LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT RAMATIRTH (4D5B2A1C) MICROWATERSHED Yadgir Taluk & District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Ramatirth 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 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 689 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 56 per cent in the microwatershed is covered by soils, 33 per cent by rock outcrops and 11 per cent by others (Habitation and water bodies). The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 15 soil series and 24 soil phases (management units) and 7 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.  Entire cultivated area is suitable for agriculture in the microwatershed.  About 9 per cent area of the microwatershed has soils that are very shallow (<25 cm), 22 per cent soils are shallow (25-50 cm), 7 per cent are moderately shallow (50-75 cm), 12 per cent are moderately deep (75-100 cm) and 6 per cent soils are very deep (->150 cm) soils in the microwatershed.  About 4 per cent are sandy soils at the surface, 10 per cent are loamy soils and 42 percent soils are clayey soils at the surface.  An area of about 48 per cent is non-gravelly (<15%) and 8 per cent is gravelly (15- 35%) soils.  About 31 per cent area of the microwatershed is very low (<50 mm/m), 7 per cent soils are low (51-100 mm/m), 11 per cent soils are medium (101-150 mm/m) and 6 per cent soils are very high (>200 mm/m) in available water capacity.  About 54 per cent area of the microwatershed has very gently sloping (1-3% slope) lands and 2 per cent area is gently sloping (3-5% slope) soils.  An area of about 48 per cent is moderately (e2) eroded and 8 per cent is severely eroded (e3) soils in the microwatershed.  An area of 8 per cent in the microwatershed is neutral (pH 6.5-7.3), 17 per cent is slightly alkaline (pH 7.3-7.8) and 31 per cent is moderately alkaline (pH 7.8-8.4) soil reaction  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils in the entire cultivated area of the microwatershed is <2 dsm-1 indicating that the soils are non-saline.  An area of about 8 per cent is medium (0.5-0.75%) and 48 per cent is high (>0.75%) in organic carbon content.  An area of 24 percent is medium (23-57 kg/ha) and about 32 per cent is high (>57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus.  An area of about 10 per cent is medium (145-337 kg/ha) and about 45 per cent is high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium.  Entire area is low (<10 ppm) in available sulphur content of the microwatershed.  Available boron is low (<0.5 ppm) in the entire cultivated area of the microwatershed.  Available iron content is sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in 51 per cent and deficient (<4.5 ppm) in 5 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils of the microwatershed.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in 22 per cent and sufficient (>0.6 ppm) in 34 per cent area of 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 41(6) 74(11) Guava - 45(6) Maize 41(6) 74(11) Sapota - 45(6) Bajra 45(6) 70(11) Pomegranate - 63(9) Groundnut 4(1) 87(12) Musambi - 63(9) Sunflower - 63(9) Lime - 63(9) Redgram - 69(10) Amla 45(6) 59(9) Bengal gram 13(2) 5(1) Cashew - 4(1) Cotton - 59(9) Jackfruit - 45(6) Chilli 41(6) 68(10) Jamun - - Tomato 41(6) 50(7) Custard apple 4(1) 104(15) Brinjal 41(6) 50(7) Tamarind - - Onion 41(6) 50(7) Mulberry - 45(6) Bhendi 41(6) 68(10) Marigold 41(6) 68(10) Drumstick - 58(8) Chrysanthemum 41(6) 68(10) Mango - -  Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the identified 7 LMUs by considering only the highly and moderately suitable lands for different crops and cropping systems with food, fodder, fiber and horticulture crops.  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. This would help in not only supplementing the farm income but also provide fodder and fuel to 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 Ramatirth is located at North latitude 160 59’ 26.672” and 160 57’ 19.615" and East longitude 770 11’ 39.441'' and 770 8’ 32.977” covering an area of about 685.96 ha coming under Ramathirtha and Allura .B villages of Chithapura taluk.  Socio-economic analysis of Ramatirth micro watersheds of Chikka Alur subwatershed, Chithapura taluk & Kalaburagi District indicated that, out of the total sample of 33 farmers were sampled in Ramatirth micro-watershed among households surveyed 13 (39.39%) were marginal, 11 (33.33%) were small and 4 (12.12 %) were semi medium farmers. 5 landless farmers were also interviewed for the survey.  The population characteristics of households indicated that, there were 79 (53.02%) men and 70 (46.98 %) were women. The average population of landless was 3.4, marginal farmers were 4.8, small farmers were 4.7 and semi medium farmers were 4.5.  