PROMOTION OF DRY LAND MANGO CULTIVATION FOR INCOME SECURITY A CASE STUDY K.H.PATIL KRISHI VIGYAN KENDAR HULKOTI-582205 GADAG DISTRICT KARNATAKA STATE
Impact/Case study series: No.8 Promotion of dry land mango cultivation for income security A case study of KVK, Gadag Authors: Shri K.T.Patil, SMS (Horticulture) Shri S.H.Adapur, SMS (Agri. Extn.) Dr. L.G.Hiregoudar, Programme Co-ordinator Published by: K.H.Patil Krishi Vigyan Kendra Hulkoti-582205 District: Gadag, Karnataka State Phone: 08372-289606 E-mail: kvkhulkoti@gmailc.om Year of publication: February, 2012 No. of copies: 1000 2
PROMOTION OF DRYLAND MANGO CULTIVATION FOR INCOME SECURITY : A CASE STUDY In India, farming constitutes the life line of Indian economy as seventy percent of population depends directly or indirectly on their livelihood. Prosperity of agriculture largely depends on onset and distribution of rainfall as three fourth of the arable land depends on rainwater. Despite the rapid inroads made in agricultural research and development in the post independent era, farming continues to be very risky especially due to vagaries of monsoon. Successful rainfed farming depends on the efficient utilization of precious and vital natural resources through adoption of viable technologies. Besides cropping system and production technology, alternate strategies like promotion of agro-horti system along with skillful integration of various measures are required for drought proofing in order to bring income security to the farmers. Gadag district Scenario: Gadag district of Karnataka state which falls in Northern dry Zone-3 is predominantly an agrarian district having cultivable land of 3.93 lakh ha. Out of this, only 10 per cent of the area is under irrigation. The district gets rainfall from South-West monsoon from June to September and North-East monsoon from October to November. Average rainfall of the district is 612 mm which is erratic and ill distributed. Recurring agriculture droughts are common with the probability of 70-80 per cent of years. Long dry spells in Kharif season and receding soil moisture in rabi season are the characteristic features of the drought resulting in adverse effect on the sustainability of crop productivity. This situation is more severe in the places where faming is practiced in red soil area. About 30 percent of the soil type in the district is red sandy loam. Majority of the farmers take up groundnut crop during Kharif season in red soil area. The average productivity of groundnut is 6.75 quintals per ha and the farming in red soil has become a non-viable enterprise. The livelihood support system of farmers in red soil area is under threats. The major problem-cause tree for such situation is presented in figure - 1 3
Figure:1 Problem Cause tree for Livelihood Constraints in Red soil area Drought prone rainfed agriculture Low Market price High cost of inputs and labour Poor Resources adversely affect crop diversification Nonremunerative groundnut production In-sufficient and In-efficient livelihood support system in red soil area Moisture stress Low productivity of groundnut High incidence of pest & diseases Under-employed After groundnut season No- crop diversification Socio-Economic Constraints Bio-Physical Constraints Groundnut is the major crop cultivated in the district in red soils under rainfed situation during Kharif season. The farming situation is rainfed which is marked by uneven distribution and long dry spells affecting the productivity of groundnut. Further, productivity of groundnut is also affected due to high incidence of pests, (leaf minor and spodoptera) and diseases (collar rot and rust). Further, non-availability of labours during critical stages of agricultural operation and high cost of labour and inputs like chemical fertilizers and pesticides render groundnut production non-remunerative at present cost-benefit ratio. 4
