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Abstract
The study aims to track adoption of improved chickpea varieties, and assess their on-farm benefits in some remote and
backward tribal villages in Gujarat, India, where few newly developed varieties were introduced by a non-government
organization. It also determines key factors which were influencing their adoption. The study found that adoption of improved
chickpea varieties was gradually increasing by replacing a prominent local variety. Duration of crop maturity, farm size, yield
risk, and farmers' experience of growing chickpea crop were significantly influencing their adoption. The on-farm benefits
as a result of improved varieties were realized in terms of increased yield levels, higher income and labor productivity, more
marketable surplus, price premium and stabilized yields in fluctuating weather. Breeding short duration varieties with stable
yield levels under varying weather, and organizing seed multiplication and dissemination in regions, where moisture stress is
a problem during maturity of chickpea, are the major suggestions.© 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.