Majority of the respondents (42.95%) were in the age group of 16-35 years.  Education level of the sample households indicated that, there were 43.62 per cent illiterates, 44.97 per cent pre university education and 7.38 per cent attained graduation.  About, 30.30 per cent of household heads practicing agriculture and 42.42 per cent of the household heads were engaged as agricultural labourers.  Agriculture was the major occupation for 20.81 per cent of the household members.  In the study area, 93.94 per cent of the households possess katcha house and 9.09 per cent possess pucca house.  The durable assets owned by the households showed that, 93.94 per cent possess TV, 30.30 per cent possess mixer grinder, 109.09 per cent possess mobile phones and 12.12 per cent possess motor cycles.  Farm implements owned by the households indicated that, 21.21 per cent of the households possess Bullock Cart, 33.33 per cent possess plough, 36.36 per cent possess Weeder and 12.12 per cent possess Thresher.  Regarding livestock possession by the households, 6.06 per cent possess local cow and 3.03 per cent possess buffalo.  The average labour availability in the study area showed that, own labour men available in the micro watershed was 1.54, women available in the micro watershed was 1.43, hired labour (men) available was 8.89 and hired labour (women) available was 14.56.  Out of the total land holding of the sample respondents 94.06 per cent (31.73 ha) of the area is under dry condition and the remaining 5.56 per cent area is irrigated land. 2  There were 1.00 live bore wells and 1.00 dry bore wells among the sampled households.  Bore well was the major source of irrigation for 3.03 per cent of the households.  The major crops grown by sample farmers are Red gram, Jowar and Green gram and cropping intensity was recorded as 100.00 per cent.  Out of the sample households 90.91 percent possessed bank account and 42.42 per cent of them have savings in the account.  About 27.27 per cent of the respondents borrowed credit from various sources.  Among the credit borrowed by households, 100.00 per cent from cooperative/ 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, Jowar and Green gram was Rs.30724.65 , 41187.76 and 58993.49, with benefit cost ratio of 1:1.10, 1: 0.80 and 1: 1.30 respectively.  Further, 27.27 per cent of the households opined that dry fodder was adequate.  The average annual gross income of the farmers was Rs. 69121.21 in microwatershed, of which Rs. 34575.76 comes from agriculture.  Sampled households have grown 79 forestry trees together in the fields and back yards.  About 6.06 per cent of the households shown interest to cultivate horticultural crops.  Households have an average investment capacity of Rs. 2242.42 for land development.  Source of funds for additional investment is concerned, 39.39 per cent depends on bank loan for land development activities.  Regarding marketing channels, 36.36 per cent of the households have sold agricultural produce to the local/village merchants, while, 48.48 per cent have sold in regulated markets.  Further, 81.82 per cent of the households have used tractor for the transport of agriculture commodity.  Majority of the farmers (81.82%) have experienced soil and water erosion problems in the watershed and 84.85 per cent of the households were interested towards soil testing.  Fire was the major source of fuel for domestic use for 84.85 per cent of the households and 30.30 per cent households has LPG connection.  Piped supply was the major source for drinking water for 100.00 per cent of the households. 3  Electricity was the major source of light for 100.00 per cent of the households.  In the study area, 57.58 per cent of the households possess toilet facility.  Regarding possession of PDS card, 100.00 per cent of the households possessed BPL card.  Households opined that, the requirement of cereals (69.70%), pulses (63.64%) and oilseeds (36.36%) are adequate for consumption.  Farming constraints experienced by households in the micro watersheds were lower fertility status of the soil was the constraint experienced by (81.82 %) per cent of the households, wild animal menace on farm field (81.82%), frequent incidence of pest and diseases (42.42%), inadequacy of irrigation water (60.61%), high cost of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals (81.82%), high rate of interest on credit (81.82%), low price for the agricultural commodities (75.76 %), lack of marketing facilities in the area (57.58%), inadequate extension services (60.61 %) and lack of transport for safe transport of the agricultural produce to the market (75.76%).