LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BANNIKOPPA-6 (4D4A2O1f) MICRO WATERSHED Alawandi Hobli, Koppal Taluk and District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Bannikoppa-6 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 boundries. The soil map shows the geographic distribution and extent, characterstics, behaviour, classification and use potentials of the soils in the microwartershed. The present study covers an area of 215 ha in Koppal taluk and district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought - prone with an average annual rainfall of 662 mm, of which about 424 mm is received during south –west monsoon, 161 mm during north-east and the remaining 77 mm during the rest of the year. An area of about 99 per cent is covered by soils, one per cent by waterbodies, settlements and others. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 6 soil series and 9 soil phases (management units) and 4 land use classes.  The length of crop growing period is about <90 days and starts from 2nd week of August to 2nd week of November.  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 24 major agricultural and horticultural crops were assessed and maps showing the degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  Entire area is suitable for agriculture.  About 17 per cent of the soils are very shallow (<25 cm), 2 per cent of the soils are shallow (25-50 cm),19 per cent of the soils are moderately shallow (50-75 cm), about 57 per cent are moderately deep (75-100 cm) and 3 per cent area has deep (100-150 cm) in soil depth.  Entire area has clayey soils at the surface.  About 54 per cent of the area has non-gravelly (<15%) soils, 43 per cent gravelly soils (15-35 % gravel) and 2 per cent very gravelly (35- 60% gravel) soils.  About 17 per cent are very low (<50 mm/m), 21 per cent are low (51-100 mm/m), 57 per cent medium (101-150 mm/m) and 3 per cent area has very high (>200mm/m) in available water capacity.  Entire area has very gently sloping (1-3%) lands.  Entire area has moderately eroded (e2) lands.  An area of about 40 per cent has soils that are strongly alkaline (pH 8.4 to 9.0) and 59 per cent are very strongly alkaline (pH>9.0).  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils are dominantly <2 dS m-1indicating that the soils are non-saline.  Organic carbon is low (<0.5%) in about 67 per cent and 31 per cent of the soils are medium (0.5-0.75%) in organic carbon.  Available phosphorus is low (<23 kg/ha) in about 96 per cent and medium (23-57 kg/ha) in about 3 per cent area of the microwatershed.  About 8 per cent area is medium (145-337 kg/ha) and 91 per cent high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium in the microwatershed.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in 4 per cent area, medium (10-20 ppm) in about 54 per cent area and about 41 per cent area is high (>20 ppm).  Available boron is low (0.5 ppm) in about 48 per cent area, 49 per cent area is medium (0.5-1.0 ppm) and high (>1.0 ppm) in about 2 per cent area.  Available iron is sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in the entire area.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in the entire area.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils.  The land suitability for 24 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 84 (39) 86 (40) Sapota - - Maize - - Jackfruit - - Bajra - - Jamun - 7 (3) Drumstick - 130 (61) Musambi 7 (3) 123 (57) Sunflower 7 (3) 123 (57) Lime 7 (3) 123 (57) Groundnut - 41(19) Cashew - - Chilli - - Custard apple 84 (39) 86 (40) Pomegranate - 130(61) Amla - 171 (80) Tomato - - Tamarind 7 (3) Mulbery - 171 (80) Jasmine - 41 (19) Guava - - Marigold - 171 (80) Mango - - Chrysanthemum - 171 (80) Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the 4 identified LUCs 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 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. That would help in supplementing the farm income, provide fodder and fuel, and generate lot of biomass which in turn would help in maintaining the ecological balance and 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: Bannikoppa-6 micro-watershed (Koppal taluk and district) is located in between 15020’ – 15021’ North latitudes and 75056’ – 75057’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 214.70 ha, bounded by Kavalura and Bannikoppa villages with length of growing period (LGP) 60-90 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 Bannikoppa-6 micro-watershed (Koppal taluk and district) are presented here. Social Indicators;  Male and female ratio is 51.6 to 48.4 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 58 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 90.3 per cent of sample households.  Social groups belong to general caste and other back ward (OBC) is around 40 per cent.  Firewood is the source of energy for a cooking among all the sample households.  Among all sample farm households have a yashaswini health card.  Among all farm households are having MGNREGA card for rural employment.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system of among all sample households.  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities of among all sample households. Economic Indicators;  The average land holding is 2.36 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to small and medium farmers. The dry land account for 81.6 per cent of total cultivated land of the sample farmers.  Agriculture is the main occupation and agricultural labour is a subsidiary occupation is around 66.7 per cent of farmers followed by like self employed is around 16.7 per cent of sample households. 2  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs. 37940 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average value of farm assets is around Rs. 57247 per household; about 40 per cent of sample farmers are having sprayer, chaff cutter, earth remover and weeder.  The average value of livestock is around Rs. 12536 per household; about 100 per cent of household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 501.1 grams (1396.6 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Among all sample households are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs. 34726 per household. All sample farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita average monthly expenditure is around Rs. 613. 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 average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs. 3272/ ha/year. Per hectare food grain production services is maximum in bengal gram (Rs. 9556) followed by sunflower (Rs. 5114), greengram (Rs. 4521), coriander (Rs. 1604), bajra (Rs. 102) and sorghum is negative retunes.  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs. 2000/ ha/year is sorghum.  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 coriander (Rs. 104170) followed by bengal gram (Rs. 68231), bajra (Rs. 49751), sorghum (Rs. 37959), green gram (Rs. 23945) and sunflower (Rs. 17486). Economic Land Evaluation;  The major cropping pattern is green gram (43.3 %) followed by coriander (23.1 %), bengal gram (20.2 %), sunflower (8.5 %) and bajra (5.0 %).  Bannikoppa-6 Micro watershed, major soils are soil Handrala (HDL) series is having deep soil depth cover around 3.27 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing green gram (50.0 %), coriander (26.7 %) and bengal gram (23.3 %). KDL series are having very deep soil depth cover the crops are sunflower (66.3 %), sorghum (18.3) and bajra (15.4 %).  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for bengal gram Rs.29964/ha in HDL soil (with BCR of 1.30). 3  In coriander the cost of cultivation is Rs 16626/ha in HDL soil (with BCR of 1.07).  In green gram the cost of cultivation Rs. 9695/ha in HDL soil (with BCR of 1.47).  In bajra the cost of cultivation is Rs.12792 /ha in KDT soil (with BCR of 1.01).  In sunflower the cost of cultivation is Rs. 13848/ha in KDT soil (with BCR of 1.38) and sorghum the cost of cultivation is Rs. 26174/ha in KDT soil (with BCR of 1.03).  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 in deeper soils 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 coriander (76.3 %), green gram(43.8 %), bajra (15.6 %), sorghum ( 32.8 %) and sunflower (57.2 %).