LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS FOR WATERSHED PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT KOTANPALLI (4D5B4E2a) MICROWATERSHED Sedam Taluk, Gulbarga District, Karnataka

Abstract

The land resource inventory of Kotanpalli 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 Sedam taluk of Gulbarga district, Karnataka. The climate is semiarid and categorized as drought-prone with an average annual rainfall of 839 mm, of which about 639 mm is received during south-west monsoon, 109 mm during north-east and the remaining 91 mm during the rest of the year. An area of 597 ha (96%) in the microwatershed is covered by soils, 16 ha (3%) by quarry and about 9 ha (1%) by others (habitation and water bodies). The salient findings from the land resource inventory are summarized briefly below.  The soils belong to 4 soil series and 9 soil phases (management units) and 2 land use class.  The length of crop growing period is about 120-150 days starting from 2nd week of June to 3rd 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 was assessed and maps showing the degree of suitability along with constraints were generated.  About 96 percent of area in the microwatershed is suitable for agriculture.  About 26 per cent soils of the microwatershed has soils that are shallow (25-50 cm) to moderately shallow (50-75 cm) in depth and 70 per cent area are deep (100-150 cm) to very deep (>150 cm) in soil depth.  About 96 per cent area of the microwatershed has clayey soils at the surface.  About 96 per cent area is non gravelly (<15%) soils.  About 70 per cent area of the microwatershed is very high (>200 mm/m) in available water capacity, 9 per cent area is medium (101-150 mm/m) and 17 per cent area is low (51-100 mm/m) in available water capacity.  About 1 per cent area of the microwatershed has nearly level (0-1% slope) sloping lands and 95 per cent area is very gently (1-3% slope) sloping lands.  An area of about 64 per cent has soils that are slightly eroded (e1) and 32 per cent area is moderately (e2) erode.  An area of about 96 per cent soils are slightly (pH 7.3-7.8) to strongly alkaline (pH 8.4-9.0) in soil reaction.  The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the soils in 6 per cent area is <2 dsm-1 indicating that the soils are non-saline and low (2-4 dSm-1) in 93 per cent area of the microwatershed.  About 99 per cent of the soils are medium (0.5-0.75%) in soil organic carbon content.  About 92 per cent of the area is low (<23 kg/ha) in available phosphorus and small area of 6 per cent medium (23-57 kg/ha) in available phosphorus.  About 99 per cent is high (>337 kg/ha) in available potassium.  Available sulphur is low (<10 ppm) in an area of about 94 per cent and medium (10 -20 ppm) in 5 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available boron is low (0.5 ppm) in an area of about 98 per cent, medium (0.5- 1.0 ppm) in <1 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available iron is sufficient (>4.5 ppm) in 99 per cent area of the microwatershed.  Available manganese and copper are sufficient in all the soils of the microwatershed.  Available zinc is deficient (<0.6 ppm) in 91 per cent and sufficient (>0.6 ppm) in 7 per cent of soils in the microwatershed.  The land suitability for 19 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 433(70) 59(9) Sapota - - Maize - - Jackfruit - - Redgram - 492(79) Jamun - 433(70) Sunflower 433(70) 59(9) Musambi 433(70) - Cotton 433(70) 59(9) Lime 433(70) - Sugarcane - - Cashew - - Soybean 433(70) 59(9) Custard apple 433(70) 59(9) Bengal gram 491(79) 106(17) Amla 433(70) 59(9) Guava - - Tamarind - 433(70) Mango - - Apart from the individual crop suitability, a proposed crop plan has been prepared for the identified LUCs 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, generate lot of biomass which would help in maintaining an ecological balance and also help in 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: Kotanpalli micro-watershed (Adki sub-watershed, Sedam taluk, Gulbarga district) is located in between 1706’ – 1708’ North latitudes and 76020’ – 76022’ East longitudes, covering an area of about 622.47 ha, bounded by Adki, Jawaharnagara and Kotanpalli 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 eco system services were quantified. Results: The socio-economic outputs for The Kotanpalli micro-watershed (Adki subwatershed, Sedam taluk, Gulbarga district) are presented here. Social Indicators;  Male and female ratio is 57.9 to 42.1 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 47.3 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population among the all sample households.  Social groups belong to general castes is around 90.0 per cent.  Fire wood is the source of energy for a cooking among 60.0 per cent.  About 70 per cent of households have a yashaswini health card.  About 20.0 percent of farm households are having MGNREGA card for rural employment.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system is around 80.0 per cent.  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities around 50.0 per cent.  Women participation in decisions making for agriculture production was found. Economic Indicators;  The average land holding is 0.99 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to marginal and small farmers. The total cultivated area by dry land condition of the sample farmers.  Agriculture is the main occupation among 26.3 per cent and Agriculture is the main and agriculture labour is subsidiary occupation for 68.4 per cent of the sample households. 2  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs 16675 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average value of farm assets is around Rs 4363 per household; about 30 per cent of sample farmers are having weeder.  The average livestock value is around Rs 47750 per household; about 66.7 per cent of household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 866.8 grams (1856.7 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Around 30 per cent of sample farmers are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs 20615 per household. About 90 per cent of farm households are below poverty line.  The per capita average monthly expenditure is around Rs 2412 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 679 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs 405098 per year for the total area of 622.47 ha.  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs11806 / ha/year. Per hectare food grain production services is maximum in sugarcane (Rs 39239) followed by redgram (Rs. 15957), bengalgram (Rs. 9383), groundnut (Rs. 7848) sorghum and greengram are negative return.  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs 2898/ ha/year. Per hectare fodder production services is maximum in sorghum (Rs 4314) and groundnut (Rs 1482).  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 sugarcane (Rs 123500) followed by redgram (Rs. 62678), bengalgram (Rs. 55862), greengram (Rs. 32909), sorghum (Rs. 26301) and groundnut (Rs. 24050). Economic Land Evaluation;  The major cropping pattern is redgram (47.4 %) followed by bengalgram (16.1 %), sugarcane (15.9 %), greengram (11.8 %) and sorghum (8.7 %).  In Kotanpalli Microwatershed, major soils are Dhandothi (DDT) series are having very deep soil depth cover around 35.5 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing groundnut (12.5 %) bengalgram (19.8 %), redgram (27.1 %), 3 sorghum (14.3) and sugarcane (26.3 %). Adki (ADK) soil series are having shallow soil depth cover around 71.0 % of areas; crops are bengalgram (13.0 %) and greengram (37.2 %) and redgram (49.8%).  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for bengal gram ranges between Rs. 35231/ha in ADK soil (with BCR of 1.06) and Rs.22849/ha in DDT soil (with BCR of 1.64).  In red gram the cost of cultivation range between Rs. 29704/ha in DDT soil (with BCR of 1.43) and Rs. 27609/ha in ADK soil (with BCR of 1.76).  In green gram the cost of cultivation in ADK soil Rs 25409/ha (with BCR of 0.94).  In groundnut the cost of cultivation in DDT soil is Rs.31054/ha (with BCR of 1.30).  In sorghum the cost of cultivation in DDT soil is Rs 21582/ha (with BCR of 1.20) and sugarcane the cost of cultivation in DDT soil is Rs 90142/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. More fertilizer applications are deeper soils 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 bengal gram (35.9 to 53.6 %), greengram (44.2 %), redgram (14.2 %), groundnut (49.4 %), sorghum (69.3 %) and sugarcane (56.2 %)