LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT TATALGERI-1 (4D2D6D1d) MICROWATERSHED Gurumitkal Hobli, Yadgir Taluk and District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Tatalageri-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 488 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 301 ha in the microwatershed is covered by soils, 91 ha by forest, 87 ha by rock outcrops and about 9 ha by others (habitation and water bodies). 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 management units.  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 320 m grid interval.  Land suitability for growing 29 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 17 per cent area of the microwatershed has soils that are moderately deep to deep (75 - 150 cm) and 45 per cent soils are very shallow to moderately shallow (<25-75 cm).  About 15 per cent area in the microwatershed has sandy soils, 33 per cent has loamy soils and 13 per cent clayey soils.  About of 20 per cent area of the microwatershed has non gravelly (<15%) soils and 41 per cent has gravelly (15-35%) soils.  About 13 per cent area of the microwatershed is very high (>200 mm/m) in available water capacity, 15 per cent area low (51-100 mm/m) and 34 per cent area very low (<50 mm/m) in available water capacity.  An area of 49 per cent has very gently sloping (1-3% slope) lands and 13 per cent gently sloping (3-5% slope) lands of the microwatershed.  An area of about 2 per cent is severely (e3) eroded, 59 per cent area is moderately (e2) eroded.  An area of about 43 per cent soils are neutral (pH 6.5-7.3), less than 1 per cent are slightly acidic and 19 per cent are slightly to moderately alkaline (pH 7.3-8.4) in soil reaction.  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils in the entire cultivated area of the microwatershed is dominantly <2 dsm-1indicating that the soils are non-saline.  An area of about 22 per cent of the microwatershed is high (>0.75%) and 40 per cent is medium (0.50-0.75%) in organic carbon content.  About 1 per cent area is low (<23kg/ha), 57 per area is medium (23-57 kg/ha) and 4 per cent is high (>57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus.  About an area of 10 per cent is low (<145 kg/ha), 52 per cent medium (145-337 kg/ha) and <1 per cent high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in 57 per cent and medium (10 -20 ppm) in 5 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available boron is low (<0.5 ppm) in 13 per cent and medium (0.5-1.0 ppm) in 49 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available iron is sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in 52 per cent and deficient (<4.5 ppm) in 10 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in the entire cultivated area of the microwatershed.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in 54 per cent and sufficient (>0.6 ppm) in 7 per cent area of the microwatershed.  The land suitability for 29 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 64(13) 71(15) Guava - 17(4) Maize - 135(28) Sapota - 17(4) Bajra - 135(28) Pomegranate - 81(17) Groundnut - 17(4) Musambi 53(11) 28(6) Sunflower 64(13) 17(4) Lime 53(11) 28(6) Redgram - 81(17) Amla - 135(28) Bengal gram 64(13) 71(15) Cashew - - Cotton 64(13) 71(15) Jackfruit - 17(4) Chilli - 135(28) Jamun - 64(13) Tomato - 124(26) Custard apple 70(14) 65(13) Brinjal 64(13) 71(15) Tamarind - 64(13) Onion 11(2) 71(15) Mulberry - 17(4) Bhendi 64(13) 71(15) Marigold - 135(28) Drumstick - 81(17) Chrysanthemum - 135(28) Mango - 64(13)  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 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 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 sub marginal 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. FINDINGS OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY  The survey was conducted in Tatalageri-1 is located at North latitude 160 50’ 1.629” and 160 48’ 42.931” and East longitude 770 18’ 4.419” and 770 16’ 11.331” covering an area of about 487.74 ha coming under Tatalagera, Mugadhamapoora, Kandhakura, Chinthanapalli and Yampada Villages of Yadagiri taluk.  Socio-economic analysis indicated that, out of the total sample of 32 respondents, - 10 (31.25%) were marginal, 9(28.13%) were small and 7 (21.88%) were semi medium and 1 (3.13%) were medium farmers.  The population characteristics of households indicated that, there were 112 (54.90%) men and 92 (45.10 %) were women.  Majority of the respondents (48.04%) were in the age group of 16-35 years.  Education level of the sample households indicated that, there were 67.65 per cent illiterates, 28.42 per cent pre university education and 1.96 per cent attained graduation.  About, 78.13 per cent of household heads practicing agriculture and 10.78 per cent of the household heads were engaged as agricultural laborers.  Agriculture was the major occupation for 66.67 per cent of the household members.  In the study area, 59.38 per cent of the households possess katcha house and 21.88 per cent possess pucca house.  The durable assets owned by the households showed that, 71.88 per cent possess TV, 12.50 per cent possess mixer grinder, 93.75 per cent possess mobile phones and 37.50 per cent possess motor cycles.  