Despite sizeable national food stocks, widespread poverty and hunger remain because agricultural and national economic growth have not adequately benefitted the disadvantaged regions and the poor people. The demand for basic staples, non-food grains and exports is increasing. At the same time, resources are shrinking and the productivity of some of the resources already being utilised is threatened by environmental degradation. Growth in the total productivity is reported to have slightly declined in major crops. Returns to investment in agricultural research and rural infrastructure are high, but these investments remain low. Most of the increase in agricultural output over the years has taken place under irrigated conditions. Opportunities for continued expansion of irrigated area are limited. So Indian planners are increasingly looking to rain fed or unirrigated agriculture to help meet the rising demand for food projected over the next several decades. Despite the historic bias in favour of irrigated agriculture in terms of research and infrastructural investments, rain fed agriculture has always been an important part of the agricultural sector. This form of agriculture accounts for about two-thirds of the total cropped area (Government of India 1994), and nearly half of the total value of agricultural output. Almost half of all food grains are grown under rain fed conditions, and hundreds of millions of poor rural people depend on rain fed agriculture as the primary source of their livelihood.1

The main objective of watershed projects is to restore the moisture content of the soil by collecting rainwater. This will lead to an increase in soil fertility resulting in increased agricultural production. To overcome the problems of drought, floods, prevent soil erosion, improve agricultural production; it is important to optimise the use of land, water and vegetation. Development of these regions in terms of enhancing the crop yields holds the key for future food security.2 Promotion of appropriate technologies and development strategies in these regions would result in multiple benefits; namely, ensuring food security, enhancing the viability of farming and restoring the ecological balance.

A watershed is an area of land which drains to a common outlet. Every human activity is integrated by water as water is essential for every human being. Watershed development is, therefore, an apt concept because even a single drop of water which falls into it can be systematically utilised for the optimum production and prosperity of the area.

India shares 16 per cent of the world’s population, while its land is only 2 per cent of the total geographical area of the world. Naturally, the pressure on the land is often far beyond its carrying capacity. Therefore, the productive lands, especially the farmlands in India are in a constant process of various degrees of degradation and are fast turning into wastelands. At present, approximately 68.35 million hectares of the land is lying waste. Out of this, approximately 50 per cent is non-forest lands, which can be made fertile again if treated properly.

It was the unprotected non-forest lands that suffered maximum degradation mainly due to the tremendous biotic pressure on it. In the last 50 years, India’s lush green village forests and woodlots have been deforested. It is precisely to restore this ecological imbalance by developing the degraded non-forest wastelands that the Government of India had created the Department of Wasteland Development in July 1992 under the Ministry of Rural Development, which has been subsequently reorganised and renamed Department of Land Resources, with a broader mandate.

Initially after independence in the 1960s, the Ministry of Agriculture started conservation programmes on soil and water in order to increase agricultural production as the country was mostly dependent on irrigation facility. In 1962-63, a centrally sponsored scheme of ‘Soil Conservation Work in the catchments of River Valley Projects’ (RVP) was launched to stabilise the catchment of reservoirs and to control siltation. Following this, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) came up with a scheme of Integrated Watershed Management in the catchment area of Flood Prone Rivers (FPR) in 1980-81. During 1982-82 under MoA and MoRD, around 41 locations were identified to implement the scheme of water conservation technology in rain fed areas. ICAR was also involved to provide research and technology support. The purpose of these Operation Research Projects was to develop ‘model watersheds’ in different agro-climatic zones of the country. In 1990, MoA launched a scheme for rain fed areas, known as National Watershed Development Programme of Rain Fed Areas, and a parallel running programme titled Drought Prone Area Development (DPAP) launched by MoRD in 1972-73. In 1977-78 another programme called Desert Development Programme (DDP) was started by MoRD with the focus on development of cold and hot desert areas of the country.
 

Accordingly, Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP) and Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP) of the Department of Land Resources have been integrated and consolidated into a single programme called Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP). This consolidation for optimum use of resources, sustainable outcomes and integrated planning has been approved by the Government on 26 February 2009.

About 2.7 per cent of the total water available on the earth is fresh water. Of this about 75.2 per cent lies frozen in polar regions and another 22.6 per cent is present as ground water. Based on the per capita renewable water availability, India has enough water to meet its people’s needs. But despite an estimated 2,464 cubic meters per person per year, many of its nearly 900 million people suffer from severe water shortages. Sustainable development of watershed area is the need of the hour not only for soil conservation and ground water conservation but also for its impact on national economy and solution for the problem of employment.

For balancing the act, it is necessary to maintain at least 33 per cent forest coverage of the available land in each country. In drought-prone areas, there are two critical factors: water and soil. In such areas, the main objective is to conserve these two resources. Once soil and water are conserved, vegetative growth can easily sustain itself. To achive this objective economically and efficiently, Refilled Continuous Contour Trenching (RCCT)3 Technology is the solution. RCCT work follows a top down approach, in which the total area is covered with retention of soil in its own place. It also arrests every drop of water which infiltrates into the subsoil instead of flowing as surface water that results in evaporation losses and soil erosion. RCCT also recharges downstream water sources, e.g. nallas, dug wells, tube wells, etc. This particular technique has proved to be most effective.

Water harvesting may be one of the solutions to overcome the problem of scarcity of water for irrigation. Water harvesting in its broadest sense may be defined as ‘Collection of runoff for its productive use’. Runoff may be harvested from roofs and ground surfaces as well as from intermittent watercourses.

Thus the effect of waste onto the environment can be controlled by practicing the three Rs, viz., Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.4q

End Notes
1 Kerr John M, Derek Byerlee, Kumaresan Govindan, Peter Hazell, Behjat Hojjati, S. Thorat and Satya Yadav; November1996; Sustainable Development of Rainfed Agriculture in India; EPTD Discussion Paper No. 20, Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute.
2 Reddy V Ratna, 2000; Sustainable Watershed Management, Institutional Approach, Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 35, No. 38 (1 -22 September 2000), pp. 3435-3444.
3 Sustainable Watershed Development by Refilled Continuous Contour Trenching Technology’ Parag A. Sadgir,
G. K. Patil, V. G. Takalkar; National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management, 11-12 November 2006, Nagpur.
5 A Case Study on Wastewater Treatment and Reuse of Waste Water; V. Karthikeyan, P. Venugopal; National Seminar on Rainwater Harvesting and Water Management.