Water Users Association and Irrigation Management - Institute for ...

[t is clear from Table 6.1 that around 40 percent of the sample farmers in Hagedal and 30
percent of the sample farmers in Gundur adopted curative measures. Farmers adopting
curative strategies are more in Hagedal than Gundur because the soil-related problems are
more profound in Hagedal (see Figure-5.l). The most important practice adopted by sample
farmers in Hagedal to mitigate soil-related problems is application of gypsum (46.3
percent) and zinc (43.4 percent) to neutralize the carbonate and bicarbonate salts.
Applications of these interventions are more frequent in Hagedal when compared to
Gundur (see Table-8.l). [n Gundur, the dominant practice is to use more seed per acre (34
percent) particularly by the farmers in the head reach because more land is atTected by
waterlogging in this region. Their belief is that the increased seed rate helps to overcome
poor seed germination. This also corroborates the high correlation coefficient between seed
and yield in the waterlogged soils of Gundur (see Table-8.2). More frequently, farmers
produced their own seeds, while sometimes it was obtained through public seeds
corporation, co-operatives or through local retailers. Generally, farmers save their own rice
seed. The commercial orientation of many farmers has led to an increasing demand for
purchased seed. Farmers had access to good quality seeds both in Hagedal and Gundur.
Another strategy adopted by the farmers is deep and intensive ploughing 2 to reduce the
adverse effects. These strategies are more poplar in Hagedal. This practice helps in the
leaching of salt and enables the land to absorb more water. Also shallow, dry ploughing
soon after harvesting the previous rice crop is another strategy followed to minimize soil
cracking. The ploughed layer acts as mulch and therefore reduces soil drying and
consequent cracking. Deep ploughing breaks up the hard surface of the soil and eradicates
the weeds. Animal drawn plough and tractors are used for ploughing. It was found that
small farmers ploughed their plots 5 to 6 times before sowing; the large farmers did so 4 to
5 times. Generally, the frequency of ploughing differs according to the type of soil.
However, ploughing needs to be done properly to prevent the formation of a plough layer
or return of salty soil closer to the soil surface (Abrol et al. \988).
2 Repeated ploughing of soil sometimes trigger soil erosion in erosion prone area~. Since the study area is not
prone to erosion, repeated ploughing increases the water retentIOn capacIty of the soIl.
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