Journey of Watershed Approach in India B. Pradhan Department of Land Resources Ministry of Rural Development Govt. of India B. Pradhan Department of Land Resources Ministry of Rural Development Govt. of India

Evolution of Watershed Approach

Watershed as Growth Engine for Development rainfed areas  The Assessment of WSPs by ICRISAT- has shown:  B : C ratio of 2.01, IRR 21.43%.  Enhancing rural incomes by 58%, increasing agricultural productivity by 35% besides protecting the environment.  Employment generation increased by 154 days per ha. /year.  Irrigated area increased by 51.5% & cropping intensity by 35.5%.  Ground water table improved by 3.2 meters and runoff declined by 13.  It implies WS have potential that needs to be unlocked

Major Challenges and Opportunities  Capacity Building  Expanding livelihoods  Equity  Sustainability  Monitoring & Evaluation  Capacity Building  Expanding livelihoods  Equity  Sustainability  Monitoring & Evaluation

Capacity Building in Watershed Management  Capacity development as weakest link for enhancing impact  Capacity development – quality and quantity issues  Involve quality institutions  Sharing knowledge using new media tools

Expanding Livelihood Options  Livestock management, animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries and other land based activities to be integrated into watershed development programmes.  Multi disciplinary/multi-institutional partnership  Convergence of schemes/programmes

How to Enhance Sustainability Through collective action and community participation  Efficient use of conserved soil and water resources  Emphasis on demand management rather than resource augmentation  Demand driven rather than supply driven activities  Knowledge sharing and capacity development  Linking to markets  Tangible economic benefits to individuals e.g. productivity enhancement

Equity  Benefits from public land must be reserved for the landless and resource poor who should be organized in SHGs and their federations for effective marketing of produce.  Close attention needs to be paid to developing common lands for livelihoods and making sure that the landless have access to them.  Benefits from investment on private lands should also be shared among farmers. Detailed agreements on sharing water and other benefits to be worked out with provision for user charges.

Common Guidelines Have provided broad framework and detailed operational manuals and process guidelines need to be developed. Just policies don’t work, need to be executed well with peoples participation..

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