Farm implements owned by the households indicated that, 56.25 per cent of the households possess plough, 3.13 per cent possess tractor, 15.63 per cent possess bullock cart and 28.13 per cent possess sprayer.  Regarding livestock possession by the households, 37.50 per cent possess local cow and 25.00 per cent possess buffalo.  The average labour availability in the study area showed that, own men and women labour availability in the micro watershed was 13.47 each, while the hired labour (men) availability was 2.71.  Further, 3.13 per cent of the households opined that hired labour was inadequate during the agricultural season.  In the study area, about 1.96 per cent of the respondents migrated from the micro watershed in search of jobs with an average distance of 1200.00 kms for about 6.00 months.  Out of the total land holding of the sample respondents 67.83 per cent (36.88 ha) of the area is under dry condition and the remaining 32.17 per cent area is irrigated land. 2  There were 11.00 live bore wells and 3.00 dry bore wells among the sampled households.  Bore well was the major source of irrigation of the households.  The major crops grown by sample farmers are Redgram, Jowar, Cotton, Paddy and Green gram and cropping intensity was recorded as 98.91 per cent.  Out of the sample households 93.75 percent possessed bank account and 31.25 per cent of them have savings in the account.  About 93.75 per cent of the respondents borrowed credit from various sources.  Among the credit borrowed by households, 21.88 per cent have borrowed loan from commercial banks, 3.12 per cent from Cooperative bank and 18.75 per cent from grameena bank.  Majority of the respondents (86.67%) have borrowed loan for agriculture purpose.  Regarding the opinion on institutional sources of credit, 0.00 per cent of the households opined that credit helped to perform timely agricultural operations, while, only 0.00 per cent respondents opined that loan amount was adequate to fulfil their requirement.  The per hectare cost of cultivation for Redgram, Jowar, Cotton, Paddy and Green gram was Rs.51814.70 , 30754.26, 79012.15, 62877.45 and 46302.23 with benefit cost ratio of 1:1.2 , 1:0.8 , 1:1.2 , 1:0.9 and 1:4 , respectively.  Further, 31.25 per cent of the households opined that dry fodder was adequate and 25.00 per cent of them opined dry fodder was inadequate. With respect to green fodder availability, 3.13 percent of them opined it was adequate and 3.13 percent of them opined it was inadequate.  The average annual gross income of the farmers was Rs. 172312.50 in microwatershed, of which Rs. 61335.94 comes from agriculture.  Sampled households have horticulture species growm coconut, Mango and sapota trees in the fields.  Sample households have forest species grown 24 neem, 2 tamarind, acacia and banyan trees and 1 pongamia trees in their field.  Households have an average investment capacity of Rs 4062.5. for land development. Rs 6562.5 for irrigation facility creation and Rs. 5000 for improved crop production.  Source of funds for additional investment is concerned, 9.09 per cent for land development and 12.1 per cent for irrigation facility depends on Government subsidy activities 3.03 per cent for improved crop production depend on loan from bank activities  Regarding marketing channels, 96.88 per cent of the households have sold agricultural produce to the local/village merchants.  Further, 96.88 per cent of the households have used tractor for the transport of agriculture commodity. 3  Majority of the farmers (59.3%) have experienced soil and water erosion problems in the watershed and 84.38 per cent of the households were interested towards soil testing.  About, 12.50 and 6.25 per cent of farmers practicing feld bunding and graded bund as soil and water conservation practice.  Fire was the major source of fuel for domestic use for 81.25 per cent of the households and 25.00 per cent households has LPG connection.  Piped supply was the major source for drinking water for 84.38 per cent of the households.  Electricity was the major source of light for 100.00 per cent of the households.  In the study area, 75.00 per cent of the households possess toilet facility.  Regarding possession of PDS card, 93.75 per cent of the households possessed BPL card, 3.13 per cent of the household’s possessed APL card and 6.25 per cent of the household’s were not having ration cards.  Households opined that, the requirement of cereals (68.75%), pulses (71.88%) and oilseeds (40.63%) are adequate for consumption.  Farming constraints experienced by households in the micro watersheds were lower fertility status of the soil (59.38%) wild animal menace on farm field ( 59.38%), frequent incidence of pest and diseases (84.38%), inadequacy of irrigation water (53.13%), high cost of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals (84.38%), high rate of interest on credit (87.50%), low price for the agricultural commodities (84.38%), lack of marketing facilities in the area (56.25%), inadequate extension services (43.75%) and lack of transport for safe transport of the agricultural produce to the market (53.13%).