LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT MAINAHALLI (4D4A1W2a) MICRO WATERSHED Alavandi Hobli, Koppal Taluk and District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Mainahalli 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, behavior and use potentials of the soils in the microwatershed. The present study covers an area of 510 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 and 1 per cent by water bodies, settlements and others. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 11 soil series and 20 soil phases (management units) and 7land Management Units.  The length of crop growing period is <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 320 m grid interval.  Land suitability for growing 31 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 5 per cent of the soils are shallow (50-75 cm), 33 per cent of the soils are moderately shallow (50-75 cm), 5 per cent of the soils are moderately deep (75-100 cm), 21 per cent are deep (100-150 cm) and 36 per cent area has very deep (>150 cm) soils.  About 8 per cent area has loamy soils and 92 per cent area has clayey soils at the surface.  About 66 per cent of the area has non-gravelly (<15%) soils and 33 per cent gravelly (15-35 % gravel) soils.  About 17 per cent are very low (<50 mm/m), 25 per cent low (51-100 mm/m), 5 per cent are medium (101-150 mm/m), 8 per cent are high (151-200 mm/m) and 44 per cent are very high (>200 mm/m) in available water capacity.  About 87 per cent area has very gently sloping (1-3%) and 13 per cent area has nearly sloping (0-1%) lands.  An area of about 28 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1) and 72 per cent moderately eroded (e2) lands.  An area of about 7 per cent are slightly alkaline (pH 7.3 to 8.4), 32 per cent are moderately alkaline (pH 7.8-8.4), 35 per cent are strongly alkaline (pH 8.4-9.0) and 26 per cent are very strongly alkaline (pH >9.0) in soil reaction.  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils is <2 dS m-1 and as such the soils are non-saline.  Organic carbon is low (<0.5%) in about 8 per cent, medium (0.5-0.75%) in 81 per cent and 11 per cent of the soils are high (>0.75%) in organic carbon.  Available phosphorus is low (<23 kg/ha) in about 14 per cent and 85 per cent soils are medium (23-57 kg/ha) in the microwatershed.  About 25 per cent of the soils are medium (145-337 kg/ha) and 74 per cent of the soils are high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium content.  Available sulphur is medium (10-20 ppm) in about 57 per cent and 42 per cent soils are high (>20 ppm) in the microwatershed.  Available boron is low (0.5 ppm) in about 32 per cent area and 67 per cent area is medium (0.5-1.0 ppm).  Available iron is sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in the entire area.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in 99 per cent and sufficient (>0.6 ppm) in about 1 per cent area.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils.  The land suitability for 31 major agricultural and horticultural 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 119(23) 315(62) Sapota 38 (8) 45 (9) Maize - 434 (85) Pomegranate 63 (12) 247 (49) Bajra 63 (12) 416 (82) Musambi 119 (23) 192 (38) Groundnut 38 (8) 89 (17) Lime 119 (23) 181 (35) Sunflower 119 (23) 178 (35) Amla 63 (12) 416 (82) Red gram 38 (8) 254 (50) Cashew 63 (12) 14 (3) Bengalgram 80 (16) 384 (76) Jackfruit 38 (8) 45 (9) Cotton 119 (23) 315 (62) Jamun 38 (8) 261 (51) Chilli 38 (8) 75 (15) Custard apple 143 (28) 336 (66) Tomato 38 (8) 75 (15) Tamarind 38 (8) 247 (49) Brinjal 24 (5) 366 (72) Mulberry 63 (12) 104 (21) Onion 24 (5) 45 (9) Marigold 38 (8) 249 (49) Bhendi 24 (5) 366 (72) Chrysanthemum 38 (8) 395 (78) Drumstick 63 (12) 234 (46) Jasmine 38 (8) 214 (42) Mango 38 (8) 24 (5) Crossandra 38 (8) 79 (15) Guava 38 (8) 45 (9) Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the 7 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 that helps in maintaining productivity and ecological balance in the microwatershed.  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. 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 contribute to mitigating the climate change. SALIENT FINDINGS OF THE STUDY  Results indicated that 37 farmers were sampled in Mainahalli micro watershed among them 15 (40.54%) were marginal farmers, 12 (32.43%) were small farmers, 5 (13.51 %) were semi medium farmers, 1 (2.70%) were medium farmers and 4 (10.81%) landless farmers were also interviewed for the survey.  The data indicated that there were 168 population households were there in the studied micro watershed. Among them 94 (55.95%) men and 74 (44.05%) were women. The average family size of landless and small farmer was 4, marginal farmers and semi medium farmers were 5 and medium farmers were 7. On an average the family size was 6.  