Karnataka > Cropping Pattern
In Karnataka cropped area is recorded survey number-wise in RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crop Inspection) by Village Accountant and consolidated at village, at taluk and district levels. Major crops grown are grouped as cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cash crops. Out of 1, 16, 96,181 hectares of total gross cropped area during 1997-98, 45.99% of the area was under cereals, 14.38% under pulses, 20.28% under oilseeds and 6.93% under cotton and sugarcane crops. The remaining 8.5% of the area was under other crops.
Area under cereals has decreased from 62, 73,000 hectares during 196061 to 53, 78,618 hectares during 1997-98. During the same period, area under pulses increased from 13, 06,000 to 16, 81,587 hectares. The area under oilseeds registered an increase of 11, 25,000 hectares from 12, 47,000 to 23, 71,986 hectares. The total (gross) cropped area had been increased from 1, 05, 88,000 to 1, 16, 96,181 hectares.
Paddy, jowar, ragi, maize, bajra and wheat are the cereal crops grown in the State. Ragi, Paddy and jowar occupy about 80% of the area under cereals. Cereal crops are largely grown in Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gulbarga, Raichur, Koppal, Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Bellary, Chitradurga, Davangere, Mysore and Chamarajnagar districts. Red gram and Bengal gram are the major pulse crops which occupy about 4.5% of the area under pulses. Pulses are largely grown in Gulbarga, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Bidar, Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri districts. Groundnut and sunflower are the important oilseed crops which occupy about 80% of the area under oilseeds. Oilseeds are largely grown in Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gulbarga, Raichur, Koppal, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Chitradurga, Davanagere and Tumkur districts. Cotton Is predominantly grown in Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Raichur, Koppal, Bellary and Belgaum districts which occupy about 75% of the area under the crop. Sugarcane is largely grown in Belgaum, Mandya, Bijapur and Bagalkot districts.
Paddy is one of the major cereal crops of the State. It is predominantly grown in Shimoga, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Raichur, Koppal, Mysore, Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri districts. It was grown in 13.53 lakh ha during 1997-98. Area under this crop increased from 8.78 (1955-56) to 13.53 lakh ha (1997-98). It is cultivated in all the three seasons i.e. Jowar (76.2%), rabi (3.98%) and summer (19.82%). About 9.33 lakh ha of paddy area was under irrigation and 80.2% of area under paddy was sown with high yielding varieties. The yield in kg per hectare under irrigated conditions is 4,286 and un-irrigated condition is about 2,546.
Jowar is another major cereal crop grown largely in northern districts. Gulbarga, Raichur, Koppal, Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Bellary, Davanagere and Bidar districts account for nearly 90% of the area under the cropA About 18.97 lakh ha of area was under this crop during 1997-98. About 79.1% of the area under this crop was grown in rabi season alone. Only 1.43 lakh hectares of this area was irrigated. About 37.1% of the area under this crop was sown with hybrid varieties. The yield obtained from the irrigated crop is 1,898 kg/ha while the yield got under un-irrigated crop is only 610 kg/ha.
Ragi is largely grown in southern districts of the State. Predominant ragi growing districts are Bangalore Rural, Tumkur, Hassan, Chitradurga, Mysore, Chamarajnagar, Kolar and Mandya. About 17.45% of the area under cereals was shared by ragi crop. About 9.39 lakh ha of area was under this crop during 1997-98. About six per cent of area was irrigated. About 97% of area was sown with high-yielding varieties. The average yield per ha from rain fed crop is 13.6 quintals.
Maize and bajra occupied 5.61 and 3.02 lakh ha respectively during 199798. These two crops together account for 16% of area under cereals. These two crops are largely grown in northern districts of the State. Wheat, another important food crop, is grown in the rabi season. It is also largely grown in northern districts of the State. About 2.51 lakh ha of area was under this crop during 1997-98. Bengal gram is one of the important pulse crop grown in the rabi season. Gulbarga, Bidar, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Gadag, Haven and Belgaum districts accounted for 86% of area under this crop in the State. About 3.37 lakh ha of area was under this crop during 1997-98. About 20% of the area under pulses was covered by this crop.
Groundnut is an important crop of the State largely grown in Tumkur, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Gulbarga, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Raichur, Koppal, Bagalkot and Bijapur districts. These districts accounted for 69% of the area under this crop. About 10.4 lakh ha was under this crop during 1997-98. About 43.86% of the area under oilseeds was covered by groundnut and only 22.85% of area under this crop was irrigated.
Sesamum is another oilseed crop of the State grown in the Kharif season in rain fed condition only. Gulbarga, Bidar, Koppal and Raichur accounted for 58% of area under this crop. About 1.15 lakh ha was under this crop during 1997-98 and it formed 4.96% of the area under oilseeds.
