LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BELHATTI-1 (4D4A3I1a) MICROWATERSHED Shirahatti Taluk, Gadag District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Belhatti-1 microwatershed was conducted using village cadastral maps and IRS satellite imagery on 1:7920 scale. The false colour composites of IRS imagery were interpreted for physiography and these physiographic delineations were used as base for mapping soils. The soils were studied in several transects and a soil map was prepared with phases of soil series as mapping units. Random checks were made all over the area outside the transects to confirm and validate the soil map unit boundaries. The soil map shows the geographic distribution and extent, characteristics, classification and use potentials of the soils in the microwartershed. The present study covers an area of 448 ha in Belhatti-1 microwatershed in Shirahatti Taluk of Gadag district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought prone with an average annual rainfall of 633mm of which about 363 mm is received during south–west monsoon, 165 mm during north-east and the remaining 105 mm during the rest of the year. An area of about 97% is covered by soils. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 11 soil series and 25 soil phases (management units) and 8 land management units.  The length of crop growing period is about 150 days starting from the 1st week of June to 2nd week of October.  From the master soil map, several interpretative and thematic maps like land capability, soil depth, surface soil texture, soil gravelliness, available water capacity, soil slope and soil erosion were generated.  Soil fertility status maps for macro and micronutrients were generated based on the surface soil samples collected at every 250 m grid interval.  Land suitability for growing major agricultural and horticultural crops were assessed and maps showing degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  About 97 per cent area in the microwatershed is suitable for agriculture and 3 per cent is not suitable for agriculture but well suited for forestry, pasture etc.  About 71 per cent of the soils are deep to moderate deep (75- 150 cm) and 27 per cent are very shallow to moderately shallow (25-75 cm) soils.  About 73 per cent area of the soils are clayey soils at the surface and 24 per cent are loamy soils.  About 75 per cent of the area are non-gravelly (<15 %) soils at the surface and 22per cent are gravelly to very gravelly (15-60%).  About 33 per cent of the area has soils that are very high (>200mm/m) in available water capacity, 43 per cent medium (100-150 mm/m) and about 22 per cent low (50- 100 mm/m) and very low (<50 mm/m).  About 95 per cent of the area has nearly level (0-1%) to very gently sloping (1-3%) lands and about 2 per cent area is gently (3-5%) sloping lands.  An area of about 25 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1), 71 per cent moderately eroded (e2) and 1 per cent severely eroded (e3).  An area of about 1 per cent has soils that are moderately acid (pH 5.5 to 6.0), 4 per cent has soils that are slightly acid (pH 6.0-6.5) and about 13 per cent is neutral (pH 6.5-7.3) and about 80 per cent area is slightly to very strongly alkaline soils (pH 7.3- >9.0).  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils are dominantly <2 dsm-1indicating that the soils are non-saline.  An area about 47 per cent area is low (<0.5%) in organic carbon, 50 per cent medium (0.5-0.75%) in organic carbon and 1 per cent area is high (>0.75%) in organic carbon.  Major area of 93 per cent has soils that are low (<23 kg/ha), 4 per cent medium (23- 57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus.  About 49 per cent area is medium (145-337 kg/ha) and 49 per cent high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in about 84 per cent area, medium (10-20 ppm) in 14 per cent.  Available boron is low (<0.5 ppm) in about 30 per cent area and 58 per cent medium (0.5-1.0 ppm) and 10 per cent is high (>1ppm).  An area of 33 per cent is sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in iron and 64 per cent deficient (<4.5).  Available manganese, copper and zinc are sufficient in all the soils.  