The data indicated that 36 (21.43%) people were in 0-15 years of age, 65 (38.69%) were in 16-35 years of age, 52 (30.95%) were in 36-60 years of age and 15 (8.93 %) were above 61 years of age.  The results indicated that the Mainahalli had 29.76 per cent illiterates, 30.36 per cent of them had primary school education, 9.52 per cent of them had both middle school, 13.10 per cent them had high school education, 8.93 per cent of them had PUC education, 0.60 per cent of them had diploma and ITI education, 6.55 per cent of them had degree education.  The results indicated that, 86.49 per cent of households practicing agriculture, 10.81 per cent of the household heads were agricultural labour and 2.70 per cent of the household heads were doing trade and business.  The results indicated that agriculture was the major occupation for 20.24 per cent of the household members, 48.81 per cent were agricultural laborers, 0.60 per cent were general labours, private sector, trade and business and children respectively. 28.57 per cent of them were students. In case of landless households 6.67 per cent were agriculturist, 86.67 per cent were agricultural labors and 6.67 per cent were students. In case of marginal farmers 19.18 per cent were agriculturist, 54.79 per cent were agricultural labour and 24.66 per cent were students. In case of small farmers 27.66 per cent of them were agriculturist, 36.17 per cent of them were agriculture labour, 2.13 per cent were trade and business and 34.04 per cent of them were students. In case of semi medium farmers 19.23 per cent of the family members were agriculturist, 34.62 per cent were agriculture labour and 42.31 per cent of them were students. In case of medium farmers 14.29 per cent of the family members were agriculturist, 42.86 per cent of them were agriculture labors and 28.57 per cent were students and 14.29 per cent of them were children.  The results showed 100 per cent of the farmers have not participated in any local institutions. 2  The results indicated that 94.59 per cent of the households possess Katcha house, 5.41 per cent of the households possess Pucca house and 2.70 per cent of them possess Thatched house.  The results showed that, 70.27 per cent of the households possess TV, 2.70 per cent of them possess DVD/VCD Player, 10.81 per cent of the households possess Mixer grinder, 5.41 per cent of the households possess bicycle, 24.32 per cent of the households possess motor cycle and 75.68 per cent of the households possess mobile phones.  The results showed that the average value of television was Rs. 6076, DVD/VCD Player was Rs.3000, mixer grinder was Rs.1250, bicycle was Rs.400, motor cycle was Rs.37666 and mobile phone was Rs.4336.  About 8.11 per cent of the households possess bullock cart, 2.70 per cent of them possess plough 21.62 per cent of the households possess weeder.  The results showed that the average value of bullock cart was Rs.21666; the average value of plough was Rs. 2000 and the average value of weeder was Rs. 24.  The results indicated that, 10.81 per cent of the households possess bullocks, 5.41 per cent of the households possess local cow, 2.70 per cent of the households possess crossbred cow, 8.11 per cent of the household possess buffalo and 5.41 per cent of the households possess sheep.  In case of marginal farmers, 6.67 per cent of the households possess bullock, local cow, crossbred cow and buffalo respectively. In case of small farmers, 8.33 per cent of households possess bullock, local cow, buffalo and sheep respectively. In case of semi medium farmers, 40 per cent of the households possess bullock and 20 per cent possess buffalo and sheep respectively.  The results indicated that, average own labour men available in the micro watershed was 1.78, average own labour (women) available was 1.36, average hired labour (men) available was 8.11 and average hired labour (women) available was 8.69.  In case of marginal farmers, average own labour men available was 2.00, average own labour (women) was also 1.47, average hired labour (men) was 6.47 and average hired labour (women) available was also 6.73. In case of small farmers, average own labour men available was 1.58, average own labour (women) was 1.25, average hired labour (men) was 6.75 and average hired labour (women) available was 7.58. In case of semi medium farmers, average own labour men available was 1.80, average own labour (women) was 1.40, average hired labour (men) was 9.40 and average hired labour (women) available was 10.60. In medium farmers average own labour men available was 2, average own labour (women) was 2, average hired labour (men) was 30 and average hired labour (women) available was 30.  