Improving the Existing Rainfed Farming Systems of Small and Marginal Farmers in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh

On-farm trials were conducted during 2010 and 2011 to evaluate the effect of different interventions on productivity and profitability of rainfed farming systems of small and marginal farmers in Y. Kothapalli, Anantapur district. There was a complete failure of intercropped pigeonpea in both the years due to drought. On an average, groundnut pod yield under farmers’ practice was 194 kg ha⁻¹. The increase in groundnut yields due to different interventions was 21% with herbicide use and 51% with use of recommended NPK. The yield increased by 155% with use of both herbicide for weed control and recommended NPK compared with farmers’ practice. However, the net returns from groundnut + pigeonpea intercropping system were negative in all the treatments ( -190 to -8,800 ha⁻¹) due to complete failure of pigeonpea and poor groundnut yields in both the years. Among the farming systems of marginal farmers, integrated farming system involving crop production (groundnut + pigeonpea intercropping) and rearing of small ruminants (90 sheep and 30 goats) was found better with a net return of 1,57,855 year⁻¹ compared to other farming systems. Similarly, among the three farming systems of small farmers, integrated farming system involving crop production (groundnut + pigeonpea intercropping) and livestock rearing (2 desi cows and 100 sheep) gave higher net returns ( 1,09,650 year⁻¹) compared to other farming systems.