INTRODUCTION
Use of sewage for growing crops by the peri-urban farmers has been practiced for decades as a non-official procedure especially in places where there is a shortage of water for agriculture. With the migration of people to cities the volume of sewage has increased enormously thus making the life of city dwellers difficult and even worse for those living in the periphery. Farmers surrounding big cities started managing this wastewater by using it for irrigation not only because of its free availability but also for its heavy loads of nutrients content. In most of the informal water economies in India like Karnataka, where there is a severe scarcity of freshwater supplies, where farmers chiefly depend on rain, wastewater is the only alternative source of water available in sufficient quantities throughout the year. Vijayapura town in Bangalore rural district is an appropriate example where wells have dried up and there are no fresh surface water source available, farmers there have no options other than using wastewater for irrigation. Wastewater is an important resource especially for small and marginal farmers who cannot afford digging wells where water level has fallen below 1000 ft. Also this available wastewater helps these small and marginal farmers in harvesting three to four crops in a year and thus maintain better standard of living.
OBJECTIVE
The broad objective of the study is:
• To explore the extent of use of wastewater for irrigation and to estimate