Sunflower is an important oilseed crop grown in Bijapur, Bagalkot, Raichur, Koppal, Gulbarga, Bellary, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Davanagere and Chitradurga districts. These districts accounted for 84% of the area under this crop. This crop was grown in 9.29 lakh ha during 1997-98 and about 19.3% of the area under this crop was irrigated. About 39.4% of the area under oilseeds was covered by this crop.
Safflower is another important oilseed crop grown in the rabi season in rain fed areas. Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gulbarga, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Belgaum, Koppal and Raichur districts accounted for 91% of the area under this crop. The share of the area under the crop to oilseeds was 5.54%.
Sugarcane is an important commercial crop mostly grown in irrigated areas in the State. Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Mandya and Bidar districts accounted for 74.8% of the area during 1997-98. Belgaum district alone covered 45.5% of the area under this crop.
Cotton is an important fibre crop of the State. Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Bellary, Belgaum, Koppal and Raichur districts accounted for 81.9% of area under the crop. About 5.02 lakh ha of area under this crop during 1997-98. Soil Conservation : The main objective of soil conservation activity is to arrest the runoff of rain water and there by conserve soil and moisture. It is estimated that 85 lakh ha. of land require soil conservation measures. Soil conservation works include land shaping, contour bunding, bench terracing etc. The area covered under soil conservation measures as at the end of March 1999 was 46.55 lakh ha. The Centrally sponsored soil conservation scheme in the catchments of the River Valley Projects viz, (1) Tungabhadra 2} Nizamsagar and 3) Nagarjunasagar are in operation. Seeds : The State Agricultural Universities are basically responsible for the production and supply of breeder seeds of different crops. In all, there were 73 seed farms in the State. The foundation seeds produced in the departmental farms were being handed over to the Karnataka State Seed Corporation for processing and further multiplication. The role of the private seed industry has been well recognised and they have been provided with all the facilities. Many multi-national Companies are also engaged in seed production. There are two seed testing laboratories, one at Hebbal and another at Dharwad. About 3.64 lakh quintals of certified seeds were distributed during 1998-99. There is one more seed testing laboratory at Lalbagh, Bangalore under the control of the Horticulture department. Manures and Fertilizers : Due to the high cost of chemical fertilizers, the development and use of organic manures assumes great importance. Bio-fertilizers like Rhizobium, Blue green algae, Azatobacter and Azospirillum are being popularised among farming community. Steps are being taken to improve production of rural compost by educating the rural folk to prepare it on scientific lines. Local bodies are engaged in the preparation of urban compost. The consumption of fertilizers which was just 3,960 tonnes of nutrients during 1956-57 has reached a record 11.49 lakh tonnes during 1998-99 in the State. The per hectare consumption of chemical fertilizers is 68 kg which is still lower than the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu States. The Karnataka Fertilizer Concessional Price Scheme implemented from 1992-93, makes provision for the supply of super phosphate, diammonium phosphate, muriate of potash and complex fertilizers at concessional price, Plant Protection : The department of Agriculture has taken a number of steps to popularise plant protection measures such as supplying plant protection equipments and chemicals at subsidised rates. An area of 63 lakh ha was covered under plant protection measures during 1997-98, and about 3000 tonnes of technical grade material was used for plant protection. Programmes of Agricultural Development : The Department of Agriculture has been chalking out various programmes and policies for the development of Agriculture. The department is implementing the thrust programmes in selected districts to increase production of major crops like Integrated programme of Rice Development, Special Food grains Production Programme for maize, ragi, jowar and bajra, oilseeds production programme, National Pulse Development Programme etc., Besides the new programmes like Bhooguna, Hanithene and Krishi Prashasthi have been implemented to motivate and to encourage the farmers for adopting improved agricultural practices and to increase the production and productivity. Under National Watershed Development Programme in selected 86 taluks for popularising dry farming, soil and water conservation schemes are being implemented. Danida assisted project for training farm women and farm youth especially to teach the skills required in the farm operations were being focussed. Under Special Component Plan, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe farmers were provided with inputs, implements, plant protection equipments, bullock and bullock carts etc. Crop Insurance : Comprehensive Crop Insurance scheme is in operation since 1985 in all the taluks. The scheme is operated through the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) of India. The coverage in respect of crops insured in the State is shared between GIC and the State Government in the ratio of 2:1. During 1997-98, 3.25 lakh farmers in an area of 5.70 lakh ha insured the crops for a sum of Rs. 18,545 lakhs. About 1,986 lakh rupees were paid as claims to 1.16 lakh farmers.
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