October - December 2012 - National Institute of Rural Development

448 M. Mahadeva and K. Keshavamurthyvarieties, and biological and chemical controlstrategies to minimise the use of pest in thecultivation (Birthal and Sharma 2004). IPMencourages proper choice and blend ofcompatible tactics, so that the componentscomplement each other to keep the pestpopulation at manageable levels (ICRISAT2005). In the study area, demonstrations wereconducted for horticultural crops inKarikoppa, Basapura, Kanakapura, and BhuKodihalli villages for tomato, chilly and brinjal.The response of the farmers' participation inthe demonstration is encouraging.Participation in the demonstrations on chilly,tomato and brinjal reflects the initiativefacilitated to adopt new technologies andcope with the growing awareness on thetimely planting, resistant varieties, use offertiliser, weed control etc. Apart fromconducting various demonstrations on thehorticultural crops, the Department ofHorticulture also undertakes training andother extension programmes for educatingthe farmers about the modern methods ofcultivation and technical know-how at thefield levels. Such training programmes weresuccessfully held at Haveri and Dharwaddistricts where over 58 per cent of thefarmers participated in Ariu programme. Ariuis a major training programme intended toeducate the farming community which waslargely attended by the farmers by all sizes.More than two-thirds of the vegetablegrowers have attended the trainingprogramme followed by 22.86 per cent ofparticipation of the farmers in satellite basedtraining programmes organised by thehorticulture department.Impact of the SchemesConsequent upon the implementationof the Macro Management of AgriculturalSchemes in the State, five very important butpositive changes are observed namely, areaunder cultivation, yield, expenditure, grossincome and net income across all categoriesof households (Table 4). Especially, in the daysof increasing cost of cultivation and recededincome from farm activities, any reversingchange is a welcome- thanks to theinnovations and implementation of theMMASs. These changes should only bringadditional enthusiasm both in the thrust andeffective implementation of the schemes.Additional Land Cultivated : Theforemost change is bringing additional landinto cultivation, which is one of the objectivesof the scheme. Total land under cultivationof sugarcane, paddy, ragi and coconut(SUBACS), cereals (ICDP) and vegetables(FCSPVC) under the selected MMASs hasincreased from 982 acres to 1441 acres inthe pre and post-implementation periods,respectively. This change has brought 459acres of net additional lands into cultivation,which is about 47 per cent increase. UnderSUBACS, the total cultivated area hasincreased from 200 acres to 321 acres, witha net increase in 121 acres or roughly 61 percent. Similarly, ICDP has been successful inincreasing the area under cultivation from 361acres to 479 acres, a net increase of 118 acresor 33 per cent, followed by FCSPVC from 226acres to 325 acres, a net increase of 99 acresor 44 per cent. This apart, Integrated NutrientManagement (INM) has brought an additionalarea of 121 acres (62 per cent) under theuse of micro-nutrients and green manures,by increasing the land from 195 acres to 316acres. Further, across the different holdingsizes, semi-medium farmers have been in theforefront in bringing additional land undercultivation to the tune of 129 acres, from 231acres to 360 acres (55.84 per cent). This isfollowed by medium farmers (119 acres or51.97 per cent), small farmers (110 acres or41.67 per cent), large farmers (74 acres or41.34 per cent) and last but not the leastmarginal farmers (27 acres or 33.75 percent).Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 31, No. 4, October - December : 2012