LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BELAGUNDA-1 (4D5B1N1e) MICROWATERSHED Yadgir Taluk & District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Belagunda-1Microwatershed 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 the 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, behavior and use potentials of the soils in the microwatershed. The present study covers an area of 492 ha in Yadgir taluk & district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought-prone with an average annual rainfall of 866 mm, of which about 652 mm is received during south-west monsoon, 138 mm during north-east and the remaining 76 mm during the rest of the year. An area of 476 ha in the microwatershed is covered by soils and 16 ha by others (habitation and water body). The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 8 soil series and 9 soil phases (management units) and 5 land management units.  The length of crop growing period is about 120-150 days starting from 1st week of June to 4th 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 320 m grid interval.  Land suitability for growing 29 major agricultural and horticultural crops was assessed and maps showing the degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  About 476 ha area in the microwatershed is suitable for agriculture.  About 10 per cent of area is shallow (25-50 cm), 6 per cent of area of the microwatershed has soils that are moderately shallow (50-75 cm), 25 per cent of area of the microwatershed has soils that are moderately deep (75-100 cm), 15 per cent of area is deep (100 - 150 cm) and 41 per cent of area is very deep (>150 cm).  About 36 per cent loamy soils and 60 per cent clayey soils at the surface.  About 96 per cent area in the microwatershed is non gravelly (<15%) and <1 per cent is gravelly (15-35%).  About 55 per cent area of the microwatershed is very high (>200 mm/m) in available water capacity, 25 per cent is medium (101-150 mm/m), 6 per cent is low (51-100 mm/m) and 10 per cent area is very low (<50 mm/m).  About 97per cent area in the microwatershed is under very gently sloping (1-3% slope) lands and <1 per cent area is nearly level (0-1%) lands.  Maximum area of about 97 per cent is moderately (e2) eroded and <1 per cent area is slightly eroded (e1).  About 63 per cent is slightly alkaline (pH 7.3-7.8) and 34 per cent area is moderately alkaline (pH 7.8-8.4) in soil reaction.  About 71 per cent area is non saline (<2 dsm-1) in electrical Conductivity (EC), low (2-4 dsm-1) in 7 per cent area, medium (4-8 dsm-1) in 12 per cent area, high (8-12 dsm-1) in 7 per cent area and very high (12-16 dsm-1) in <1 per cent area of area in the microwatershed.  About 17 per cent area is medium (0.5-0.75%) and 80 per cent area is high (>0.75%) in organic carbon content of the soil.  About 30 per cent of area is medium (23-57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus content of the soil, <1 per cent of area is low (<23 kg/ha) and 66 per cent of area is high (>57 kg/ha) in the microwatershed.  Available potassium content is high (>337 kg/ha) in the entire area of the microwatershed.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in the entire area of the microwatershed.  Available boron is low (<0.5 ppm) in an area of 21 per cent, high (>1.0 ppm) in 3 per cent area and medium (0.5-0.1 ppm) in 73 per cent of area in the microwatershed.  Available iron is sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in 96 per cent of area and deficient (<4.5 ppm) in <1 per cent of area in the microwatershed.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils of the microwatershed.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in an area of 32 per cent and sufficient (>0.6 ppm) in 64 per cent of area in the microwatershed.  The land suitability for 29 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, market 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 - 280 (57) Guava - - Maize - 280 (57) Sapota - - Bajra - 280 (57) Pomegranate - 250 (51) Groundnut - 30 (6) Musambi - 250 (51) Sunflower - 250 (51) Lime - 250 (51) Redgram - 250 (51) Amla - 30 (6) Bengal gram - 250 (51) Cashew - - Cotton - 250 (51) Jackfruit - - Chilli - 280 (57) Jamun - - Tomato - 30 (6) Custard apple - 280 (57) Brinjal - 30 (6) Tamarind - - Onion - 30 (6) Mulberry - - Bhendi - 280 (57) Marigold - 280 (57) Drumstick - - Chrysanthemum - 280 (57) Mango - -  Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the identified LMUs by considering only the highly and moderately suitable lands for different crops and cropping systems with food, fodder, fibre and other horticulture crops.  Maintaining soil-health is vital for 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 for 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. This would help in not only supplementing the farm income but also provide fodder and fuel and generate lot of biomass which would help in maintaining an ecological balance and also contribute to mitigating the climate change. FINDINGS OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY  The survey was conducted in Belagunda-1 is located at North latitude 160 34’ 39.551” and 160 33’ 1.449" and East longitude 770 13’ 46.099'' and 770 12’ 21.566” covering an area of about 491.38 ha coming under Anura B, Heganagere and Belagundi villages of Yadagiri taluk.  