APPRAISAL AND PLANNING OF LAND AND WATER RESOURCES FOR SUSTAINABLE CROPPING AT KVK FARM, JASHPUR
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Date
2008
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Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur
Abstract
The wastelands and fallow land constitute 6 and 8.6 per cent of the total cropped area in Chhattisgarh. Framing out optimal land and water use plan to bring such land under remunerative production activity seems to be potential approach to reclaim these lands. KVK Farm Jashpur (20.0 ha) constitutes such land. As per the guidelines received from Dy. Director General (Agril. Ext.), ICAR, detailed land use plan adopting water harvesting and recycling was prepared, to increase the production and productivity of crops. The main objective of the study was to work out the development plan, to design water harvesting and drainage system, to work out optimal crop plan and its economics for sustainable use and development of land and water resources. The KVK farm; was surveyed topographically, mapped land uses according to land use capability classification, estimated rainfall and runoff at 4 levels of probability of exceedance, designed drainage system and water harvesting system and formulated optimal crop plan for sustainable agricultural production. The prospective crops included in the optimal crop plan were selected by gathering field data in farmer‟s field regarding crop productivity and its economics under both rainfed conditions as well as in irrigated condition. Daily rainfall data for past 25 years (19832007) were collected and analyzed statistically to determine the expected amount of rainfall at different probabilities of exceedance. In absence of any gauged data, daily runoff was estimated by USDA-SCS curve number method and its analysis was carried out to determine the expected amount of runoff at various probabilities of exceedance. Using this and other hydrological data, alternative designs of water harvesting pond and drainage system was attempted at 4 levels of probabilities of exceedance. The design of surface drainage was attempted for 5-yr, 24-hr rainfall, to mitigate water logging, considering 16 hours as the excess water removal time for sensitive crops (vegetable, pulses, oilseeds etc.), leading the runoff to water harvesting ponds that served as outlet. The stored water was recycled for irrigation to crops and also used for fish rearing. Optimization models for crop area and pond water allocation were formulated by linear programming using the data gathered from farmer‟s field under both rainfed and irrigated conditions. The overall economics of the crop production was worked out, considering the annual cost of water harvesting pond, rental value of land, interest on investment, annual maintenance cost etc. besides cost of production etc. The results indicated that rainfall (annual, monsoon, SMW: 27-38) as well as runoff (monsoon, SMW: 27-35) could be best fitted by normal distribution. The exponential distribution was found good fit for the periods of high variability of rainfall (SMW: 22-26, SMW: 39 – 43) and runoff (SMW: 22-26, SMW: 36 – 43). The expected monsoon rainfall was worked out as 1388.6, 1295.5, 1195.9 and 1079.3 mm and the runoff amount was worked out as 444.0, 374.1, 299.3 and 211.7 mm at 50%, 60%, 70% and 80% probability of exceedance respectively. The runoff constitutes 31.9%, 28.9%, 25.0% and 19.6% of rainfall at respective probabilities of exceedance. The water harvesting potential of study area was worked out to be 4440.1-m3 ha-1. The optimal crop plan (rainfed, irrigated) at 50% probability of exceedance resulted in highest gross profit (Rs. 22.44 lakh, Rs. 52.50 lakh), net profit (Rs. 13.98 lakh, Rs. 35.92 lakh) with B/C ratio (1.65, 2.12). Crops included were: rice-5 ha, pigeon pea – 13.0 ha, tomato-16 ha, mustard - 2 ha under rainfed while: rice-5 ha, pigeon pea -11 ha, niger-0.54 ha, onion - 14.0 ha, mustard - 1.46 ha and fish rearing - 2 ha under irrigated condition. Fish and vegetable production substantially contributed to the overall economics. The study has implications to serve as model to demonstrate rainwater-harvesting technologies for its large-scale adoption by the farmer‟s of the region. The techno-economic feasibility indicated that the present rainfed uncultivated land could be brought to the level of irrigated agriculture by using water harvesting technology with practically no sign of resource degradation.