The land suitability for 23 major crops grown in the microwatershed were assessed and the areas that are highly suitable (S1) and moderately suitable (S2) are given below. It is however to be noted that a given soil may be suitable for various crops but what specific crop to be grown may be decided by the farmer looking to his capacity to invest on various inputs, marketing infrastructure, price and finally the demand and supply position. Land suitability for various crops in the microwatershed Crop Suitability Area in ha (%) Crop Suitability Area in ha (%) Highly suitable (S1) Moderately suitable (S2) Highly suitable (S1) Moderately suitable (S2) Sorghum 263 (59) 116 (26) Sapota - 82 (18) Maize 33(7) 57 (13) Jackfruit - 12 (3) Cotton 159(35) 221 (49) Jamun - 12 (3) Sunflower 159 (35) 161 (36) Musambi - 159 (35) Onion 82 (8) 9 (2) Lime - 159 (35) Groundnut 46 (10) 83 (18) Cashew - 46(10) Chilli 46 (10) 333(74) Custard apple 159 (35) 261 (58) Sugarcane 12 (3) 69 (15) Amla 159 (35) 253 (56) Pomegranate 12 (3) 358(80) Tamarind - 48 (11) Tomato 82 (18) 304 (68) Marigold 82 (18) 304 (68) Guava 12 (3) 36 (8) Chrysanthemum 82 (18) 304 (68) Mango - 12 (3) Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the 6 identified LMUs by considering only the highly and moderately suitable lands for different crops and cropping systems with food, fibre and horticulture crops that helps in maintaining the ecological balance in microwatershed.   Maintaining soil-health is vital to crop production and conserve soil and land resource base for maintaining ecological balance and to mitigate climate change. For this, several ameliorative measures have been suggested to these problematic soils like saline/alkali, highly eroded, sandy soils etc.,  Soil and water conservation treatment plan has been prepared that would help in identifying the sites to be treated and also the type of structures required.  As part of the greening programme, several tree species have been suggested to be planted in marginal and submarginal lands, field bunds and also in the hillocks, mounds and ridges. Baseline socioeconomic characterisation is prerequisite to prepare action plan for program implementation and to assess the project performance before making any changes in the watershed development program. The baseline provides appropriate policy direction for enhancing productivity and sustainability in agriculture. Methodology: Belhatti-1 micro-watershed (Belhatti sub-watershed, Shirahatti Taluk, Gadag district) is located in between 1505’ – 1506’ North latitudes and 75038’ – 75040’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 448 ha, bounded by Rantur village on north, Belhatti village on the west, Kurubgatta village on the south with length of growing period (LGP) 150-180 days. We used soil resource map as basis for sampling farm households to test the hypothesis that soil quality influence crop selection, and conservation investment of farm households. The level of technology adoption and productivity gaps and livelihood patterns were analyses. The cost of soil degradation and ecosystem services were quantified. Results: The socio-economic outputs for the Belhatti-1 Microwatershed (Belhatti subwatershed, Shirahatti Taluk, Gadag district) are presented here. Social Indicators;  Male and female ratio is 50 to 50 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 58.8 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 95.6 per cent.  Social groups belong to other backward caste (OBC) is around 90.9 per cent.  Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the source of energy for a cooking among 63.6 per cent.  About 63.7 per cent of households have a Bhima and Yashaswini health card.  Majority of farm households (55.0 %) are having MGNREGA card for rural employments.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system of all sample households.  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities around 82.0 per cent of sample households.  Rural migration to unban centre for employment is prevalent among 27.3 per cent of farm households.  Women participation in decisions making for agriculture production among all sample households was found. 2 Economic Indicators;  The average land holding is 2.03 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to medium and semi-medium farmers. The total land cultivated on dry land condition among the sample farmers.  Agriculture is the main occupation among 88.0 per cent and agriculture is the main and private service is subsidiary occupation for 5 per cent of sample households.  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs. 12023 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average value of farm assets is around Rs.100462 per household, about 77.3 per cent of sample farmers owen plough and sprayer.  