Αζη

In Karnataka 100.75 lakh hectare area is under cultivation. Out of which 77.13 lakh hectares is under rainfed cultivation. 80% of the area depends upon the monsoon for agriculture. Quite often even the meager water from the unpredictable rains just drains away. People resort to digging bore wells indiscriminately resulting in the gradual depletion of water table. If the rain water is prevented from draining away and stored properly the ground water table gets recharged and the crops can get adequate water during critical conditions. So, it is very much necessary to harvest rain water and use it judiciously to increase the crop production and also to improve the ground water table.

The Government of Karnataka has initiated as part of the Suvarna Karnataka Year Celebrations an ambitious programme to encourage the SC/ST/SF/MF farmers who are solely dependant on agriculture to construct Suvarna Krishi Honda by providing a subsidy of Rs.9800/- per unit. By this amount, the farmer can construct a farm pond of the dimension 9 m x 9 m x 3 m with an impounding capacity of 107 cubic meters (107000 litres) of water at one fill.

5. Improve farmers' economic conditions by encouraging agricultural productivity.

There is a great demand for farm pond based on the last years experience. The farmers are aware of the benefits of farm ponds and its low cost technology.

The 16th Resolution is to strengthen and expand the Suvarna Krishi Honda Programme of the State for XI Five Year Plan period on a sharing ratio of 90:10 (Government of India 90% and Government of Karnataka 10%). The farmers would be covered under the scheme with a special attention for SC/ST/SF/MF. The average unit cost would be Rs.15000/- and design will be as per Departmental Guidelines issued from time to time. Present designs and models are attached to this proposal as annexure. The Scheme will be operated in all the districts of the State.

Sl. No.	Name of the District	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	Total
1	Bangalore Urban	10	10	10	10	10	50
2	Bangalore Rural	178	178	178	178	178	890
3	Ramnagar	178	178	178	178	178	890
4	Kolar	156	156	156	156	156	780
5	Chikkaballapur	156	156	156	156	156	780
6	Chitradurga	209	209	209	209	209	1045
7	Davangere	205	205	205	205	205	1025
8	Tumkur	146	146	146	146	146	730
9	Madhugiri	146	146	146	146	146	730
10	Shimoga	179	179	179	179	179	895
11	Mysore	238	238	238	238	238	1190
12	Mandya	169	169	169	169	169	845
13	Hassan	199	199	199	199	199	995
14	Chikkamagalur	151	151	151	151	151	755
15	Udupi	80	80	80	80	80	400
16	Dakshina Kannada Mangalore	112	112	112	112	112	560
17	Chamrajnagar	142	142	142	142	142	710
18	Kodagu	80	80	80	80	80	400
19	Belgaum	288	288	288	288	288	1440
20	Bijapur	174	174	174	174	174	870
21	Bagalkot	142	142	142	142	142	710
22	Gadag	103	103	103	103	103	515
23	Haveri	132	132	132	132	132	660
24	Dharwad	99	99	99	99	99	495
25	Uttara Kannada (Mundgod)	189	189	189	189	189	945
26	Gulbarga	304	304	304	304	304	1520
27	Raichur	220	220	220	220	220	1100
28	Koppal	125	125	125	125	125	625
29	Bellary	227	227	227	227	227	1135
30	Bidar	163	163	163	163	163	815
31	Publicity and Propaganda	100	100	100	100	100	500
	Total	5000	5000	5000	5000	5000	25000

Average unit cost can be fixed around Rs.15000/- per Farm Pond. The design will be depending upon the site suitability and catchment area. A minimum of 9 meter length x 9 meter width x 3 meter depth dimension will be built alongwith inlet cum outlet and silt trap.

The scheme will be implemented in all 176 Talukas of the State. The selection process will largely depend on extent of dry land, rainfall and economic conditions of the farmers. Selection of beneficiaries will be done by Technical Officers of the Watershed Development Department on the basis of Technical feasibility of the site. While selecting the beneficiary, more thrust will be given to SC/ST/SF/MF farmers. The departmental field staff will execute the work and after completion of the work executed dimensions will be recorded in the Measurement Book (MB) as per design specifications. Check Measurement will be carried out by the next Senior Officer thereafter payment will be made to labourers. If farmers wish to execute the work on their own, the same will be permitted and in such cases, work will be inspected by the department staff. After recording in the Measurement Book as per measurement existing in the field condition to the executed quantity, payment will be made to the farmers.

On a sharing ratio of 90:10 between the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka.

The water stored in farm ponds will help to irrigate crops under critical conditions. Due to fast depletion of ground water table, the urgent need is to recharge the ground water table by way of harvesting runoff water. By collecting runoff water in farm ponds in all the farmers' fields will definitely improve the ground water table.

By constructing farm ponds in a phased manner in different regions of the State will lead to many direct and indirect socio economic benefits for the ultimate benefit of the farming community and agricultural labourers.

Sl. No.	Crop	Present		Expected
Sl. No.	Crop	Yield (Q/ha)	Income (in Rs.)	Yield (Q/ha)	Income (in Rs.)
1	Jowar	12-15	12000-15000	18-20	18000-20000
2	Ground nut	5-6	10000-12000	8-9	16000-18000
3	Red Gram (Turdal)	4-6	8000-12000	7-9	10000-18000
4	Green Gram	2-3	4000-6000	4-5	8000-10000
5	Black Gram	3-4	6000-8000	5-7	10000-14000
6	Cow pea	3-4	4500-6000	5-7	7500-9000
7	Vegetables	4-6	4000-4500	7-9	7500-9000

Year	Item of work	Programme		Progress
		Phy	Fin	Phy	Fin
2006-07	Suvarna Krishi Honda	50000	5000	43353	4246.76
2007-08		8450	845	under progress