LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT GOPALAPUR (4B3E2E2c) MICRO WATERSHED Gundlupet Taluk, Chamarajanagara District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Gopalapur 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 boundries. The soil map shows the geographic distribution and extent, characterstics, classification and use potentials of the soils in the microwartershed. The present study covers an area of 571 ha in Gopalapur microwatershed in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought prone with an average annual rainfall of 734 mm. Maximum of 254 mm precipitation takes place during south–west monsoon period from June to September, the north-east monsoon contributes about 268 mm and prevails from October to early December and the remaining 212 mm takes place during the rest of the year. An area of about 74 per cent is covered by soils and 26 per cent by waterbodies, settlements, forest and others. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 8 soil series and 22 soil phases (management units) and 7 land management units.  The length of crop growing period is about 150 days starting from the 3rd week of June to 3rd 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 by using kriging method.  Land suitability for growing major agricultural and horticultural crops were assessed and maps showing the degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  About 74 per cent area is suitable for agriculture and 18 per cent is not suitable for agriculture but well suited for forestry, pasture, agroforestry, silvi-pasture, recreation, installation of wind mills and as habitat for wildlife.  About 41 per cent of the soils are very deep (>150 cm) to deep (100 - 150 cm), 9 per cent moderately deep (75 - 100 cm), 30 per cent are moderately shallow to shallow (25-75 cm).  About 54 per cent of the area has clayey soils and 25 per cent loamy soils at the surface.  About 45 per cent of the area has non-gravelly (<15% gravel) soils, 23 per cent gravelly soils (15-35 % gravel) and 12 per cent very gravelly soils (35- 60% gravel).  About 28 per cent of the area has soils that are very high (>200mm/m) in available water capacity and about 53 per cent low (50-100 mm/m) and very low (<50mm/m) available water capacity.  About 74 per cent of the area has gently sloping (3-5%) to very gently sloping (1-3% slope) lands and 6 per cent has moderately sloping (5-10%) lands.  An area of about 51 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1), 20 per cent moderately eroded (e2) and 8 per cent severely eroded (e3).  An area of about 22 per cent has soils that are neutral in reaction (pH 6.5 to 7.3), 20 per cent slightly acid (pH 6.0-6.5), 13 per cent strongly acid (pH5.0-5.5) to moderately acid (pH 5.5-6.0), 10 per cent slightly alkaline (pH 7.3-7.8) and 15 per cent moderately alkaline (pH 7.8 to 8.4),.  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils are dominantly <2 ds m-1indicating that the soils are non-saline.  About 24 per cent medium (0.5-0.75%), 31 per cent low (<0.5%) and 24 per cent high (>0.75%) in organic carbon.  An area of 28 per cent has soils that are low (<23 kg/ha), 18 per cent medium (23-57 kg/ha) and 34 per cent has soils that are high (>57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus  About 39 per cent medium (145-337 kg/ha) and 40 per cent high (>337kg/ha) in available potassium.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in about 59 per cent area, medium (10-20 ppm) in 18 per cent and small area high (>20 ppm) in available sulphur.  Available boron is low (<0.5 ppm) in about 44 per cent area and 35 per cent medium (0.5-1.0 ppm).  About 2 per cent area has soils that are deficient (<4.5 ppm) in available iron and 78 per cent sufficient (>4.5 ppm).  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils.  About 72 per cent area has soils that are deficient (<0.6 ppm) in available zinc and 7 per cent sufficient (>0.6 ppm).  The land suitability for 27 major crops (agricultural and horticultural) 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 Gopalapur microwatershed Crop Suitability Area in ha (%) Crop Suitability Area in ha (%) Highly suitable (S1) Moderately suitable (S2) Highly suitable (S1) Moderately suitable (S2) Sorghum 246 (43) 83 (15) Guava 211 (37) 71 (12) Maize 272 (48) 57 (10) Mango 149 (26) 82 (23) Red gram 272(48) 57 (10) Sapota 211 (37) 71 (12) Groundnut 123 (22) 206(36) Jackfruit 211 (37) 71 (12) Sunflower 123 (22) 149 (26) Jamun 149 (26) 82 (14) Cotton 123 (22) 180 (31) Musambi 211 (37) 71 (12) Onion 149 (26) 180 (31) Lime 221 (39) 61 (11) Beans 149 (26) 180 (31) Cashew 211 (37) 71 (12) Potato 149 (26) 180 (31) Custard apple 272 (48) 114 (20) Beetroot 149 (26) 180 (31) Amla 262(46) 67(12) Turmeric 149 (26) 180 (31) Tamarind 149 (26) 82(14) Horse gram 272 (48) 57 (10) Marigold 272 (48) 57(10) Field bean 149 (26) 180 (31) Chrysanthemum 149 (46) 180 (31) Banana 149 (26) 133 (26) 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, fibre and horticulture crops that helps in maintaining the ecological balance in the microwatershed.  