The total geographic area of Chikkaballapur district is 404.5 (’000 ha) with a mean annual rainfall of 922.70 mm and mean annual temperature is above 26ºC and located approximately between 13º08'00.00" N latitude and 78º08'01.69"E longitude. This district has six talukas viz, Gauribidanur, Gudibande, Bagepalli, Chikkaballapur, Sidlaghatta and Chintamani. Majority of the soils of this district comes under Vijayapura soil series. The geological formation of the Chikkaballapur district is made up of cretaceous red loamy soils, red sandy loam soils and lateritic soil deposits. Major crops grown in Chikkaballapur district are finger millet, groundnut, maize, redgram, paddy, sunflower, bajra and horticulture crops like fruits and vegetables with the net sown area of 170.7 (‘000 ha) and the cropping intensity is 102.0 per cent

The fertility status of Chikkaballapur district showed that among major nutrients, nitrogen and phospohorus were medium to high and available potassium is low. In case of available sulphur, maximum area is low and medium, whereas only 10 per cent of the area is high. With respect to available micronutrients, zinc is found to be deficient in 17 per cent of the area and, 30 per cent of the area is deficient boron. However, other micronutrients viz, iron, manganese and copper are sufficient.