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Rainwater harvesting and integrated development of agri-horti-livestock-cumpisciculture in high altitudes for livelihood of Tribal farmers

Indian Agricultural Research Journals

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Title Rainwater harvesting and integrated development of agri-horti-livestock-cumpisciculture in high altitudes for livelihood of Tribal farmers
 
Creator DAS, ANUP
MUNDA, G C
AZAD THAKUR, N S
YADAV, R K
GHOSH, P K
NGACHAN, S V
BUJARBARUAH, K M
LAL, B
DAS, S K
MAHAPATRA, B K
ISLAM, M
DUTTA, K K
 
Subject High altitude, Integrated farming system, Livelihood, Participatory research, Rainwater harvesting, Watershed development
 
Description Participatory rainwater harvesting for promoting integrated development of agri-horti-livestock-cum-pisciculture was implemented during 2004-2008 at high altitude (> 1500m MSL) areas of Mawlangkhar village, West Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya in a watershed approach to assess and refine improved package of practices integrating crops, fruits, vegetables, fish and animal production for higher productivity and income. Soil and water conservation measures like construction and renovation of ponds, jalkund- a micro rainwater harvesting structure on hilltops, bench and half moon terraces were developed with the active participation of the local peoples. The quantum of water harvested at one point of time during monsoon season through two ponds in community lands (2.69 million litre water), two ponds in individual farmer’s land (1.2 million litre water) and 15 jalkunds (0.45 million litre) on hill tops estimated to be about 4.3 million litre, was utilized for multiple purposes including irrigation, pisciculture, livestocks and domestic purpose. The cost of water harvesting in community pond was computed at Rupees 12/1000 litre (L) and for jalkund Rupees  82/1000 litre considering the lives of pond and jalkund for at least 20 and 3 years, respectively. Impact analysis revealed that the productivity has gone up by 30–40% in potato and 45-50 % in rice with the introduction of improved package of practices for various crops, availability of irrigation water and integration of different components. Farmers are now able to get about Rupees 2 440/month from community dairy unit and the individual farmer’s income from piggery unit increased substantially which ranged from Rupees 8 465 to 16 654/year. Besides, farmers are earning a substantial income (Rupees 10 000/annum from community pond) from composite pisciculuture. Therefore, integrated watershed programme could be considered as a successful model for high altitude areas of North East India and similar other ecosystems for livelihood improvement of resource poor tribal farmers.
 
Publisher The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
 
Contributor —
 
Date 2014-05-09
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://epubs.icar.org.in/ejournal/index.php/IJAgS/article/view/40491
 
Source The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences; Vol 84, No 5 (2014)
0019-5022
 
Language eng
 
Relation http://epubs.icar.org.in/ejournal/index.php/IJAgS/article/view/40491/18143
 
Rights Copyright (c) 2014 The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences