Looming water crisis owing to uncertainty monsoonal rainfall coupled with intermittent dry spell during critical stages, paucity of skilled labourers, steep increase in wages coupled with emerging problems like fall army worm in hybrid maize and pink boll worm in Bt cotton greatly affects the crop productivity in North Western region of Tamil Nadu. Under these circumstances, farmers in these region looks for an alternate crop which has drought hardy, high water use efficiency, water productivity and monitory returns with less cost of production. Consequently, Tapioca and Castor Research Station, Yethapur intervened and hybrid castor was introduced during Kharif season through cluster demonstrations under NMOOP scheme against maize and cotton. The outcome of the cluster demonstrations on castor showed that higher productivity with less cost of production was the key factor for obtaining higher monitory returns over maize and cotton. Moreover, there was no middlemen involvement in procurement process, since most of the produce was sold in regulated market. Even, if its fetches low market price during peak harvesting season, farmers could store their produce for long period without any storage pest. Thus, castor hybrid is lucrative crop under changing climatic condition.
Castor hybrid, alternate crop, yield and returns
