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Farm level rainwater harvesting for dryland agriculture in India: Performance assessment and institutional and policy needs

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Title Farm level rainwater harvesting for dryland agriculture in India: Performance assessment and institutional and policy needs
 
Creator Shalander, Kumar
 
Contributor Venkateswarlu, B.
Chand, Khem
Roy, Murari Mohan
 
Subject cropping inensity
rainfed
 
Description The present study was conducted to assess the performance of farm ponds in 5 major rainfed states of India
- Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnakata, Tamilnadu and Rajasthan, during 2009 and 2010. The data
points included sites in the field, farmers, implementing agencies, NGOs, scientists and policy-makers.
Rainwater harvested was either used for supplemental irrigation or recharging the open wells. Rainwater
harvesting structures of different types and size (10x10x2.5 m, 30x30x3m, 45x45x3m; 82x26x3m) were
constructed on individual farms, especially for smallholders. The farmer’s contribution to the cost of
construction ranged from 10 to 80%. In many cases, farm level rainwater harvesting structures were
highly useful for rainfed farming under climate change scenario and had a multiplier effect on farm
income. In other situations, it was viewed as wastage of productive land. The farm ponds in Maharashtra
resulted in significant increase in farm productivity (12 to 32 %), income and cropping intensity. The
ponds were also used for aquaculture for 6-7 months, providing additional net income up to US$ 200 /
pond/ annum. Similarly, in Andhra Pradesh farm pond water was useful for supplemental irrigation to
mango tree plantation, vegetables and other crops and animals and resulted in significant increase in
household income adding net returns of US$ 120 to 320 ha-1 annum-1. In spite of its great relevance, the
acceptance and adoption of farm pond was not very high except in Maharashtra. The study analysed the
factors responsible for success and failure. Though the customization of package and technology were
important factors, the institutional mechanism, governance at grass root level and people’s participation
played greater role in the success. Based on the lessons learnt, different policy and institutional options are
proposed for promoting farm-level rainwater-harvesting for dryland agriculture.
 
Date 2013-11-20
2017-01-05T19:41:56Z
2017-01-05T19:41:56Z
 
Type Conference Paper
 
Identifier https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20163289159
https://mel.cgiar.org/reporting/download/hash/MUzp7TU6
Kumar Shalander, B. Venkateswarlu, Khem Chand, Murari Mohan Roy. (20/11/2013). Farm level rainwater harvesting for dryland agriculture in India: Performance assessment and institutional and policy needs. Harbin, China.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/5259
Limited access
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-NC-4.0
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher International Dryland Development Commission (IDDC)