The average value of livestock is around Rs. 27000 per household; about 46.1 per cent of household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 779 grams (1613.7 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Around 56 per cent of sample households are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs. 29477 per household. About 81.8 per cent of farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita average monthly expenditure is around Rs.1210. Environmental Indicators-Ecosystem Services;  The value of ecosystem service helps to support investment to decision on soil and water conservation and in promoting sustainable land use.  The onsite cost of different soil nutrients lost due to soil erosion is around Rs.789 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs. 346584 per year for the total area of 447.95 ha.  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs. 8387 ha/year. Per hectare food grains production services is maximum in bengal gram (Rs. 24273) followed by maize (Rs. 7346), groundnut (Rs. 5887), sunflower (Rs. 4370), sorghum (Rs. 4527) and green gram (Rs. 3917).  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs. 7662/ ha/year. Per hectare fodder production services is maximum in maize (Rs. 20884) followed by sorghum (Rs. 5766), green gram (Rs. 2000) and groundnut (Rs. 2000).  The data on water requirement for producing one quintal of grain is considered for estimating the total value of water required for crop production. The per hectare value of water used and value of water was maximum in bengal gram (Rs. 62545) followed by green gram (Rs. 33122), sunflower (Rs. 27713), maize (Rs. 23651), groundnut (Rs. 22905) and sorghum (Rs. 18626). 3 Economic Land Evaluation;  The major cropping pattern is maize (52.9 %), followed by sorghum (20.8 %) bengal gram (10.5 %), green gram (5.3 %), groundnut (5.3 %) and sunflower (5.1 %).  In Belhatti 1 micro-watershed, major soils are soil of alluvial landscape of Mahalingapur Tanda (MPT) series is having deep soil depth cover around 32.63 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing bengalgram (48.7 %), groundnut (24.4 %) and maize (26.9 %). Jelligeri (JLG) soil series having moderately deep soil depth cover around 18.62 % of area crops are maize (56.5 %) and sorghum (43.5 %). Lakkur (LKR) and Attikatti (ATT) soil series are having moderately shallow soil depth cover around 7.67 % and 13.28 % of area, respectively the major crops grown are maize, sorghum, green gram and sunflower. Shirol (SRL) soil series is having very shallow soil depth cover around 2.8 % of area, the present crops is maize.  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for maize ranges between Rs. 35535/ha in LKR soil (with BCR of 0.91) and Rs. 21271/ha in MPT soil (with BCR of 1.03).  In green gram the cost of cultivation of Rs. 15695/ha in ATT soil (with of 1.22).  In sorghum the cost of cultivation ranges between Rs.14536/ha in LKR soil (with BCR of 1.10) and Rs. 8268/ha in JLG soil (with BCR of 1.89).  In sunflower the cost of cultivation is Rs. 25328/ha in LKR soil (with BCR of 1.22).  In bengal gram the cost of cultivation is Rs. 14866/ha in MPT soil (with BCR of 2.56) and groundnut the cost of cultivation is Rs. 28367/ha in MPT soil (with BCR of 1.22).  The land management practices reported by the farmers are crop rotation, tillage practices, fertilizer application and use of farm yard manure (FYM). Due to higher wages farmer are following labour saving strategies is not prating soil and water conservation measures. Less ownership of livestock limiting application of FYM.  It was observed soil quality influences on the type and intensity of land use. More fertilizer applications are deeper soil to maximize returns. Suggestions;  Involving farmers is watershed planning helps in strengthing institutional participation.  The per capita food consumption and monthly income is very low. Diversifying income generation activities from crop and livestock production in order to reduce risk related to drought and market prices. 4  Majority of farmers reported that they are not getting timely support/extension services from the concerned development departments.  By strengthing agricultural extension for providing timely advice improved technology there is scope to increase in net income of farm households.  By adopting recommended package of practices by following the soil test fertiliser recommendation, there is scope to increase yield in maize (85.1 to 72.1 %), greengram (43.8%), sorghum (82.9 to 73.6 %), sunflower (49.4 %), bengal gram (38.1 %) and groundnut (51.8 %).