PROMOTION OF DRY LAND MANGO

CULTIVATION FOR INCOME SECURITY

A CASE STUDY

K.H.PATIL KRISHI VIGYAN KENDAR

HULKOTI-582205

GADAG DISTRICT KARNATAKA STATE

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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

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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

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Figure:1

Problem – Cause tree for Livelihood Constraints in Red soil area

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.

Poor Resources

adversely affect

crop diversification

Under-employed

After groundnut

season

In-sufficient and

In-efficient livelihood

support system in red

soil area

No- crop diversification

High incidence of

pest & diseases Low productivity

of groundnut

Drought prone

rainfed agriculture

Moisture

stress

Non-

remunerative

groundnut

production High cost of

inputs and

labour

Low

Market

price

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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 5th 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 Mango crop

Crop Yield

Q/ha

Gross

income

(Rs.)

Cost of

cultivation

(Rs.)

Net

Income

(Rs.)

Crop Leased out

average

income

Rs/ha

Spreading

Groundnut 14 44800 25000 19800

Mango

(8 years old

plantation)

37500

Table – 7: Income realized from Mango Orchard (2010-11)

Age of mango

orchard

(years)

Area in ha No of farmers

Leased out

price

(Rs/ha)

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

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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