LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BELHATTI-5 (4D4A3I1e) MICROWATERSHED Shirhatti Taluk, Gadag District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Belhatti-5 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, behaviour and use potentials of the soils in the microwartershed. The present study covers an area of 532 ha in Shirahatti taluk of Gadag district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought-prone with an average annual rainfall of 633 mm, 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 81 per cent is covered by soils and 19 per cent is covered by rock lands and others. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 15 soil series and 29 soil phases (management units) and 9 land use classes.  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 81 per cent area is suitable for agriculture and 19 per cent is not suitable for agriculture.  About 45 per cent of the soils are very shallow (<250 cm) to moderately shallow (50- 75 cm) and about 37 per cent are moderately deep (75-100 cm) to very deep (>150 cm) soils.  About 62 per cent of the area has loamy, 8 per cent sandy and 11 per cent of the area has clayey soils at the surface.  About 19 per cent of the area has non-gravelly soils, 43 per cent gravelly soils (15-35 % gravel), 15 per cent very gravelly (35- 60% gravel) soils and 4% of the soils are extremely gravelly.  About 61 per cent low (51-100 mm/m) to very low (<50mm/m) and 20 per cent medium (101-150 mm/m) in available water capacity.  About 63 per cent area has very gently sloping (1-3%) lands, 3 per cent gently sloping (3-5%) and 16 per cent nearly level (0-1%) lands.  An area of about 27 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1) and 54 per cent moderately eroded (e2).  An area of about 34 per cent has soils that are moderately alkaline (pH 7.8 to 8.4), 21 per cent slightly alkaline (pH 7.3-7.8), 18 per cent neutral (pH 6.5-7.3) and 7 per cent strongly alkaline (pH 8.4-9.0). xvi  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils are dominantly <2 dsm-1indicating that the soils are non-saline.  About 38 per cent of the soils are medium (0.5-0.75%), 11 per cent high (>0.75%) and 32 per cent low in organic carbon.  An area of about 18 per cent low (<23 kg/ha), 62 per cent medium (23-57 kg/ha) and one per cent high (>57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus.  Available potassium content is medium (145-337 kg/ha) in an area of about 48 per cent and 33 per cent high (>337 kg/ha) in the microwatershed.  Available sulphur is medium (10-20 ppm) in about 45 per cent, low (<10 ppm) in 32 per cent and high in 4 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available boron is low (0.5 ppm) in about 5 per cent, medium (0.5-1.0 ppm) in 74 per cent and 3 per cent high (>1.0 ppm).  Available iron is deficient in about 27 per cent and sufficient in 54 per cent area.  Available manganese is sufficient in the entire microwatershed area.  Available copper is sufficient in the entire microwatershed area.  Available zinc is sufficient (>0.6 ppm) in 1 per cent and deficient (<0.6 ppm) in 80per cent area of the microwatershed.  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, 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 133(25) 136(26) Sapota 27(5) 119(22) Maize 107(20) 136(26) Jackfruit 12(2) 69(13) Cotton 81(15) 189(35) Jamun 12(2) 69(13) Sunflower 81(15) 128(24) Musambi 12(2) 69(13) Onion 82(15) 161(30) Lime 12(2) 69(13) Groundnut 131(24) 177(33) Cashew 12(2) 156(29) Chilli 97(18) 172(32) Custard apple 81(15) 272(51) Sugarcane 81(15) 68(13) Amla 81(15) 272(51) Pomegranate 81(15) 92(17) Tamarind 12(2) 69(13) Tomato 97(18) 199 (37) Marigold 97(18) 221(41) Guava 66(12) 80(15) Chrysanthemum 97(18) 221(41) Mango 12(2) 69(13) Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the 9 identified LUCs by considering only the highly and moderately suitable lands for different crops and cropping systems with food, fibre and horticulture crops. xvii  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 for the 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 that would help in supplementing the farm income, provide fodder and fuel and generate lot of biomass. This helps in maintaining an ecological balance and also contributes to mitigating the climate change. 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-5 Microwatershed (Belhatti sub-watershed, Shirahatti taluk, Gadag district) is located in between 1503’ – 1506’ North latitudes and 75037’ – 75039’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 532 ha, bounded by Narayanpur, Chiksavanur, Rantur, Konchigeri villages 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-5 Microwatershed (Belhatti subwatershed) in Shirahatti taluk and Gadag district are presented here. Social Indicators;  Male and female ratio is 54 to 46 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 52 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 86 per cent.  