The Ahmednagar District lies in the central part of the state of Maharashtra which is having common boundaries with seven adjoining Districts. Ahmednagar is the biggest district of Maharashtra in terms of area and population. The total geographical area of the district is 17.41 lakh ha. The net cropped area is 12,56,500 ha, out of which an area of 3,30,000 ha. (26.27 %) is under canal (84,000 ha) and well irrigation. About 9,26,500 ha.( 73.73 %) area is rain fed. The area under Kharif crops is 4,60,000 ha. (36.6 per cent) while 7,58,000 ha (60.32 per cent) area is under Rabi crops. A multiple cropping system is followed on 1,10,500 ha. area. A total of 8.73 per cent area of the district is under forest.
The soil types of the district are broadly divided into four categories namely coarse shallow soil; medium black soil; deep black soil and reddish soil occupying about 38, 41, 13 and 8 percent of the cultivated area respectively. In the first two categories, soil moisture is the predominant limiting factor affecting productivity of crops particularly under rainfed condition.
The climate of the district is hot and dry, on whole extremely genial and is characterized by a hot summer and general dryness during major part of the year except during south-west monsoon season. Ahmednagar district receives average 566 mm. rainfall. The major rainfall received during month of June to September. The average temperature ranges between 9 to 41 degrees.
On an average 26.27 per cent of the cultivated area is under irrigation, out of which 71.46 per cent is under well irrigation (including lift irrigation) and remaining area is under canal irrigation. In the northern part of the district there are 3 major irrigation projects namely upper Godavari, Pravara and Mula having 2, 18 and 28 per cent of the irrigated areas.
Agro Climatic Zones
Ahmednagar district is mainly recognized as multidimensional situation. District is divided into three agro climatic zones viz. Scarcity Zone, Plain (Transition) zone and Ghat (Hilly) zone.
Scarcity zone
This zone is occupied the whole district except one block i.e. Akole, the remaining 13 blocks are under this zone. The average rainfall of this zone ranges from 400 to 600 mm.
Transition Zone
This zone is confined only to eastern part of Akole block. Geographically this zone has only 4% of the district area. The rainfall in this zone is 700 to 1250 mm annually which is well distributed
Ghat Zone
This zone is situated in northwestern part of the district in western part of Akole block. Geographically this zone has only 4 per cent of the district area.
On the basis of soil types and sources of irrigation, the district has been categorized into eight Agro Ecological Situations(AES) viz. assured and unassured irrigation system in command area with medium and light soil and the rainfed area with black cotton, medium as well as light soils. The existing farming systems being adopted by majority of farmers in rainfed area of district are characterizes by existence of food grain crops including mostly bajra, Jowar as cereals and mung, udid, and tur as pulse crops in combination with dairy and animal husbandry
Total population of the district is 40.88 lakhs of which 32.84 lakhs is living in the rural area whereas 8.04 lakhs lives in urban area. The literacy of the district is 75.82 per cent. The female to male ratio of the district is 941. In the district, there are 6.8 lakh farming families, out of these 32.45% farmers are having less than 2 ha land holding, 57.89 per cent farmers are having land holding between 2-10 ha. and 9.66 per cent farmers have a land holding with more than 10 ha. Total 3.8L are agriculture laborer, 7.88 lakhs are SC/ST population, 2.11 lakh are dairy and sheep owners and total working population is 14.32 lakh
The work area of KVK Ahmednagar falls within the jurisdiction of Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri which as main research and extension campus at Rahuri catering to various technological research work on arid zone fruits, grapes, vegetables, aromatic and medicinal plants and its constituent research stations at Chas for dry land crop research, Savli Vihir for oilseeds and pulses crop research, Shrirampur for coordinated research on citrus within Ahmednagar District. Apart from this the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai has initiated an Onion Irradiation Project near Rahuri for extending support for irradiation project of onion on cooperative basis.
The fertilizer use consumption statistics shows that the state has an imbalanced fertilizer use pattern in terms of NPK which is 6.8:2.5:1 that of Ahmednagar district is 5:3:1 as per the 2003-2004 fertilizer use estimates. This shows an imbalanced fertilizer use prevalent amongst farmers
| Sr No | Name of Crop | Area in ha | Exist ing Productivity t/ha | Productivity Potential t/ha | Gap in productivity t/ha | Technologies available |
| 01 | Sorghum | 486559 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 45 cm wide sowing, HYVs, INM, seed treatment |
| 02 | Pearl Millet | 191082 | 0.776 | 1.1 | 0.4 | HYVs, drought tolerant varieties, seed treatment, In situ water conservation |
| 03 | Sugarcane | 126041 | 75 | 125 | 50 | Paired row, broad furrow, single/two eye-bud planting, , micro irrigation, INM, IPM |
| 04 | Wheat | 124980 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.6 | HYVs, INM, seed treatment |
| 05 | Cotton | 109038 | 0.32 | 0.5 | 0.18 | Wide row sowing, IPM, INM, micro irrigation, mechanization |
| 06 | Bengalgram | 100032 | 0.85 | 1.2 | 0.4 | HYVs, IPM, INM |
| 07 | Soybean | 50346 | 0.937 | 1.4 | 0.5 | HYVs and short duration varieties, IPM, INM |
| 08 | Redgram | 14000 | 0.85 | 1.2 | 0.4 | Short duration, IPM, intercropping |
| Sr No | Name of Crop | Area in ha | Exist ing Produ ctivity t/ha | Produ ctivity Potential t/ha | Gap in productivity t/ha | Technologies available |
| 01 | Mango | 14113 | 7.5 | 9.0 | 1.5 | High density plantation, improved varieties, micro irrigation, IPM, INM |
| 02 | Lime | 12910 | 12 | 20 | 8 | improved varieties, hasta bahar Regulation, micro irrigation, IPM, INM |
| 03 | Pomegranate | 8348 | 8.5 | 15 | 6.5 | improved varieties, bahar management, micro irrigation, IPM, INM |
| 04 | Guava | 5220 | 20 | 30 | 10 | meadow orchard, bahar management, micro irrigation, IPM, INM |
| 05 | Onion | 69978 | 17 | 22 | 5 | raised bed planting, micro irrigation, IPM, INM, weed management |
| Sr No | Name of Crop | Popula tion | Existing Productivity | Productivity Poten tial | Gap in produc tivity | Technologies available |
| 01 | Crossbred Cow | 243714 | 10-12 lit milk/day | 20 lit milk/ day | 11 lit milk /day | Improved fodder and feed, disease diagnostics, assured conception |
| 02 | Buffalo | 67104 | 6.5 lit milk /day | 10 lit milk /day | 3.5 lit milk /day | Improved fodder and feed, disease diagnostics |
| 03 | Sheep | 394994 | 1 kid/ sheep /year | 1.5 kid/ year | 0.5kid/ year | Disease diagnostics, breed up-gradation |
| 04 | Goat | 1055767 | 0.6 kid/ goat/yr | 1.0 kid /yr | 0.4 kid/ yr | Stall fed system, breed upgradation |
| 05 | Poultry | 2139029 | 1.2 kg/ bird | 1.7 kg/ bird | 0.5 kg/ bird | Disease diagnostics, breed up-gradation |