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 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: Gopalapur micro-watershed (Gopalapur sub-watershed, Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district) is located in between 11043’ – 11045’ North latitudes and 76034’ – 76036’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 584 ha, bounded by Kannagal, Lakkipur and Kallipura 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 Gopalapur micro-watershed (Gopalapur sub-watershed, Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district) are presented here. Social Indicators  Male and female ratio is 56.7 to 43.3 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 59.4 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 81.0 per cent.  Social groups belong to schedule caste (SC) is around 30.0 per cent.  Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) gas is the source of a cooking among sample households.  About 40.0 per cent of households have a Yashaswini health card.  Only 10 per cent of the sample farm households are having MGNREGA card for rural employment.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system is around 40 per cent.  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities around 90 per cent of sample households.  Institutional participation is only 13.4 per cent of sample households.  Rural migration to unban centre for employment is prevalent among 10.0 per cent of farm households.  Women participation in decisions making are around 55 per cent of households. 2 Economic Indicators  The average land holding is 0.98 ha that majority of farm households are belong to marginal and small farmers. The dry land account for 81.9 % and irrigated land 18.1 % of total cultivated land area among the sample farmers.  Agriculture is the main occupation and agriculture is the main agriculture labour is the subsidiary occupation of 45.9 per cent and non agriculture labour is subsidiary occupation for 35.2 per cent of sample households.  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs.17498 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average farm assets value is around Rs.44759 per household, about 100 per cent of sample farmers owen plough and sprayer (20 %).  The average livestock value is around Rs.18687 per household; about 66.7 per cent of household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 536.44 grams (1357.4 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. 91083 per household. About 60 per cent of farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita monthly average expenditure is around Rs. 834. 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.1080 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs. 487243 per year for the total area of 570.84 ha.  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs 83589/ha/year. Per hectare food grain production services is maximum in turmeric (Rs. 343218) followed by horse gram (Rs. 22618), tomato (Rs. 194638), maize (Rs. 8734), sunflower (Rs. 7053), sorghum (Rs. 4952) and ragi (Rs. 3913).  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs. 1381/ ha/year. Per hectare fodder production service is maximum in sorghum (Rs. 2806) horse gram (Rs. 1853) and maize (Rs. 617) and ragi (Rs. 247).  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 tomato (Rs. 100314) followed by turmeric (Rs. 81856), sorghum (Rs. 43655), sunflower (Rs. 34682), maize (Rs. 30183), horse gram (Rs. 22808) and ragi (Rs. 12073). 3 Economic Land Evaluation  The major cropping pattern is sorghum (34.6 %) sunflower (27.9 %), followed by sunflower (27.9 %), turmeric (11.8 %), horse gram (7.8 %), ragi (7.8 %) and maize (4.7 %).  In Gopalapur micro-watershed, major soil series are soil of alluvial landscape of Hundipur (HDR) series is having shallow soil depth cover around 33.2 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing maize. Devarahalli (DRH) soil series having moderately shallow soil depth cover around 8 % of area, crops are sorghum (27 %) and turmeric (73 %). Kallipura (KLP) soil series are having deep soil cover around 13 % of area, respectively. The major crops grown are sorghum (43 %), sunflower (46 %) and tomato (12 %). Annurkeri (ARK), Honnegaudanahalli (HGH) and Kalligaudanahalli (KDH) series is having very deep soil depth cover around 13%, 4% and 9 % of area, respectively. On this soil farmers are presently growing horse gram, ragi, sorghum and sunflower.  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for maize ranges between Rs. 33256/ha in HDR soil (with BCR of 1.28).  In sorghum the cost of cultivation ranges between Rs.49825/ha in KDH soil (with BCR of 1.15) and Rs.28702/ha in KLP soil (with BCR of 2.13).  In tomato the cost of cultivation Rs 86618/ha in KLP soil (with of 3.25).  In sorghum the cost of cultivation range between Rs. 49825/ha in KDH soil (with of 1.15) and Rs.28702/ha in KLP soil (with BCR of 2.13).  In sunflower the cost of cultivation ranges between Rs.59730/ha in KDH soil (with BCR of 1.14) and Rs.35323/ha in HGH soil (with BCR of 1.64).  In horse gram the cost of cultivation is Rs.11364/ha in ARK soil (with BCR of 3.15) and ragi the cost of cultivation is Rs. 32970/ha in ARK soil (with BCR of 1.19).  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 maize (70.2 %), sorghum (54.9 to 44.3%), ragi (67.6), tomato (8.5%), sunflower (47.2 to 32.3%) and horse gram (24.1%).