LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BHIMNALLI (4D5B8K1c) MICROWATERSHED Gulbarga Taluk, Gulbarga District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Bhimnalli 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 and use potentials of the soils in the microwartershed. The present study covers an area of 643 ha in Bhimnalli microwatershed in Gulbarga taluk of Gulbarga district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought prone with an average annual rainfall of 740 mm, of which about 540 mm is received during south–west monsoon, 126 mm during north-east and the remaining 74 mm during the rest of the year. An area of about 97 per cent is covered by soils, three per cent by waterbodies, settlements and others. The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 11 soil series and 34 soil phases (management units) and 7 land use classes.  The length of crop growing period is about 120-150 days starting from the 3rd week of May to 1rd 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 degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  About 97 per cent area is suitable for agriculture and 3 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 29 per cent of the soils are moderately deep to deep (75-150 cm), 2 per cent of the soils are very deep (>150cm), 54 per cent are shallow to moderately shallow (25- 75 cm) and about 13 per cent are very shallow (<25 cm) soils.  About 98 per cent of the area has clayey soils at the surface.  About 22 per cent of the area has non-gravelly soils, 75 per cent gravelly to very gravelly soils (15-60 % gravel) and 1 per cent extremely gravelly soils (60- 80% gravel).  About 7 per cent of the area has soils that are very high (>200mm/m) in available water capacity, 16 per cent medium (100-150 mm/m) and about 76 per cent low (51- 100 mm/m) and very low (<50 mm/m).  About 55 per cent of the area has very gently sloping (1-3%) lands and about 43 per cent area is gently (3-5%) to moderately sloping (5-10%) lands.  An area of about 14 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1), 64 per cent moderately eroded (e2) and 20 per cent severely eroded (e3) to very severely eroded.  An area of about 58 per cent has soils that are moderately acid to slightly acid (pH 5.5 to 6.5), two per cent very strongly acid to strongly acid (pH 4.5 to 5.5), about 5 per cent slightly alkaline (pH 7.3-7.8) and 33 per cent area is neutral (pH 6.5-7.3) in soil reaction.  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils are dominantly <2 dsm-1indicating that the soils are non-saline.  About 11 per cent medium (0.5-0.75%), 86 per cent high (>0.75%) and 1 per cent low (<0.5%) in organic carbon.  Major area of 88 per cent has soils that are low (<23 kg/ha) and 10 per cent medium (23-57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus.  About 63 per cent medium (145-337 kg/ha), 7 per cent high (>337 kg/ha) and 29 per cent low (<145 kg/ha) in available potassium.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in about <1 per cent area, medium (10-20 ppm) in 53 per cent and 45 per cent high (>20 ppm).  Available boron is low (<0.5 ppm) in about 2 per cent area, 74 per cent medium (0.5- 1.0 ppm) and 22 per cent high (>1.0 ppm).  Available iron, manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils.  About 23 per cent area has soils that are deficient (<0.6 ppm) in available zinc and 75 per cent sufficient (>0.6 ppm).  The land suitability for 19 major crops grown in the microwatershed was 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 80 (12) 71 (11) Guava - 174(21) Maize - 54 (8) Jackfruit - 6(1) Red gram - 137 (21) Jamun - 100(15) Sunflower 80 (12) - Musambi 43 (7) 131(20) Cotton 43 (7) 108 (17) Lime 43 (7) 131(20) Sugarcane - - Cashew 6(1) 13(2) Soybean 80(12) 57 (9) Custard apple 157 (24) 286(44) Bengalgram 137(21) 81(13) Amla 157 (24) 119 (18) Mango - 6(1) Tamarind - 113 (17) Sapota - 161(25) Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the 7 identified LUCs 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 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, field bunds and also in the hillocks, mounds and ridges. 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: Bhimnalli Microwatershed (Kamalapur sub-watershed, Gulbarga taluk, Gulbarga district) is located in between 17036’ – 17038’ North latitudes and 7700’ – 7702’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 643 ha, bounded by Dhanura, Bachinal, Mormanchi and Kurnur 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 Bhimnalli Microwatershed Gulbarga taluk and district are presented here. Social Indicators;  Male and female ratio is 59.1 to 40.9 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 47.8 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 68.2 per cent.  Social groups belong to scheduled caste (SC) is around 50 per cent.  Fire wood is the source of energy for a cooking among 50 per cent.  About 10 per cent of households have a yashaswini health card.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system among all sample households.  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities around 50 per cent of sample households.  Women participation in decisions making are around 90 per cent of households were found. Economic Indicators;  The average land holding is 2.6 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to small and medium and large farmers. The dry land is total cultivated land area among all the sample farmers. 2  Agriculture is the main occupation among 45.5 per cent and agriculture is the main and agriculture labour is subsidiary occupation for 40.9 per cent of sample households.  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs. 13980 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average value of farm assets is around Rs. 161200 per household, about 40 per cent, of sample farmer having plough.  The average value of livestock is around Rs. 37292 per household; around 80 per cent of sample household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 953.4 grams (2288.91 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Around 70 per cent of sample households are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs. 55782 per household. About 60 per cent of farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita monthly average expenditure is around Rs.2266. 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. 3008 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs. 1883220 per year for the total area of 642.74 ha.  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs 10350/ha/year. Per hectare food grain production services is maximum in red gram (Rs.17261) followed by sorghum (Rs. 3440).  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs. 988/ ha/year in 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 redgram (Rs. 62920) followed by sorghum (Rs. 47054). Economic Land Evaluation;  The major cropping pattern is redgram (36.9 %) followed by greengram (27.11 %) and sorghum (9.0 %).  In Bhimnalli Microwatershed, major soil is Novinihala (NHA) series having shallow soil depth cover around 5.82 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing redgram, sorghum, Mahagaon (MAN) series having very deep soil depth cover around 1.77 % of area, the crops are red gram, 3 Kalamundargi (KGI) soil series are having shallow soil depth cover around 0.9 % of areas; crops are redgram, Ramnelli (RMN) soil series having deep soil depth cover around 3.75 % of area; crops are redgram, Rajnala (RML) soil series deep soil depth cover around 4.55 % of area. The major crops grown redgram, Dinsi (DSI) soil series moderately shallow soil depth cover around 2.41 % of area, the major crop grown is red gram.  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for red gram ranges between Rs. 39379/ha in RNL soil (with BCR of 1.44) and Rs. 24845 /ha in MAN soil (with BCR of 1.72).  In sorghum the cost of cultivation in NHA soil Rs 24348/ha (with BCR of 1.18).  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 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 red gram (0 to 45 %) and sorghum (9.9 %).