General information of the thirty three (33) western mandals of

Chittoor district  (operational area of kvk, kalikiri) chittoor district

MANDALS COVERED

The operational area of KVK, Kalikiri is completely different from the eastern mandals. The Major farming conditions of the district are

1)               Highly rockey area with uneven land conditions with very low soil depth and gravel in sub soil

2)               Very deep water table (we have to go up to the depth of 600 feet even up to 1000 feet in some areas

3)             Majority of the area is under rainfed farming with groundnut in an area of about one lakh hectares

4)               Rice is grown majorly for family consumption in small farm holdings

5)               Sugarcane is grown in some of the pockets both for jaggery and for sugar factories

6)               Tomato is the major vegetable crop in the area grown intensively

7)             Floriculture is another important area in some of the pockets (Chrysanthimum, Marigold, Jasmine etc..)

8)               Mango is the major fruit crop grown in the area.

9)               Under millets Ragi, Jowar, and bajra are also under cultivation in limited areas.

10)        Overall, the socio-economic condition of the farming community of the area is low to very low, majorly with small and marginal farmers. Only 5 to 10 percent are progressive farmers who are taking up agriculture on commercial basis.

As per ICAR guidelines KVK is having following mandates for

implementing its activities :

 The Krishi Vigyan Kendra, at Darsi of Prakasam district was established in the year 2001 under the administrative control of Acharya N.G Ranga Agricultural University Rajandranagar, Hyderabad.

It has a total of 50 acres land of which 20 acres of land was partitioned from the field of Agricultural Research Station, Darsi. Later thirty acres of land was added to KVK at another place 1 Km away, from the Department of Horticulture in 2009. Out of total land available only 35 acres is cultivable. KVK is situated 3 km away from Darsi town on Kurchedu road. KVK has mandate to cover the entire district and catering the needs of farmers by supplying good quality foundation seed and by disseminating need based technologies through KVK mandatory activities and other extension activities.