Socio-economic analysis of Belagunda-1 micro watersheds of Belagunda subwatershed, Yadgiri taluk & District indicated that, out of the total sample of 35 total respondents, 6 (17.14 %) were marginal, 18 (51.43%) were small, 6 (17.14 %) were Semi medium and 2 (5.71 %) were medium farmers.  The population characteristics of households indicated that, there were 111 (57.51%) men and 82 (42.49 %) were women.  Majority of the respondents (43.01%) were in the age group of 16-35 years.  Education level of the sample households indicated that, there were 54.92 per cent illiterates, 43.53 per cent pre university education and 2.07 per cent attained graduation.  About, 94.29 per cent of household heads practicing agriculture and 2.86 per cent of the household heads were engaged as agricultural labourers.  Agriculture was the major occupation for 63.21 per cent of the household members.  In the study area, 88.57 per cent of the households possess katcha house and 2.86 per cent possess pucca house.  The durable assets owned by the households showed that, 71.43 per cent possess TV, 65.71 per cent possess mixer grinder, 100.00 per cent possess mobile phones and 22.86 per cent possess motor cycles.  Farm implements owned by the households indicated that, 45.71 per cent of the households possess plough, 2.86 per cent possess tractor and 20.00 per cent possess bullock cart.  The average labour availability in the study area showed that, own men and women labour availability in the micro watershed was 15.29 each, while the hired labour (men) availability was 1.60.  Further, 8.57 per cent of the households opined that hired labour was inadequate during the agricultural season.  In the study area, about 3.08 per cent of the respondents migrated from the micro watershed in search of jobs with an average distance of 1333.33 kms for about 4.00 months.  Out of the total land holding of the sample respondents 94.78 per cent (53.47 ha) of the area is under dry condition and the remaining 5.22 per cent area is irrigated land. 2  The major crops grown by sample farmers are Red gram, Cotton and Paddy and cropping intensity was recorded as 100.00 per cent.  Out of the sample households 91.43 percent possessed bank account and 91.43 per cent of them have savings in the account.  About 2.86 per cent of the respondents borrowed credit from various sources.  Among the credit borrowed by households, 36.84 per cent have borrowed loan from commercial banks and 10.53 per cent from co-operative/Grameena bank.  Majority of the respondents (100.00%) have borrowed loan for agriculture purpose.  Regarding the opinion on institutional sources of credit, 100.00 per cent of the households opined that credit helped to perform timely agricultural operations.  The per hectare cost of cultivation for Red gram, Cotton and Paddy was Rs.31650.45 , 20807.91 and 25838.76 with benefit cost ratio of 1:1.10, 1: 2.00 and 1: 1.40 respectively.  Further, 31.43 per cent of the households opined that dry fodder was adequate.  The average annual gross income of the farmers was Rs. 89542.86 in microwatershed, of which Rs. 75285.71 comes from agriculture.  Households have an average investment capacity of Rs. 9522.86 for land development.  Source of funds for additional investment is concerned, 40.00 per cent depends on own funds and 42.86 per cent depends on bank loan for land development activities.  Regarding marketing channels, 145.71 per cent have sold in regulated markets.  Further, 145.71 per cent of the households have used tractor for the transport of agriculture commodity.  Majority of the farmers (97.14%) have experienced soil and water erosion problems in the watershed and 85.71 per cent of the households were interested towards soil testing.  Fire was the major source of fuel for domestic use for 88.57 per cent of the households and 14.29 per cent households has LPG connection.  Piped supply was the major source for drinking water for 100.00 per cent of the households.  Electricity was the major source of light for 102.86 per cent of the households.  In the study area, 34.29 per cent of the households possess toilet facility.  Regarding possession of PDS card, 100.00 per cent of the households possessed BPL card, 2.86 per cent of the household’s possessed APL card and 0.00 per cent of the household’s were not having ration cards.  Households opined that, the requirement of cereals (68.57%), pulses (57.14%) and oilseeds (11.43%) are adequate for consumption. 3  Farming constraints experienced by households in the micro watersheds were lower fertility status of the soil (111.43%) wild animal menace on farm field (100.00%), frequent incidence of pest and diseases (37.14%), inadequacy of irrigation water (91.43%), high cost of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals (94.29%), high rate of interest on credit (91.43%), low price for the agricultural commodities (94.29%), lack of marketing facilities in the area (45.71%), inadequate extension services (94.29%), lack of transport for safe transport of the agricultural produce to the market(91.43%).