Economic evaluation of vegetative and mechanical barriers used for soil and moisture conservation in medium black soils

The study evaluated the economic feasibility of vegetative and mechanical barriers used for soil and moisture conservation in the medium black soils of the Northern Dry Zone of Karnataka, using experimental data. The establishment cost of barriers varied from Rs.772.35 in the case of rubble to Rs.51.53 for subabul. The increase in the productivity of sorghum grain under conservation barriers over no conservation was the highest for the rubble barrier (50.06%) followed by the Khus grass barrier (37.45%). These conservation barriers were found to repay the initial investment within a short span of one year. The Net Present Value of the conservation measures was not only positive but also appealing, having IRR more than 100 per cent and Benefit-Cost Ratio more than two. Among the four measures, rubble and Khus grass yielded more attractive returns than subabul and weeping love gross and could be recommended for adoption in medium to deep black soils of Northern Dry Zone of Karnataka. Though subabul as a conservation measure emerged to be the best from the view point of BCR, it has a limited capacity to generate additional grain yield.