LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT KANEKAL-1 (4D5B1P1b) MICROWATERSHED Yadgir Taluk and District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Kanikal-1 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 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 622 ha in Yadgir taluk & district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought-prone with an average annual rainfall of 866 mm, of which about 652 mm is received during south-west monsoon, 138 mm during north-east and the remaining 76 mm during the rest of the year. An area of 592 ha in the microwatershed is covered by soils and about 30 ha by others (habitation and water bodies). The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 12 soil series and 18 soil phases (management units) and 7 land use class.  The length of crop growing period is about 120-150 days starting from 1st week of June to 4th 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 26 major agricultural and horticultural crops was assessed and maps showing the degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  Entire area in the microwatershed is suitable for agriculture.  About 39 per cent area of the microwatershed has soils that are moderately deep to very deep (75 - >150 cm) and 23 per cent soils are shallow to moderately shallow (25-75 cm).  About 32 per cent area in the microwatershed has loamy soils, 55 per cent clayey soils and 9 per cent are sandy at the surface.  About 94 per cent area of the microwatershed is non gravelly (<15%) and 2 per cent gravelly (15-35%) at the surface.  About 39 per cent area of the microwatershed is very low (<50 mm/m) in available water capacity, 32 per cent is low (51-100 mm/m) and 25 per cent area is very high (>200 mm/m) in available water capacity.  Entire area in the microwatershed has very gently sloping (1-3% slope) lands.  Entire area of about 95 per cent is moderately (e2) eroded.  An area of about 39 per cent soils are neutral (pH 6.5-7.3) in soil reaction, 46 per cent soils are slightly alkaline (pH 7.3-7.8) and 10 per cent soils are moderately alkaline (7.8 - 8.4).  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils in the entire area of the microwatershed is dominantly <2 dsm-1indicating that the soils are nonsaline.  About 26 per cent of the soils are medium (0.5-0.75%) and 70 per cent soils are high (>0.75) in organic carbon.  About 29 per cent area is low in available phosphorus and 66 per area is medium (23-57 kg/ha).  About 1 per cent is low (<145 kg/ha), 84 per cent is medium (145-337 kg/ha) in available potassium and 11 per cent is high (>337 kg/ha).  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in an area of about 86 per cent and medium (10 -20 ppm) in 9 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available boron is low (<0.5 ppm) in an area of about 12 per cent, medium (0.5-1.0 ppm) in an area of 56 per cent and high (>1.0 ppm) in 27 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available iron is deficient (<4.5 ppm)in an area about 23 per cent and sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in an area of 72 per cent.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils of the microwatershed.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in the entire area of the microwatershed.  The land suitability for 26 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 31(5) 290(47) Sapota - 90(15) Maize 31(5) 104(17) Pomegranate - 246(40) Bajra 31(5) 319(51) Musambi - 246(40) Groundnut - 168(27) Lime - 246(40) Sunflower - 217(35) Amla 31(5) 290(47) Redgram - 246(40) Cashew - 31(5) Bengal gram 144(23) 147(24) Jackfruit - 61(10) Cotton 144(23) 148(24) Jamun - 185(30) Chilli - 284(46) Custard apple 31(5) 290(47) Tomato 31(5) 163(26) Tamarind - 185(30) Drumstick - 246(40) Mulberry - 61(10) Mango - 31(5) Marigold - 350(56) Guava - 90(15) Chrysanthemum - 350(56)  Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the identified LMUs by considering only the highly and moderately suitable lands for different crops and cropping systems with food, fodder, fibre and 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. This would help in not only supplementing the farm income but also provide fodder and fuel and generate lot of biomass which would help in maintaining an ecological balance and also contribute 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: The Kanikal-1 micro-watershed (Yadgir taluk and district) is located in between 16035’ – 16037’ North latitudes and 770 17’– 76019’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 621.91 ha, bounded by Kanikal, Gudalagunta and Neelahalli villages. Agro Ecological Sub Region (AESR) 6.2: Central and Western Maharashtra Plateau and North Karnataka Plateau and North Western Telangana Plateau, hot moist semi-arid ESR with shallow and medium loamy to clayey black soil (medium and deep clayey black soil as inclusion), medium to high AWC and 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 for each watershed. Results: The socio-economic outputs for the Kanikal-1 micro-watershed in Yadgir taluk and district are presented here. Social Indicators;  Male and female ratio is 56.5 to 43.5 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 56.5 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 48.5 per cent.  Social groups belong to SC/ST is around 12.5 per cent.  Wood is the source of energy for a cooking among 93.7 per cent.  About 46.88 per cent of households have a yashaswini health card.  