The study was undertaken in Chikkaballapur and Dharwad districts of
Karnataka state to assess the livelihood security of farm households and
the extent of utilization of benefits from Government development
programs under irrigated and rainfed situations. Eight major farming
systems were identified based on a preliminary survey and previous
studies in the area under study, viz, crop+dairy, crop+sericulture,
crop+dairy+sericulture and crop+sheep in Chikkaballapur district and
crop+dairy, crop+dairy +sheep, crop+dairy+poultry and crop+sheep in
Dharwad district. The study is based on primary data from 240 farmers
covering equal samples under irrigated and rainfed situation elicited
for the period 2012-13 through survey method. The data were analyzed
using tabular presentation, returns to rupee of investment, optimization
of farming using linear programming analysis, minimization of total
absolute deviation (MOTAD) technique and regression model. The results
revealed that, the livelihood security was better among irrigated area
farmers in the area under study.