The results indicated that, 8.11 per cent of the household opined that hired labour was adequate and 89.19 per cent of the household opined that hired labour was inadequate. 3  The results indicated that, households of the Mainahalli micro watershed possess 38.26 ha (90.61%) of dry land and 3.97 ha (9.39%) of irrigated land. Marginal farmers possess 10.44 ha (100%) of dry land. Small farmers possess 15.95 ha (92.27 %) of dry land and 1.34 ha (7.73 %) of irrigated land. Semi medium farmers possess 7.43 ha (73.84%) of dry land and 2.63 ha (26.16%) of irrigated land. Medium farmers possess 4.45 ha (100%) of dry land.  The results indicated that, the average value of dry land was Rs. 233,807.51 and average value of irrigated was Rs. 441,071.43. In case of marginal famers, the average land value was Rs. 426,027.13 for dry land. In case of small famers, the average land value was Rs. 206,878.17 for dry land Rs. 486,515.16 for irrigated land. In case of semi medium famers, the average land value was Rs. 121,144.41 for dry land and Rs. 418,000 for irrigated land. In case of medium famers, the average land value was Rs. 67,363.64 for dry land and.  The results indicated that, there were 1 functioning and 1 defunctioning bore wells in the micro watershed.  The results indicated that, bore well was the major irrigation source for 2.70 per cent of the farmers.  The results indicated that on an average the depth of the bore well was 3.77 meters.  The results indicated that, in case of small farmers there was 0.81 ha of irrigated land.  The results indicated that, farmers have grown bajra (7.81 ha), maize (19.33 ha), sorghum (5.26 ha), red gram (0.20 ha) and sunflower (8.15 ha) in kharif season. Marginal farmers had grown bajra, sorghum and maize. Small farmers had grown bajra, sorghum, maize and sunflower. Semi medium farmers had grown bajra, sorghum, maize, red gram and sunflower. Medium farmers had grown sunflower.  The results indicated that, the cropping intensity in Mainahalli micro watershed was found to be 78.16 per cent. In case of marginal farmers it was 83.93 per cent, in case of small farmers it was 75.66 per cent, in case semi medium it was 70.24 per cent and medium farmers it was 100 per cent.  The results indicated that, 81.08 per cent of the households have both bank account and savings. 100 percent of the marginal and medium farmers possess bank account and savings respectively. 83.33 per cent of small farmers possess both bank account and savings. Semi medium farmers possess 80 per cent of both bank account and savings.  The results indicated that, 100 per cent of marginal, 83.33 per cent of small, 80 per cent of semi medium and 100 per cent of medium farmers have borrowed credit from different sources.  The results indicated that, the total cost of cultivation for bajra was Rs. 33170.04. The gross income realized by the farmers was Rs. 26696.83. The net income from bajra cultivation was Rs. -6473.21, thus the benefit cost ratio was found to be 1:0.8. 4  The results indicated that, the total cost of cultivation for maize was Rs. 38478.23. The gross income realized by the farmers was Rs. 31675.95. The net income from maize cultivation was Rs. -6802.28. Thus the benefit cost ratio was found to be 1:0.82.  The results indicated that, the total cost of cultivation for Sunflower was Rs. 61336.98. The gross income realized by the farmers was Rs. 49804.52. The net income from Sunflower cultivation was Rs. -11532.46. Thus the benefit cost ratio was found to be 1:0.81.  The results indicated that, the total cost of cultivation for Sorghum was Rs. 41245.83. The gross income realized by the farmers was Rs. 27371.03. The net income from Sorghum cultivation was Rs. -13874.80. Thus the benefit cost ratio was found to be 1:0.66.  The results indicated that, 5.41 per cent of the households opined that dry fodder was adequate and 13.51 per cent of the households opined that green fodder was adequate.  The table indicated that, in case of landless, the average income from wage was Rs. 52000. In case marginal farmers the average income from wage was Rs.666.67, agriculture was Rs.40666.6 and dairy farm was Rs.1333.33. In small farmers, the average income from service/salary was Rs.3333.33 and agriculture was Rs. 46,666.67. In semi medium farmers the average income from wage was Rs. 2400, agriculture was Rs.137000, dairy farm was Rs. 1200 and goat farming was Rs.8000. In medium farmers the average income from agriculture was Rs.100000.  