Poor resources of farmers in the major cause for lack of crop diversification and in turn this causes under-employment to farm family members. Interventions made by KVK KVK, Gadag initiated planned interventions in the red soil area through promotion of dryland horticulture. Main focus was on promotion of dryland mango cultivation to bring income security to the farmers. Various programmes viz; awareness programmes, training programmes, exposure visits, farm advisory services were rendered to the farmers and quality seedlings were supplied to the farmers. Necessary backward and forward linkages were established to promote mango cultivation. KVK, Gadag selected 3 Grama Panchayats of Gadag block namely Hulkoti, Chikhandigol and Kurthkoti to promote dryland mango cultivation. The details of the villages under these Panchayats is given below. Name of Gram Panchayat Name of village Total cultivable land (ha) Area under red soil (ha) Per Cent of Red soil area Hulkoti Hulkoti 2026.4 508 25.06 Chikkahandigol Chikkahandigol 1608 608 37.81 Dundur 471.20 353.2 74.95 Shagoti 494.40 370 74.83 Kurthkoti Hosalli 330 27.5 8.33 Sensitization programme on crop diversification: KVK, Gadag organized several sensitization programmes in the identified villages. The programmes of sensitization on importance of crop diversification with emphasis on promotion of dry land mango cultivation were conducted. During the period from 2000-01 to 2004-05, about 36 awareness camps were organized in the identified 5 villages with participation of 791 farmers. Training programme on dryland horticulture: Organization of the sensitization programme has motivated the farmers to plan for dryland mango cultivation. Then, KVK organized the training programmes on dryland horticulture with focus on dryland mango cultivation. The concept of dryland horticulture was new to the farmers. An integrated training module was developed for the promotion of dryland mango cultivation. Soil and Water Conservation, Water 5
harvesting through digging of trenches, orchard layout, pit digging and filling, selection of grafts, planting methods, stalking, management of pest and diseases and post harvest technology were carried under the training module. Yeawise training programmes organized by KVK is presented in Table - 1 Table 1: Year wise training programmes organized by the KVK Year No. of Programmes Total no. of participants 2001-02 4 104 2002-03 5 127 2003-04 2 51 2004-05 4 108 2005-06 3 82 2006-07 6 144 2007-08 5 113 2008-09 3 71 2009-10 4 67 2010-11 3 64 Total 39 931 During the period from 2001-2001 to 2010-2011, KVK conducted 39 training programmes for 932 farmers on dry land mango cultivation. Exposure Visits: During the training programmes, exposure visits to successful dry land mango orchards established by few farmers under the guidance of KVK were organized to motivate the farmers to take up mango cultivation. Farm Advisory Services: Post training interventions in the form of farm advisory services were rendered to farmers who did show interest for mango plantation. The various farm advisory services viz; orchard layout, planting method, water harvesting and conservation, plant protection, were given by the KVK. The details of the advisory services is presented in Table- 2 6
Table -2 : Farm Advisory Services rendered by KVK Year No. of Programmes No. of farmers 2002-03 12 21 2003-04 13 34 2004-05 17 37 2005-06 18 29 2006-07 17 61 2007-08 19 52 2008-09 24 67 2009-10 26 59 2010-11 19 63 Total 165 423 Supply of Mango seedlings: Production and supply of quality mango grafts is one of the important interventions of KVK. During the period from 2002-03 to 2010-11, KVK supplied 39395 mango seedlings to 241 farmers. Year wise supply of seedlings is presented in Table-3 Table 3: Supply of mango grafts to farmers Year No. of Grafts No. of farmers 2003-04 5015 22 2004-05 4758 33 2005-06 4325 24 2006-07 5650 39 2007-08 5167 34 2008-09 5100 31 2009-10 4030 28 2010-11 5350 30 Total 39395 241 Development of Linkages for promotion of mango: KVK has established the linkages with the State Watershed Development Department, National Horticulture Mission and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MN-REGP) implemented through the Grama Panchayats by facilitating the supply of quality mango seedlings and farm advisory services. KVK helped the farmers coming under 3 Grama Panchayat villages to get all eligible help from various schemes. Hence, it was possible to bring convergence of various programmes so as to benefit the farmers by KVK interventions. 7
Outcome and Impact:- Expansion of Area under mango: The various interventions along with the facilitation of backward and forward linkages by KVK has resulted in the expansion of area under mango in five villages. Year wise expansion of area under mango is presented in Table - 4 Table - 4 : Expansion of Area under Mango Year Area (ha) No. of farmers 2003-04 52 22 2004-05 50 30 2005-06 42 23 2006-07 53 41 2007-08 51 43 2008-09 48 29 2009-10 44 24 2010-11 46 31 Total 386 243 Table - 5 : Village wise Area Under Mango Sl. No Name of the village Area (ha) No. of Farmers 1 Hulkoti 291 191 2 Dundur 19 11 3 Shagoti 21 14 4 Chikkahandigol 36 15 5 Hosalli 19 12 Total 386 243 During the period of eight years, there has been a significant increase of area under mango in the cluster villages. About 386 hectare of area was brought under mango by 243 farmers (Table-4). Major area under mango is concentrated in Hulkoti village as this Gram Panchayat has taken active role in promotion of mango with support from KVK. The additional support was provided by host institution ASF through its sponsored programme by Dehspande Foundation, Hubli. 8
