Impact of Watershed Development Projects on Seasonal Livestock Migration — A Study on Shivalik Foothill Villages in Haryana

Seasonal migration of pastoral nomads, which constitutes a major proportion of human population in the Shivalik foothill villages in the Haryana state, is being practised since long in the region. To a large extent, these movements are associated with the absence of water resources development in the water-scarce regions. The present paper has examined the impact of watershed development programmes on seasonal livestock migration and has investigated the determinants of likelihood of such types of migration. The results have revealed that though the watershed development projects have helped in improving the productivity of agricultural land, the same gains are still to be realized on common lands because small and landless families entirely depend on common lands for livestock rearing. Evidence has shown that market access defines the degree of livestock exploitation and there is enormous scope for improving the effectiveness through focused interventionsAgricultural and Food Policy,

Economic Viability of Rainwater Harvesting by Renovating Village Ponds in Small Agricultural Watershed of Johranpur (HP)

The study has evaluated the benefits and financial structure of the project in the village Johranpur, district Solan (Himachal Pradesh) where a project under the NATP on ‘Rainwater Management on Micro Watershed basis’ was undertaken in the year 2000. It has also studied the extent of employment generated by the project and has assessed the changes in the land-use pattern in the project area. The results have revealed that technology of diverting run-off from agricultural fields to renovated ponds and its recycling to the same area with peoples’ participation and other technological interventions could produce remarkable results and have tripled the net agricultural income. The project was implemented at an initial cost of 9.21 lakhs and farmers incurred additional annual cost on inputs ranging from Rs 4963 to Rs 6346 per hectare due to supplemental irrigation, increased cropping intensity and higher input-use. The benefit cost ratio has been found as 1.71 using a discount value of 10 per cent for the project-life of 10 years. The project has also helped in generating additional employment opportunities on casual as well as regular basis.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Role of Watershed Management in Bridging Demand – Supply Gap of Fodder for Enhancing Livestock Production in Shivaliks, Haryana

Watershed programme is an important intervention in dryland areas to improve livestock productivity through increased feed and fodder supply. The present study has focused on the impact of watershed interventions on crop-livestock linkages with particular emphasis on how the interventions have affected the quantity of stovers/straws as livestock feeding materials in bridging the demand-supply gap. The study has been carried out in three typical Shivalik foothill watersheds (two treated and one untreated) in the Panchkula district of Haryana state. The impact of watershed development programme has been estimated by adopting both with and without approach and before and after approach. The untreated watershed has derived 65 per cent of its total income from animal husbandry. On the contrary, this sector has contributed 42 per cent and 20 per cent in two treated watersheds. The availability of supplemental irrigation enabled the villagers to step up cropping intensity. The number of goats has reduced considerably in both treated watersheds and the number of stall-fed buffaloes has increased. Adult cattle units per household and per hectatre of cultivated area have been found to be highest in the untreated watershed. Green and dry fodder availability, both from cultivated lands and forest area, has increased as a result of implementation of watershed programme. Although the gap between requirement and availability has narrowed down in both the treated watersheds, significant gains could be realized in Sambhalwa watershed due to sufficient water availability to all the households. Bunga watershed has also shown effectiveness of watershed development programme in reducing demand –supply gap of fodder. This gap, however, widened after reaching the saturation point of watershed programme, i.e. after 22 years of its implementation.Fodder, Demand-supply gap, Watershed management, Livestock production, Shivaliks, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q01, Q15, Q25, Q28,

Post-adoption behaviour of farmers towards soil and water conservation technologies of watershed management in India

AbstractThe Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC) and its Research Centres have developed many successful model watershed projects in India in the past and implemented many Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) technologies for sustainable watershed management. While many evaluation studies were conducted on these projects in the past, there has been no assessment of the post-adoption status of the SWC technologies over a longer period. It was imperative to appraise the behaviour of the farmers with regard to the continuance or discontinuance of the technologies adopted, diffusion or infusion that took place and technological gaps that occurred in due course of time in the post watershed programme. Therefore, it was realized that the post-adoption behaviour of beneficiary farmers who have adopted different soil and water conservation technologies for watershed management projects should be studied in detail. The research study was initiated in 2012 as a core project at Vasad as the lead Centre along with IISWC headquarter Dehradun, and Centres Agra, Bellary, Chandigarh, Datia, Kota & Ooty, with the specific objectives of the study to measure the extent of post-adoption behaviour (continued-adoption, discontinuance, technological gap, diffusion and infusion) of farmers towards the adopted SWC technologies of watershed management. In the present study various indices regarding continued adoption, dis-adoption (discontinuance), technological gap, diffusion, infusion regarding soil and water conservation technologies for watershed management were developed for measurement of post-adoption behaviour of farmers. It was revealed that a little less than three-fourth (73%) of SWC technologies continued to be adopted and more than one-fourth (27%) were discontinued by farmers. Out of the total continue adopted SWC technologies by farmers, a little less than one-fifth (19%) of technologies continued to be adopted with a technological gap. More than one-fourth (28%) of SWC technologies were also diffused to other farmers’ fields in nearby villages and on an average 1.2 technologies were also infused into the farmers׳ fields from outside by their own efforts in the watersheds developed by the IISWC and its Centres

