Chitradurga district is located approximately between 14º13'48"N latitude and 76º24'0"E longitude and consists of six taluks namely, Challakere, Chitradurga, Hiriyur, Holalkere, Hosadurga and Molakalmur. The total geographic area is 844 (’000 ha) with a mean annual rainfall of 671.00 mm which comes under the central dry zone of Karnataka. The geological formation of the Chitradurga district is made up of cretaceous black/red sandy, loamy, clay loam and clayey soils. The major crops cultivated in this district are finger millet, groundnut, maize, redgram, paddy, sunflower, bajra, chilli and horticulture crops like fruit crops such as mango and pomegranate, sapota, banana, plantation crops like coconut, arecanut, and also some vegetables.

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