Adoption behaviour of different soil and water conservation measures among tribal farmers of Gajapati, Odisha

A number of indigenous Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) techniques, those passed on to them by their forefathers and few indigenous technologies modified scientifically over time have been practiced by tribal farmers in Gajapati district of Odisha. The adoption behaviour of these techniques with their strengths and weaknesses have been analyzed based on the primary information collected through a structural interview of 120 farmers from five blocks of the district and focused group discussions among key informants held during September to December, 2013. The results of the analysis revealed three SWC measures namely, application of Farm Yard Manure, Agro-forestry and Crop rotation are adopted in order of preference among most of the farmers. These practices generally need little technical skills and show positive short-term benefits resulting in increased productivity quite quickly. Practices like summer ploughing, Inter-cropping, Farm pond and Legume crop were moderately adopted as these are labour intensive practices and farmers are not willing to do due to unavailability of labour. Due to lack of resources, more than 67% farmers do not practice SWC measures like Cultivation across the slope, Earthen bund, Waste weir, Bench terracing, Bunding+grass, Stone bund etc. More than 95% farmers do not practice SWC measures like Vegetative barrier, Mulching, Ridge and Furrow and Trenching due to lack of interest and understanding of their long run benefits. These practices require financial support and creation of awareness among farmers by different line departments.