Impact of Watershed Development Projects on Seasonal Livestock Migration — A Study on Shivalik Foothill Villages in Haryana

Seasonal migration of pastoral nomads, which constitutes a major proportion of human population in the Shivalik foothill villages in the Haryana state, is being practised since long in the region. To a large extent, these movements are associated with the absence of water resources development in the water-scarce regions. The present paper has examined the impact of watershed development programmes on seasonal livestock migration and has investigated the determinants of likelihood of such types of migration. The results have revealed that though the watershed development projects have helped in improving the productivity of agricultural land, the same gains are still to be realized on common lands because small and landless families entirely depend on common lands for livestock rearing. Evidence has shown that market access defines the degree of livestock exploitation and there is enormous scope for improving the effectiveness through focused intervention

Economic Viability of Rainwater Harvesting by Renovating Village Ponds in Small Agricultural Watershed of Johranpur (HP)

The study has evaluated the benefits and financial structure of the project in the village Johranpur, district Solan (Himachal Pradesh) where a project under the NATP on ‘Rainwater Management on Micro Watershed basis’ was undertaken in the year 2000. It has also studied the extent of employment generated by the project and has assessed the changes in the land-use pattern in the project area. The results have revealed that technology of diverting run-off from agricultural fields to renovated ponds and its recycling to the same area with peoples’ participation and other technological interventions could produce remarkable results and have tripled the net agricultural income. The project was implemented at an initial cost of 9.21 lakhs and farmers incurred additional annual cost on inputs ranging from Rs 4963 to Rs 6346 per hectare due to supplemental irrigation, increased cropping intensity and higher input-use. The benefit cost ratio has been found as 1.71 using a discount value of 10 per cent for the project-life of 10 years. The project has also helped in generating additional employment opportunities on casual as well as regular basis

Role of Watershed Management in Bridging Demand – Supply Gap of Fodder for Enhancing Livestock Production in Shivaliks, Haryana

Watershed programme is an important intervention in dryland areas to improve livestock productivity through increased feed and fodder supply. The present study has focused on the impact of watershed interventions on crop-livestock linkages with particular emphasis on how the interventions have affected the quantity of stovers/straws as livestock feeding materials in bridging the demand-supply gap. The study has been carried out in three typical Shivalik foothill watersheds (two treated and one untreated) in the Panchkula district of Haryana state. The impact of watershed development programme has been estimated by adopting both with and without approach and before and after approach. The untreated watershed has derived 65 per cent of its total income from animal husbandry. On the contrary, this sector has contributed 42 per cent and 20 per cent in two treated watersheds. The availability of supplemental irrigation enabled the villagers to step up cropping intensity. The number of goats has reduced considerably in both treated watersheds and the number of stall-fed buffaloes has increased. Adult cattle units per household and per hectatre of cultivated area have been found to be highest in the untreated watershed. Green and dry fodder availability, both from cultivated lands and forest area, has increased as a result of implementation of watershed programme. Although the gap between requirement and availability has narrowed down in both the treated watersheds, significant gains could be realized in Sambhalwa watershed due to sufficient water availability to all the households. Bunga watershed has also shown effectiveness of watershed development programme in reducing demand –supply gap of fodder. This gap, however, widened after reaching the saturation point of watershed programme, i.e. after 22 years of its implementation

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Not AvailableThere has been an increasing participation of communities for management of common property water resources (CPWRs) as a means to reduce pressure on government finances, and to improve efficiency and sustainability of irrigation systems. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative surveys conducted during 2010 and 2012 of 406 households in five villages located in foothills of Shivalik region in Northern Himalayas, this paper analyses impact of community based water storage structures on productivity, economic efficiency and social aspects. Majority of surveyed beneficiary farmers (88%) belonged to marginal and small categories owning less than 2 ha of cultivated land, and are heavily dependent upon CPWRs for agriculture, animal husbandry and domestic needs. Dependence on CPWRs for irrigation was noticed to be higher of marginal farms than small farms indicating that dependence on CPWRs decreased with increase in landholding size. Marginal farmers' dependence on CPWRs for animal needs was absolute as this category of farmers do not own private water source. The results evinced that community based rain water harvesting structures have effectively contributed to close existing gap between demand and supply of water for its multiple usages. Augmentation of ground water recharge resulted in installation of tube-wells which paved way for informal local water markets by reallocation of water from surplus to scarcity farms and they are taken as a coping strategy for managing water scarcity.Not Availabl