In Karnataka state, land degradation, climate change and its variability are the major threats to agricultural sustainability. Under such conditions, the adoption of soil and water conservation measures is of prime importance due to their multiple synergetic positive effects on natural resources. The main objective of the study is to identify the constraints and problems in adoption and repair and maintenance of soil and water conservation measures in the drought prone areas of Karnataka State. Following multistage proportionate simple random sampling, primary data from 593 farmers were collected for this study. Garrett's ranking technique was used to prioritize the farmers’ response on constraints. It was found that major constraints in adoption of soil and water conservation measures were waiting for watershed programme on their fields, lack technical support and lack of interest of land owners. Major constraints in repair and maintenance of soil and water conservation measures were lack of technical support, non-utilization of watershed fund and fragmented land holdings. Involvement in multiple schemes, merging of watershed department with agriculture department, short window for implementation, difficult in community mobilization, mismatch between the fund requirement and its release, lack of convergence of resources from different schemes and shortage of technical resource persons were identified as major problems faced by watershed implementation agencies in the State. Therefore, concerted efforts are need to be made to overcome these constraints for an effective and efficient implementation of soil and water conservation programmes.