Impact of Krishi Bhagya Yojana (KBY) Farm Pond Technology on Semi-Arid Farmers in North Eastern Transition Zone of Karnataka State in India

Abstract

Efficient water management through farm pond technology is a great initiative by Krishi Bhagya Yojana scheme in 2015. Out of 240 sample farmers, about 180 farmers are adopters and 60 are non adopters of farm pond technology in Bidar and Gulbarga districts of Karnataka. Majority of farmers prefer farm pond of size 30 m × 30 m × 3 m as during Kharif season with storage capacity of 2700 cubic metric which is able to irrigate 1.5 ha land area .Through analysis, it is found that, the cropping intensity was increased to 225 per cent from 203.75 which accounts 9.47 per cent change to that of the base year. The percent change in area under rabicrops was relatively more when compared with farm ponds which directly increase their income by sale of crops in market. The number of migrating people decreased from six to three persons after adoption of KBY by the beneficiary farmers. The most influencing factors in adoption of farm pond technology by farmers are access to rural credit, diffusion of information and adoption of high value crops.