Farmers' perceptions about soil erosion in rainfed areas of Telangana, India

• Published date: 01 May 2022
• Author: Dayakar Peddi,Kavi Kumar K.S.
• Date: 01 May 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2374

ACADEMIC PAPER

Farmers' perceptions about soil erosion in rainfed areas

of Telangana, India

Dayakar Peddi

1

| Kavi Kumar K.S.

2

1

Centre for Economic and Social Studies,

Hyderabad, India

2

Madras School of Economics, Chennai, India

Correspondence

Dayakar Peddi, Centre for Economic and

Social Studies, Hyderabad, India.

Email: dayakar@cess.ac.in

Soil erosion is recognised as a significant problem for agriculture in India. The Desert-

ification and Land Degradation Atlas of India identifies Telangana as one of the most

affected states in India due to soil erosion, with about 26% of total geographical area

degraded due to soil erosion. The objective of this paper is to find out how farmers

perceive soil erosion severity in Telangana, India. The study is based on a survey of

400 households in two sub-watershed areas. The estimates based on ordered probit

model suggest that farmers' perceptions about soil erosion correspond well with the

degree of soil erosion expected from site-specific factors such as the slope of the

plot, soil depth, soil texture, road connectivity and irrigation. Further, the farmers'

perceptions tally with the plot level conservation measures undertaken. The findings

from the study also corroborate a number of similar empirical studies from different

parts of the world. Given this finding, it is argued that farmers' expertise is important

to assessing soil erosion severity, as they add relevant plot-level information to

assessments made through secondary sources. The study findings further highlight

the need to apply participatory approaches when working to reduce soil erosion.

1|INTRODUCTION

Land is a complex biological resource. Land-based ecosystems are

the backbone of rural livelihoods. Over the past half-century,

unsustainable land management practices have led to extensive soil

degradation and have undermined the productivity of these important

ecosystems (Assessment M.E., 2005; Brevik et al., 2019). Soil degrada-

tion is recognised as a global challenge now, and erosion is considered

a major contributor to overall land degradation at a regional as well as

global level (Borrelli et al., 2017; Montanarella et al., 2016). Soil ero-

sion has a more severe impact on developing countries that practise

rainfed agriculture (García-Ruiz et al., 2015).

In India, also soil erosion has been recognised as one of the major

challenges. The Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India

(SAC/ISRO, 2016) reported that by 2013, 11% of the country' s total

geographical area (TGA) had been degraded by water erosion alone

(hence forth soil erosion). More recently,the Land Degradation Atlas of

India (NRSC, 2018)estimated that by 2015–2016, about16% of India's

TGA had been degraded by water erosion alone. Telangana is one of

the most affected state with 26% of its cropland have degraded

by 2003–2005 (SAC, 2016). Soil erosion is thus a major threat to

agriculture in India andhas significant economic costs. The Energy and

ResourcesInstitute (TERI, 2018) estimated thatin 2014–2015, the total

economic cost of soil erosion in croplandareas alone was about 0.35%

of GDP. Especially in rainfed areas, continuous soil erosion diminishes

land productivity and hence threatenslivelihoods (Tilahun et al.,2018).

Water erosion is the most widespread cause for soil erosion and

land degradationin Siddipet district sub-watershed area. The secondary

data identifiesa wide range of water erosioncategories, including sheet

erosion, rill erosion, gully erosion, loss of topsoil dunes, partially sta-

bilised dunes, and unstabilised dunes (Bhuvan, 2006). Sheet erosion is

the predominantcause of soil erosion in the studyarea, and it is a com-

mon reason for loss of topsoil. Using remote-sensing data, NRSC

(2018) has categorised soil erosion into three broad classes according

to severity: slight, moderate, and high, with soil loss of 10–20tons/ha/

year, 20–40 tons/ha/year, and greater than 40 tons/ha/year, respec-

tively. Based on the NRSAdata, surveyed villages in the study area fall

into either the “slight”or “moderate”soil erosion categories.

Policies to mitigate soil erosion will be more effective if its causes

can be identified. A review of the literature suggests that several

Received: 5 March 2020 Revised: 21 March 2020 Accepted: 10 August 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2374

J Public Affairs. 2022;22:e2374. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1of10

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2374