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Identifying potential zones for rainwater harvesting interventions for sustainable intensification in the semi‑arid tropics

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/12185/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07847-4
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07847-4
 
Title Identifying potential zones for rainwater harvesting interventions for sustainable intensification in the semi‑arid
tropics
 
Creator Garg, K K
Akuraju, V R
Anantha, K H
Singh, R
Whitbread, A M
Dixit, S
 
Subject Drought
Irrigation
Watershed Management
Water Resources
Drylands
 
Description Decentralized rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a promising approach to mitigate drought in the drylands. However, an insufficient understanding of its impact on hydrological processes has resulted in poor resource planning in this area. This study is a meta-analysis of 25 agricultural watersheds representing a range of rainfall and soil types in the semi-arid tropics. Rainfall-runoff-soil loss
relationship was calculated at daily, monthly and yearly levels, and the impact of RWH interventions on surface runoff and soil loss was quantified. A linear relationship was observed between daily rainfall and surface runoff up to 120 mm of rainfall intensity, which subsequently saw an exponential increase. About 200–300 mm of cumulative rainfall is the threshold to initiate surface runoff in the Indian semi-arid tropics. Rainwater harvesting was effective in terms of enhancing groundwater availability (2.6–6.9 m), crop intensification (40–100%) and farmers’ incomes (50–200%) in different benchmark watersheds. An average of 40 mm of surface runoff was harvested annually and it reduced soil loss by 70% (3 ton/ha/year compared to 1 ton/ha/year in non-intervention stage. The study further quantified runoff at 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles, and found that more than 70% of the area in the Indian semi-arid tropics has high to medium potential for implementing RWH interventions.
 
Publisher Nature Publishing Group
 
Date 2022-03-10
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights cc_attribution
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/12185/1/Scientific%20Reports_12_01-18_2022.pdf
Garg, K K and Akuraju, V R and Anantha, K H and Singh, R and Whitbread, A M and Dixit, S (2022) Identifying potential zones for rainwater harvesting interventions for sustainable intensification in the semi‑arid tropics. Scientific Reports (TSI), 12. 01-18. ISSN 2045-2322