Operational Area of KVK

Adopted villages

Present situation in the Operational area of SLDKVK Kalyandurg

In the operational area of Smt. Lakshmi Devi Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Kalyandurg 62.93 % of the farmers fall under small and Marginal category as they are holding 31.06%of the total cultivated area and 35.52% of the farmers are medium farmers holding 57.14% of the cultivated area. They have chosen agriculture as major occupation for their livelihoods. They are depending on speculative cultivation and are often subjected to sheer losses due to poor yields which are mainly attributed to delayed onset of monsoon and uneven distribution of rain fall with prolonged dry spells during the critical stages of the crop growth period.

 As Ananthapuram district is under over exploitation zone, the ground water, a major resource of irrigation is depleting. The area under well or bore irrigated farming system is declining year by year as also the area under cultivation of crops like paddy, sugarcane. Keeping in view of present groundwater situation, cultivation of horticulture crops like Banana, sweet orange is not be recommended. In addition to this, infestation of pests and diseases leading to poor quality of the yield and low market price has become herculean task to rainfed farmers.

There is a wide Scope for Livestock (cattle and sheep) development in the district with the available technology. The non-scientific approach and indiscriminate use of available resources lead to poor management of livestock. Due to this the farmers are not able to convert their livestock in profitable way at least to sustain their livelihood.  Though plenty of agriculture technology is available, most of the farmers are unaware and not having exposure to the new technologies to combat the problems faced by the farmers in different systems of agriculture livelihoods.  

Revenue Divisions

Anantapur district is the second lowest rainfall receiving district in the country with the total geographical area of 19.13 lakh ha and total cultivated area of 10.16 lakh ha (kharif 8.69 lakh ha. & Rabi 1.47 lakh ha). The normal annual rainfall of the district is 550 mm, out of which 56% is received from S-W monsoon (June – September) and 30% is from N-E monsoon. The major source of soil moisture is rainfall and crop failure is a common phenomenon in this district. The agricultural production is declining due to the effect of climate change and lack of awareness of improved technology among the farming community.

 The soils of Anantapur district comprise of 87.4% red soils, 12.5 of black cotton soils and 0.1% problematic soils.. Most of the farmers in the district are small and marginal farmers (65.2%) holding 50.01% of the total cultivated area followed by medium farmers (32.50%) holding 56.59% of the cultivated area. The area wise distribution of major crops is Groundnut 86%, Rice 3.3 % and other crops 10.7%. The major crop of the district is groundnut, grown in 8.14 lakh ha, in red soils under rainfed conditions.

Until the year 2010 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Reddipalli has sincerely served the farming community of the district by introducing improved technologies.  Keeping in view the larger geographical area of the district and unsuccessful crop yields, the necessity for establishment of another KVK in the Anantapur district of Scarce Rainfall Zone was realized for the benefit of farming community. Accordingly, Smt. Lakshmi Devi Krishi Vigyan Kendra was sanctioned by ICAR Vide Lr.No.5-26/09 AE – II dated 26-07-2010 of Agricultural Extension of ICAR, New Delhi and Proceeding No.Proc.No.77/Exten/A3/2010 dated 27-10-2010 of Director of Extension, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad. It was started on 11^th October 2010.

Mandate of KVK

1. To conduct “On farm Testing” for identifying technologies in terms of location specific sustainable land use systems.

2. To organize frontline demonstrations on various crops to generate production data and feedback information.

3. To organize training to update the extension personnel with emerging advances in agricultural research on regular basis.

4. To organize short- and long-term vocational training courses in agriculture and allied vocations for the farmers and rural youth with emphasis on “learning by doing” for higher production on farms and generating self-employment.

Addressing the constraints faced at both the farmer and staff levels is essential for enhancing the effectiveness and impact of Rythu Bharosa Kendra services. Strategies such as improving awareness and accessibility, enhancing technological literacy, providing financial support to farmers, investing in staff training and capacity building, ensuring adequate resources and infrastructure, managing workload and promoting staff well-being and fostering coordination and collaboration among stakeholders can help overcome these constraints. By addressing these challenges comprehensively, RBKs can better fulfill their mandate of empowering farmers, promoting sustainable agriculture and contributing to rural development and prosperity.

In the beginning, the mandate of KVK was confined only to provide skill based training to the farmers, farm women and rural youth in crop production, horticulture, livestock production, fisheries, home science, farm machinery and implements and other allied vocations such as apiculture, mushroom cultivation etc. Besides, various extension activities such as field demonstration, field days, farmers’ fairs, exhibitions, radio/TV talks, film show, publication of farm leaflets, etc. were also carried out for creating awareness and to disseminate the agricultural technology. With the consolidation of other front-line extension projects of the Council during the Eighth Five Year Plan, such as National Demonstration Project (NDP), Operational Research Project (ORP), Lab to Land Programme (LLP) and All India Coordinated Project on Scheduled Caste/Tribe, the mandate was enlarged and revised to take up on-farm testing, long term vocational training, in service training for grass root extension workers and front-line demonstrations on major cereal, oilseed and pulse crops and other enterprises. The latest revised mandates of KVKs are as follows:

1. To conduct “On farm Testing” for identifying  technologies  in  terms  of location specific sustainable land use systems.

2. To organize frontline demonstrations  on  various  crops to generate production data and feedback information.

3. To organize training  to  update  the  extension  personnel  with  emerging  advances  in agricultural research on regular        basis.

4. To organize short  and  long term vocational  training  courses  in  agriculture  and allied vocations for the farmers and         rural youth with emphasis on “learning by doing” for higher production on farms and generating self employment. 

            The application of technology in the farmers’ field is achieved through conducting of On-farm trial which include technology assessment and refinement. The proven and recommended technologies are then introduced in the system through conducting of frontline demonstrations followed by training programmes to empower the farmers, field extension personnel and rural youths for its adoption. The extension activities such as field day, exhibitions etc are conducted to disseminate the technologies across the system.

For fulfilling the prescribed mandate, the KVKs, at present, has to perform the following functions: