro advisories to the farmers of this region. During 2018-2020, forty Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) were organised in Krishi Vignan Kendra's adopted villages, and the feedback survey of the same was conducted to study the impact of weather-based agro advisory services on yield and economics of cotton as well as farmer's perception towards its usage. The results revealed that 13.63% average yield increase was recorded in demonstrated fields compared to the farmers' own practice. The average cost of cultivation reduced to Rs 7,383/-ha -1 in demonstration plots when compared to farmers' practice. The average benefit cost ratio in demonstration and farmers practice was of 3.22 and 2.38 respectively. The farmers saved their cultivation cost an average of 20.5% in plant protection, 26.8% in seed cost, 25.7% in irrigation, 11.3% in manure and fertilizers, and 17.4 % in harvesting. The majority of the farmers followed advisories sent through WhatsApp (75%) during kharif season, and 86.7 % of farmers used the advisory for sowing operations followed by spraying of plant protection chemicals (63.3 %). Ninety eight percent of farmers expressed overall satisfaction with the timely weather-based agro advisories by the KVK Banavasi.