Raichur Krishna Tungabhadra Paddy Cotton Farming Karnataka

Raichur district in north Karnataka lies between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers and their doab (confluence plain), where canal irrigation from the Tungabhadra Dam at Hospet supports double-cropped paddy and cotton cultivation by smallholder farmers on the rich black cotton soil. Raichur district has one of Karnataka's highest proportions of SC/ST farming communities who depend on the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal for irrigation; the canal's water allocation disputes between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have been a recurring inter-state water conflict. Raichur's Sharana tradition — the 12th century Veerashaiva (Lingayat) philosophical movement led by Basavanna — was born in this region, with Basavanna's vachana (philosophical poetry) and the Anubhava Mantapa dialogue platform representing the earliest democratic philosophical gathering in India.