Majority of farm households (21.8 %) are having MGNREGA card for rural employments.  Dependence on ration cards through public distribution system is around 96.8 per cent  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities around 15.6 per cent.  Rural migration to unban centre for employment is prevalent among 3.0 per cent.  Women participation is decisions making are around 38.7 per cent were found. Economic Indicators;  The average land holding is 3.8 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to medium and semi medium farmers. The dry land account for 76.3 % and irrigate land is 34.4 % of total cultivated land among the sample farmers. 2  Agriculture is the main occupation among 0.8 per cent and Agriculture is the main and non agriculture labour is predominant subsidiary occupation for 93.5 per cent.  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs. 28593 per household. Mobile and television are mass popular mass communication media.  The average farm assets a value is around Rs.110824 per household, about 74.2 per cent of sample farmers are owing plough.  The average livestock value is around Rs.18667 per livestock; about 68 per cent of household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 860 grams (1891.2 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Around 9.3 per cent of sample farmers are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs.41815 per household. About 17.6 per cent of farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita monthly expenditure is around Rs.2272 per household. 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.1587.7 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs 939961 per year for the total area of 621.9 ha.  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around 14124/ ha/year. Per hectare food production services is maximum in chillies (Rs.29465), ground nut (Rs.7631), sorghum (Rs.7408), redgram (Rs.7015) wheat (Rs.4678), cotton (Rs.7490) and maize (Rs.2186).  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs 3359/ ha/year. Per hectare fodder production services is maximum in maize (Rs.6112) followed by sorghum (Rs.2964), wheat (Rs.2964), paddy (Rs.2669), groundnut (Rs.1743) and redgram (Rs.112).  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 wheat (Rs.82646), sorghum (Rs.56464), red gram (Rs.51478), cotton (rs.47228), groundnut (Rs.32067) and maize (Rs.30686). Economic Land Evaluation;  The major cropping pattern is red gram (51.9 %) followed by groundnut (11.8 %), cotton (11.5 %), maize (7.24 %), paddy (5.9 %), onion (4.5 %), green gram (2.7 %), sorghum (1.8 %), chillies (0.5 %) and wheat (2.6 %). 3  In kanikal-1 micro-watershed, major soil is soil of alluvial landscape of Badiyala (BDL) series is having shallow soil deep cover around 20.41 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing cotton (5.9 %), groundnut (14.7 %), maize (17.6 %) paddy (14.7%) and red gram (47.1 %). Soil of moderately shallow depth of Sambara (SBR) are also having cover around 14.86 % of area, the crops are cotton (22.2 %), red gram (55.6 %), groundnut (11.1%) chillies and wheat was 5.6 % each. Yalleri (YLR) soil series having deep soil depth cover around 12.46 % of areas, crops are red gram (100 %). Nagalapur (NGP) soil series are having deep soil depth cover around (10.7 %) of area, they major crops grown are cotton (42.9%), groundnut (42.9%) and rice (14.3%). Poglapur (PGP) soil series are having moderately deep soil depth cover around (5.04 %) of area, they major crops grown are cotton (42.9%), groundnut (42.9%) and rice (14.3%). Mundargi (MDG) and are soil depth cover around 4.9 % cent of area. Yadgir (YDR) soil series are having deep soil depth covers around 4.6 % of area, the major crop grown is cotton (10.8%), paddy (18.9%) and red gram (60.2 %). Baddeppalli (BDP) and Jinkera (JNK) soil series having very shallow and moderately shallow soil depth cover 3.5 % and 4.3 % of areas respectively; crops are cotton, groundnut, maize and red gram.  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for cotton ranges between Rs.54510/ha in SBR soil (with BCR of 1.18) and Rs.26627/ha in YDR soil (with BCR of 1.04).  In groundnut the cost of cultivation range between Rs 63430/ha in MDG soil (with of 1.07) and Rs.25460/ha in BDP soil (With BCR of 1.52).  In maize the cost of cultivation range between Rs. 46555/ha in JNK soil (with BCR of 1.1) and Rs.20504/ha in BDP and BDL soil (with BCR of 1.28).  In paddy cost of cultivation range between is Rs.88537/ha in PGP soil (with BCR of 1.27) and Rs 37212in BDL soil (with BCR of 1.38).  In red gram the cost of cultivation range between is Rs 46298/ha in BMN soil (with BCR of 1.25) and Rs.17950/ha in MDG soil (with BCR of 1.18).  In wheat the cost of cultivation in SBR soil is Rs.54602/ha (with BCR of 1.14).  In sorghum the cost of cultivation in BMN soil is Rs.23158/ha (with BCR of 1.45) and chillies the cost of cultivation in SBR soil is Rs.66865/ha (with BCR of 1.44).  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. Fertilizer applications are deeper soil to maximize returns. 4 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.  By adopting recommended package of practices by following the soil test fertiliser recommendation, there is scope to increase yield in cotton (24.3 to 66.3%), red gram (10.6 to 67.2 %), paddy (0 to 65.8 %), maize (45.7 to 71.0 %), sorghum (0 %), chillies (86.8 %) and groundnut (0 to 7.4 %).