LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SIDDAPURA (4B3E2H1c) MICROWATERSHED Gundlupet Taluk, Chamarajanagara District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Siddapura 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 and use potentials of the soils in the microwartershed. The present study covers an area of 493 ha in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought prone with an average annual rainfall of 734 mm of which about 254 mm is received during south –west monsoon, 268 mm during north-east and the remaining 212 mm during the rest of the year. An area of about 74 per cent is covered by soils, 25 per cent by forest and one per cent by others. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 9 soil series and 24 soil phases (management units) and 9 land management units.  The length of crop growing period is about 150 days starting from the 3rd week of June to 1st 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 the degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  About 65 per cent area is suitable for agriculture and 8 per cent not suitable for agriculture.  About 21 per cent of the soils are moderately deep (75-100 cm) to very deep (>150 cm) and 53 per cent are shallow to moderately shallow (25-75 cm).  About 16 per cent of the area has clayey soils at the surface, 56 per cent loamy soils and two per cent area has sandy soils.  About 51 per cent gravelly soils (15-35 % gravel) and 23 per cent has very gravelly (35- 60% gravel) soils.  About 57 per cent has soils that are very low (<50mm/m) to low (51-100 mm/m) in available water capacity and an area of 16 per cent has very high (>200 mm/m) available water capacity.  About 65 per cent area is very gently sloping (1-3% slope) to gently sloping (3- 5%) lands and moderately sloping (5-10%) lands.  An area of about 41 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1), 24 per cent moderately eroded (e2) and 8 per cent soils are severely eroded (e3).  An area of about 2 per cent has soils that are slightly acidic (pH 6.0-6.5); 14 per cent area has neutral (pH 6.5-7.3) and maximum area of about 80 per cent has soils that are slightly alkaline (pH 7.3 to 7.8) to strongly alkaline (pH 8.4 to 9.0).  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils are dominantly <2 dsm-1indicating that the soils are non-saline.  About 34 per cent of the soils are low (<0.5%), 38 per cent soils are medium (0.5- 0.75%) and 1 per cent of the soils are high (>0.75%) in organic carbon.  About 35 per cent of the soils are low (<23 kg/ha), medium (23-57 kg/ha) in 25 per cent area and 14 per cent of the soils are high (>57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus.  About 2 per cent of the soils are low (<145 kg/ha), medium (145-337 kg/ha) in 31 per cent area and 40 per cent of the soils are high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in about 52 per cent area, medium (10-20 ppm) in about 21 per cent area and high (>20 ppm) in a very small area of less than one per cent.  Available boron is low (0.5 ppm) in about 33 per cent area, medium (0.5-1.0 ppm) in 39 per cent area and high (>1.0 ppm) in less than one per cent area.  Available iron is deficient in about 47 per cent area and sufficient in 27 per cent area.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils of the microwatershed.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in all the soils of the microwatershed.  The land suitability for 27 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 78 (16) 115 (23) Sapota 88 (18) 14 (3) Maize 88 (18) 105 (21) Guava 88 (18) 14 (3) Redgram 88 (18) 65 (13) Banana 80 (16) 18 (4) Horsegram 88 (18) 120 (24) Jackfruit 88 (18) - Field bean 80 (16) 63 (13) Jamun 80 (16) 8 (2) Groundnut 208 (42) 155 (31) Musambi 88 (18) - Sunflower 70 (14) 18 (4) Lime 88 (18) - Cotton 70 (14) 113(23) Cashew 88 (18) 14 (3) Onion 80 (16) 113 (23) Custard apple 88 (18) 136 (27) Potato 80 (16) 113 (23) Amla 88 (18) 136(27) Beans 80 (16) 113 (23) Tamarind 80 (16) 8 (2) Beetroot 80 (16) 113 (23) Marigold 88 (18) 120 (24) Turmeric 80 (16) 113 (23) Chrysanthemum 80 (16) 113 (23) Mango 80 (16) 8 (2) Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the 9 identified LMUs by considering only the highly and moderately suitable lands for different crops and cropping systems with food, 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 sub-marginal lands and also in the hillocks, mounds and ridges. SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS 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: Siddapura micro-watershed (Annurkeri sub-watershed, Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district) is located in between 11041’ – 11043’ North latitudes and 76039’ – 76041’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 584 ha. The micro-watershed is bounded by Maguvinahalli, Kebbepura, Hullepura, Kaligaudanahalli and Karle villages, with length of growing period (LGP) 120-150 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 Siddapura micro-watershed (Annurkeri subwatershed, Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district) are presented here. Social Indicators  Male and female ratio is 47.7 to 52.3 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 54.5 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 72.7 per cent.  Social groups belong to scheduled caste (SC) is around 40.0 per cent.  Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the source of energy for a cooking among 90.0 per cent.  About 50.0 per cent of households have a yashaswini health card.  Majority of farm households (20.0 %) are having MGNREGA card for rural employment.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system is around 90.0 per cent.  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities around 50.0 per cent of sample households.  Institutional participation is only 18.3 per cent of sample households.  Rural migration to unban centre for employment is prevalent among 2.3 per cent of farm households.  Women participation in decisions making are around 30 per cent of households. 2 Economic Indicators  The average land holding is 1.2 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to small and medium farmers. The dry land of 58.9 % and irrigated land 41.1 % of total cultivated land area among the sample farmers.  Agriculture is the main occupation among 79.6 per cent and agriculture is the main and agriculture labour is subsidiary occupation for 15.9 per cent of sample households.  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs.15613 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average value of farm assets is around Rs. 6597 per household, about 50 per cent of sample farmers own plough.  The average value of livestock is around Rs. 24550 per household; about 52.8 per cent of household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 610.5 grams (1319.5 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Around 64.1 per cent of sample households are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs. 105779 per household. About 60.0 per cent of farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita average monthly expenditure is around Rs.1374. 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.774 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs.280107 per year for the total area of 492.6 ha.  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs 30297/ha/year. Per hectare food grain production services is maximum in onion (Rs. 97066) followed by turmeric (Rs. 92988), maize (Rs. 24497), groundnut (Rs. 18437), sunflower (Rs. 11174), ragi (Rs. 17365), cotton (Rs. 6712), horse gram (Rs. 2392) and sorghum (Rs. 2654).  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs. 1227/ ha/year. Per hectare fodder production services is maximum in maize (Rs. 1885/ha) followed by sorghum (Rs. 1780), horse gram (Rs. 1086), groundnut (Rs. 741) and ragi (Rs. 642).  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 is maximum in cotton (Rs. 49758) followed by turmeric (Rs. 47298), maize (Rs. 46680), turmeric (Rs. 47298), 3 sunflower (Rs. 39492), onion (Rs. 26823), groundnut (Rs. 24050), horse gram (Rs. 21601) and ragi (Rs. 13066). Economic Land Evaluation  The major cropping pattern is sunflower (10.5%), and cotton (5.2%), groundnut (5.2%), onion (6.1%), ragi (6.0%), safflower (0.9%), sorghum (14.2%), turmeric (23.2%), maize (18.6 %), sorghum (6.0%) and horse gram (10.1%).  In Siddapura Microwatershed, major soil of Hindupura (HDR) series is having shallow soil depth cover around 20.36 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing horse gram (13.9 %), maize (36.6 %), sorghum (21.8 %) and sunflower (27.8%), Shivapura (SPR) are also having shallow soil depth cover around 7.81 % of area, the crops are onion (40.1%), and turmeric (59.9 %). Hallipura (HPR) soil series having moderately shallow soil depth cover around 10.09 % of areas, crops are cotton (50.0 %) and groundnut (50.0 %). Magoonahalli (MGH) soil series having moderately shallow soil cover around 5.46 % of area, crops are horse gram. Kallipura (KLP) soil series are having deep soil depth cover around 1.59 % of area. the major crops grown are turmeric. Kalligoudanahalli (KDH) soil series are having very deep soil depth covers around 11.63 % of area, the major crop grown is horse gram (3.8 %), maize (21.5 %), onion (10.7 %), ragi (24.8 %) and sorghum (24.8 %).  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for onion ranges between Rs.137827/ha in KDH soil (with BCR of 2.69) and Rs.8226/ha in SPR soil (with BCR of 1.08).  In turmeric the cost of cultivation range between Rs. 11526/ha in SPR soil (with BCR of 1.33) and Rs.95749/ha in KLP soil (with BCR of 2.23).  In horse gram the cost of cultivation range between Rs 36699/ha in KDH soil (with BCR of 1.02) and Rs.13355/ha in MGH soil (with BCR of 1.03).  In maize the cost of cultivation range between Rs 45404/ha in HDR soil (with BCR of 1.30) and Rs.25557/ha in KDH soil (with BCR of 3.53).  In sorghum the cost of cultivation in HDR soil is Rs.22877/ha (with BCR of 1.24).  In sunflower the cost of cultivation in HDR soil is Rs.20053/ha (with BCR of 2.0).  In cotton the cost of cultivation in HDR soil is Rs 38983/ha (with BCR of 1.17).  In groundnut the cost of cultivation in HPR soil is Rs 23059/ha (with BCR 1.83) and ragi the cost of cultivation in HPR soil is Rs 14713/ha (with BCR of 2.22).  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. 4  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.  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 onion (69.8 to 49.4 %), turmeric (14.0 %), horse gram (32.5 to 24.1 %), maize (55.9 to 40.5 %), sorghum (49.7 %), sunflower (31.7 %), cotton (27.7 %) and ragi (64.9 %).