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intercropping that is popular in many areas).
Although official statistics suggest much lower
figures, compelling evidence (based on remote
sensing and survey data collected by the Andhra
Pradesh Groundwater Department) points to
Dhone and Kalyandurg having around 8% and
12% of net land area under irrigation respectively.
Or, put more succinctly, all the indications are
that the actual net irrigated area is 4-5 times
higher than the official figures.
In the last 10-15 years, there has been a
dramatic increase in groundwater-based irrigation.
Even in the command areas of tanks, most
farmers have shifted from using tank releases for
irrigation to using pumped groundwater. In most
cases, the tank sluices have been blocked, thereby
converting the tanks into percolation tanks.
Access to irrigation enables farmers to grow more
than one crop regardless of rainfall conditions.
This said, frequent power cuts and, in some areas,
rapidly increasing competition for groundwater
are putting limits on the total area under
irrigation. Good returns are possible where
irrigation is feasible and access to irrigable land is
an important determinant of the level and
security of livelihoods amongst the rural
population.
Around 20% of Dhone is under forest, much
of which is highly degraded, whereas less than 5%
of Kalyandurg is under forest. Although precise
statistics are not available, indications are that,
with the exception of poor quality land, common
lands in both mandals have been heavily
encroached.
Masonry check dam
Profits per hectare from irrigated agriculture
are, on average, twice that from rainfed farming:
the lowest profit from an irrigated crop is often
higher than the highest profit from a rain fed
crop. Cultivation of some crops, however, is not
economic, and farmers earn income largely
because they do not have to buy the inputs they
require. Although the large kharif areas under
rainfed groundnut are justified by the high relative
profits, areas under other crops do not generally
correlate with the net returns per hectare.
Crops with high returns (e.g. mulberry, onions,
vegetables) are grown on comparatively smaller
areas because of local factors such as access to
market, high cultivation costs, production risks
and lack of local storage and processing facilities.
Food crops (e.g. jowar), on the other hand, are
grown on larger areas than might be expected,
given their relative profitability. This can be
explained by the decision-making of poorer
farmers that is geared towards maintaining
household food security.
Investment in borewells
Failed borewell investments as a result of
groundwater depletion have become an important
cause of indebtedness and poverty. Growing
inequity in access to groundwater is also fueling
a process of social differentiation which impacts
directly on the livelihoods of some groups and
contributes to the consolidation of power relations
within communities.
Tanks and other water bodies
Although there are few natural open water
bodies, there are 94 tanks in the two mandals
some of which date back several hundred years.
Many tanks have been abandoned or are in a state
of disrepair with broken bunds and silted beds
which are now cropped. The majority of the tanks
that are still functioning, have been converted to
percolation tanks such that irrigation in command
areas relies on groundwater instead of surface
water releases from the tank. Inflows to many
tanks have declined in recent years as a result of
increased water harvesting and groundwater
extraction in the tank catchment areas. In many
cases, this has had a severe impact on the utility,
biodiversity and cultural value of the tanks. In
extreme cases, reduced tank inflows have adversely
affected the reliability of domestic water supplies.
Such severe negative impacts occur when tanks are
an important source of recharge for the aquifers
used for urban supply and when rainfall is below
average.
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