Social groups belong to other backward caste (OBC) were among all sample households.  Fire wood is the source of energy for a cooking among 80 per cent.  About 30 per cent of households have a yashaswini health card.  Majority of farm households (70%) are having MGNREGA card for rural employments.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system is around 70.0 per cent.  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities around 50 per cent of sample households.  Institutional participation is only 2.0 per cent of sample households.  Women participation in local organisation was among all sample households were found. 2 Economic Indicators;  The average land holding is 1.3 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to small and medium farmers. The dry land account for 80.6 per cent and irrigated land 19.4 per cent of total cultivated land area among the sample farmers.  Agriculture is the main occupation among 50 per cent and agriculture is the main and agriculture labour is subsidiary occupation for 46 per cent of sample households.  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs. 14215 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average value of farm assets is around Rs. 81533 per household, about 50 per cent of sample farmers having plough and bullock cart.  The average value of livestock is around Rs. 42083 per household; about 64.3 per cent of household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 769.5 grams (1706.3 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Around 80 per cent of sample households are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs.24714 per household. About 90 per cent of farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita monthly average expenditure is around Rs.1048. 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.847 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs. 365940 per year for the total area of 532.06 ha.  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs. 8551/ ha/year. Per hectare food grain production services is maximum in onion (Rs. 23224) followed by horse gram (Rs. 6654), maize (Rs. 3454) and green gram (Rs. 874).  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs. 2762 ha/year. Per hectare fodder production services is maximum in horse gram (Rs. 4867) followed by maize (Rs. 2808) and green gram (Rs. 612).  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 maize (Rs. 37890), horse gram (Rs. 29284), green gram (Rs. 26405) and onion (Rs. 13437). 3 Economic Land Evaluation;  The major cropping pattern is maize (83.1 %) followed by green gram (9.8 %), horse gram (4.0 %) and onion (3.0 %).  In Belhatti-5 Microwatershed, major soil is Kagalipura (KGP) series is having shallow soil depth covered around 4.4 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing horse gram. Kutegoudanahundi (KGH) soil series also having moderately shallow soil depth cover 18.1 % of area; the crops are horse gram (7.0 %) and maize (93.0 %). Tammadahalli (TDH) soil series having moderately shallow soil depth cover around 5.0 per cent of areas, crops is maize (87.3%) and onion (12.7 %). Kethanapura (KTP) soil series having moderately shallow soil depth cover around 5.34 per cent of area, crops are green gram. Chikkamegheri (CKM) soil series are having moderately deep soil depth cover around 3.0 per cent of area; the major crops grown are maize. Gollarahatti (GHT) soil series are having moderately deep soil depth covers around 9.13 per cent of area, the major crop grown is maize. Jelligere (JLG) soil series having moderately deep soil depth cover 5.0 per cent of areas; crops are maize.  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for maize ranges between Rs.132251 in CKM soil (with BCR of 0.96) and Rs.10239 in KGH soil (with BCR of 2.09).  In horse gram the cost of cultivation range between Rs 58540 in KGP soil (with of 1.06) and Rs.37563 in KGH soil (with BCR of 1.51).  In onion cost of cultivation in TDH soil is Rs. 50876/ha (with BCR of 1.46) and green gram cost of cultivation in KTP soil is Rs. 16332/ha (with BCR of 1.09).  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.  Majority of farmers reported that they are not getting timely support/extension services from the concerned development departments. 4  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 (79.8 %), maize (4.7 to 79.2 %), green gram (55.2 %) and horse gram (6.3 %).