The results indicated that, in case of land less, the average expenditure from wage Rs. 17500. In marginal farmers, the average expenditure from wage was Rs.5000, agriculture was Rs.20200 and dairy farm was Rs.3500. In small farmers, the average expenditure from service/salary was Rs.10000 and agriculture was Rs.24833.33. In semi medium farmers the average expenditure from wage was Rs.8000, agriculture was Rs.39000, dairy farm was Rs.2000 and goat farming was Rs.15000. In medium farmers the average expenditure from agriculture was Rs.70000.  The results indicated that, sampled households have grown 3 coconut trees in their field.  The results indicated that, households have planted 2 teak trees, 21 neem trees, 1tamarind tress, 4 banyan and 1 peeple trees in their field.  The results indicate that, households have an average investment capacity of Rs. 4108.11 for land development and Rs.270.27 for improved crop production.  Marginal farmers have an average investment capacity of Rs. 5333.33 for land development and Rs.266.67 for improved crop production. Small farmers have an average investment capacity of Rs. 4250 for land development. Semi medium farmers have an average investment capacity of Rs. 3800 for land development and Rs. 600 5 in irrigation facility. Medium farmers have an average investment capacity of Rs. 2000 for land development and Rs. 3000 in irrigation facility.  The results indicated that for land development, 2.63 per cent of the households were dependent on loan from bank and own funds respectively and 50 per cent of the households were dependent on soft loan. 7.89 per cent of the households were dependent on soft loan for improved crop production.  The results indicated that, bajra, sorghum, maize, redgram and sunflower crops were sold to the extent of 100 per cent.  The results indicated that, 48.65 percent of the households have sold their produce to local/village merchant and 59.46 percent of the households sold their produce to regulated market.  The results indicated that 2.70 per cent of the households have used head load and truck as a mode of transport, 13.51 per cent of the households used cart as a mode of transport and 89.19 per cent of them have used tractor.  The results indicated that, 27.03 per cent of the households have experienced the soil and water erosion problems i.e. 46.67 percent of marginal farmers and 25 per cent of small farmers.  The results indicated that, 75.68 per cent of the households have shown interest in soil testing includes 93.33 per cent of the marginal, 75 per cent of the small, 80 per cent of the semi medium and 100 per cent of the medium farmers.  The results indicated that, 100 percent used fire wood as a source of fuel and 2.70 percent of them used LPG.  The results indicated that, piped supply was the source of drinking water for 35.14 per cent households and 67.57 per cent of them were using bore well for drinking water.  The results indicated that, electricity was the major source of light for 100 per cent of the households.  The results indicated that, 59.46 per cent of the households possess sanitary toilet i.e. 100 per cent of landless, 100 per cent of marginal, 8.33 per cent of the small, 20 per cent of the semi medium and 100 medium farmers had sanitary toilet facility.  The results indicated that, 100 per cent of the sampled households possessed BPL card.  The results indicated that, 37.84 per cent of the households participated in NREGA programme which included 100 per cent of the landless, 26.67 percent of the marginal, 25 per cent of the small, 40 per cent of the semi medium and 100 per cent of the medium farmers.  The results indicated that, cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits , milk and egg were adequate for 97.30 per cent, 86.49 per cent, 43.24 per cent, 43.24 per cent, 62.16 per cent, 29.73 per cent and 51.35 per cent respectively. 6  The results indicated that, pulses, oilseed, vegetables, fruits milk, egg and meat were inadequate for 10.81 per cent, 51.35 per cent, 54.05 per cent, 24.32 per cent, 24.32 per cent, 35.14 per cent and 5.41 per cent of the households.  The results indicated that, 89.19 per cent of the households experienced by lower fertility status of the soil was the constraint, wild animal menace on farm field (67.57%), frequent incidence of pest and diseases (51.35%), inadequacy of irrigation water (24.32%), high cost of Fertilizers and plant protection chemicals (32.43%), high rate of interest on credit (10.81%), low price for the agricultural commodities (16.22%), lack of marketing facilities in the area (8.11%), inadequate extension services (10.81%), lack of transport for safe transport of the agricultural produce to the market (27.03%), less rainfall (64.86%) and Source of Agri-technology information(Newspaper/TV/Mobile) (13.51%).