Economics of Mango Cultivation Promotion of mango cultivation in red soil has found to be economically viable for the farmers as compared to cultivation of spreading groundnut. This is mainly due to the fact that it is a dry land crop and gives returns even during agricultural drought situation. This is in contrast with the annual crop of groundnut productivity of which is affected due to moisture stress, high cost of cultivation and fluctuating market price. Mango starts bearing after 5 th year of planting and economic yield start from 8-10 years depending on the management practices. During the first 8-10 years of planting, inter cropping, can be taken. Farmers usually cultivate spreading groundnut in the inter space of mango orchard. Data presented in the Table-6 reveals that before KVK intervention, farmers used to get net income of Rs. 19800/- per hectare from the groundnut based farming activities. After KVK intervention through promotion of mango cultivation, farmers have started getting an average net income of Rs. 37500 per hectare through leasing out the mango orchards of 8 year old. It is noticed that there is 2 times enhanced income for the farmers from the KVK s, intervention. Table - 6 : Economics of Mango Cultivation Groundnut crop in good rainfall year Crop Yield Q/ha Spreading Groundnut Age of mango orchard (years) Gross income (Rs.) Cost of cultivation (Rs.) Net Income (Rs.) 14 44800 25000 19800 Mango crop Crop Mango (8 years old plantation) Table 7: Income realized from Mango Orchard (2010-11) Area in ha No of farmers Leased out price (Rs/ha) Leased out average income Rs/ha 37500 Net income (Rs in lakhs) 8 52 22 37500.00 19.50 7 50 30 35000.00 17.50 6 42 23 30000.00 12.60 5 53 41 25000.00 13.25 Total 197 116 62.85 It is the common practice by the mango growers to lease out mango orchards after the mango starts flowering during the months of November-December. This is mainly because of labour problem and tediousness of the activities involved in watch and ward, harvesting and post harvest management. Data presented in the Table-7 reveals that out of 386 hectares of area under mango, about 197 hectare area is in the bearing age of 5-8 years. Leasing out of 9
mango orchard has realized a net income of Rs. 62.85 lakh for 116 farmers during the year 2010-11. Projected Income from Mango Cultivation: Mango is a perennial crop and as the age of plant increases, the productivity of tree increases, thus providing much needed income security to the farmers. Projected mango income for eight years (2011-12 to 2018-19) is made and is presented in Table-8. The data shows that there has been consistent increase in the net income of farmers. Table-8: Year wise Projected Incremental Income from Mango Cultivation Year Area (ha) No. of Farmers Net income (Rs. in lakhs) Average Net income (Rs/ha) 2011-12 248 159 86.15 34737.00 2012-13 296 188 116.25 39273.00 2013-14 341 212 164.15 48137.00 2014-15 386 243 231.40 59948.00 2015-16 386 243 280.40 72642.00 2016-17 386 243 314.90 8158.00 2017-18 386 243 380.60 98601.00 2018-19 386 243 446.70 115725.00 Conclusion: Promotion of mango cultivation in red soil area of the district has given a considerable income security to the farmers. This is evident from the net income realized by the farmers from mango cultivation in comparison with annual crop of spreading groundnut. However, 40-50 per cent of the profit is taken away by the middlemen or bhagawaans (mango contractors) who take the mango orchards on lease basis. Efforts are being made by KVK to organize the mango farmers in to Producer Company so as to enhance the income of mango growers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Our special thanks are due to Gadag Zilla Panchayat, Taluk Panchayat, Gadag, Watershed Development Department, Gadag District, Grama Panchayats of Hulkoti, Kurthakoti and Chikkahandigol villages (through MNREG programme), Agricultural Science Foundation, Hulkoti and Deshpande Foundation, Hubli for their support in enhancing area under Mango cultivation 10