Impact of water resources development and technology interventions on livelihood of farmers in eastern India: A case study

Abstract

Agricultural technology introductions were carried out and their impact was studied in two clusters of villages in the DhenkanalSadar and Odapada blocks of Dhenkanal District in Odisha in the eastern Indian plateau region. Ten water-harvesting struc-tures (WHSs) were constructed in two clusters of villages in the farmers’fields on a participatory basis. Harvested water inWHSs was used for multiple purposes, viz. agriculture,fish culture, on-dyke horticulture, vegetable cultivation, poultry, dairyand mushroom cultivation; integrated farming system (IFS) models were developed. Adequate training was also given to thefarmers. The net income from the integrated farming systems varied widely between Rs. 16 100 and 251 000 ha 1. Poultryfarming in the uplands and intensive cultivation around the embankments of the ponds were found to be effective in increasingthe net return from the IFS models. Impact analysis of the water resources development and technology introductions at thestudy sites was carried out by analysing the comparative position of physical, social,financial, human and natural assets ofthe farmers before and after adoption of the introductions. The overall standard of living of the study farmers increased from13.5 to 17.1 on a scale of 5 to 25, respectively. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.