Dupahad cluster, in Nalgonda district has geographical area of 800 ha, spread over in 9 thandas (New banjara hills, Jamal kunta thanda, Seetamma thanda, Yellapa kunta thanda, Chinnagore kunta thanda, Pedagore kunta thanda, Peda seetharam thanda, China Seetharam thanda, Lalsingh thanda), which are predominantly tribal Location of Dupahad cluster of Nalgonda district Composition of tribal households in the cluster of villages populated and rainfed. The cluster is located 160 km away from Hyderabad on National Highway No. 65. The route is diverted from National Highway No. 9 at Durachapally village, 6 km after Suryapet towards Garedepally Road. The distance from Durajpally village to Dupahad is 18 km.
The entire population in this cluster are tribal and out of 621 tribal households, 22% are landless labourers, 27% are small farmers, 26% marginal farmers, 25% medium farmers (Fig. 2). In the cluster, rainfed area (82%) is more than the irrigated area (18%). The average rainfall is 715 mm during the year 2006 and slightly increased to 735 mm in the year 2007
Population and Literacy
The total population of the cluster is 2326 out of which 649 are male, 681 are female and 996 are children. Around 92% of the population is living below poverty line. The literacy rate of the cluster is 45% (1279 literates out of 2326 population). The composition of the literates was; 465 educated up to primary level, 349 middle level and 465 up to high school level. The composition of the institutions in the cluster indicates that there are 6 Self Help Groups (SHGs) and 3 Rytu- Mitra groups. No other institutions are present in the cluster. Education status of heads of households up to primary level was as follows backward caste 5% and schedule tribe 2%.Family size and land holdings.
The average family size was 3.95 with large farmers leading. The proportion of men was higher than women across different categories. The average land holding per household worked out to be 1.18 ha and was highest in larger farmers (6.48 ha) followed by medium farmers (2.63 ha) and small farmers (1.42 ha) (Table 2). The area operated was concentrated with medium farmers (54%) followed by small farmers (31%), and marginal farmers (13%). The least area operated per household was in the case of large farmers (2%). The number of the household was concentrated with small farmers dominating (26%) followed by landless, marginal and medium farmers (25%).
Land use in target villages
The total geographical area is 800 ha, out of which 600 ha belongs to the cultivable area. The land use pattern indicates that 600 ha are a net sown area, 74 ha are permanent fallows and 13.5 ha are under miscellaneous trees and groves. Among cultivable area rainfed area is 492 ha and the irrigated area is 108 ha. There are 126 hectares degraded soils and rocks and hills in the cluster. The estimated soil loss per annum per ha was around 4 tons and 16% of the geographical area is reported as degraded and 14% of the total geographical area is covered under soil and moisture conservation measures.
Soils and cropping pattern
The cluster consists of 97% red soils while 3% are occupied by the mixed soils. The red soils are basically sandy loams which are poor in organic matter content and deficient in major and micro nutrient status. The water holding capacity of the soils is very low and thereby the productivity of the soil is very low. The soils are sloppy as a result erosion of soil and run off are very high.
Livestock Status
The average livestock holding per household in the cluster ranged from 0.46 to 2.77. Across the farm categories, landless labourers had the higher number of livestock (9%) followed by large farmers (8%) and small and medium farmers (7% each).Poultry birds dominated in number, per household (2.77) followed by milch animals (1.92) and draught animals.
Crop productivity
The average productivity of paddy in the cluster was 48.6 q ha-1. Similarly, the green gram productivity was 7.7 q ha-1. The productivity of tomato which is an important crop of the area was 107 q ha-1
Cropping intensity
Cropping intensity was lower in larger farmers and gradually increased in medium/small and highest was noticed in marginal farmers. Tomato, Bhindi, green leafy vegetables are grown with limited irrigation by marginal to small farmers thus showing higher cropping intensity.
Livestock productivity
The productivity of milch animals was 1.54, 1.49 and 1.54 l/day/animal during the three stages of lactation, viz., first 3 months, and 4-6 months and beyond Cost of cultivation The average cost of cultivation per ha of paddy in the cluster worked out to be at Rs. 17345. The labour wages accounted for 63% of the total cost followed by fertilizer cost (27%) and seed cost (10%). The cost of cultivation of green gram per ha was Rs.5311 out of which 82% was the labour cost, 10% was the chemicals cost and 8% was the seed cost.
The cost of cultivation per ha of a red gram was Rs.6028 out which the labour component was to the extent of 62% followed by 16% for fertilizers, 13% for chemicals and 8% was the cost of seed. Not much of the variation was observed across the land holding categories in cost pattern of all the three crops except in case of green gram wherein the large farmers spent more (around Rs. 7500 ha-1).
The cost of cultivation of green gram per ha was Rs.5311 out of which 82% was the labour cost, 10% was the chemicals cost and 8% was the seed cost. The cost of cultivation per ha of a red gram was Rs.6028 out which the labour component was to the extent of 62% followed by 16% for fertilizers, 13% for chemicals and 8% was the cost of seed. Not much of the variation was observed across the land holding categories in cost pattern of all the three crops except in case of green gram wherein the large farmers spent more (around Rs. 7500 ha-1).
Farm mechanization
The tractor was the popular farm equipment used mostly by the marginal and small category farmers (less than 50%). Among the other types, mould board plough was more popular with 43% of small and medium farmers and 40% of the marginal farmers. Another equipment usage was limited to less than 30% in all categories of farmers
Marketing pattern
The sampled farmers of the cluster had a marketable surplus of 44% of the grain and 30% of the fodder produced by them. All the farmers marketed the surplus on the farm itself. Large farmers marketed their produce more than the others i.e. (100% of their produce), followed by medium farmers (49%) and small farmers (44%). Lowest marketing was done by marginal farmers (37%) of their produce Agricultural extension Only marginal farmers had higher % of contacts with all four categories of agencies mentioned in the table. When the total sample was considered the Agricultural officer (AO) of the State department was contacted by 15% of the sampled farmers. Other agencies contacted were limited to less than 10%
Gender in decision making
All the decisions in agriculture and financial management were mostly taken jointly (97 to 100%) by all the categories of households. Whereas, in case of large farmers, decisions related to child marriage were taken by men and regarding child education by women. In case of other categories, the decisions were taken jointly in these two cases
Membership in organizations
Membership in cooperative society was common (more than 50%) among marginal, small and medium farmers. The lone large farmer of the sample was a member in Rytu-Mitra group. The membership in village welfare association in case of marginal, small and medium farmers was to the tune of 30%. Likewise, the membership in school committees of these groups was limited to less than 10%.
Economic Status
The average number of wage earners per household was 1.50. The share of wage earners in the family ranged between 25% (large and medium farmers) to 52% in case of landless labourers. The average on farm wage income earned was Rs.14356/ household/year compared to off farm earnings of Rs.14601. Both on and off farm wage income decreased with the increase in land holding size of the wage seekers. The employment opportunities obtained by an average labour in Nalgonda cluster were 66 days in on-farm, 5 days in off-farm and another 10 days outside the cluster.
Migration
Over one-third of the cluster, families were involved in migration. Among the migrating families, the average migration duration was 61 days for each migrating person and the income earned in the process was Rs.6046 per capita with an average migration income of 2172. Out of the total 35.9 families migrating on average, 1.54 persons from a family migrated
Source-
- Central Institute of Dryland Agriculture
