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1、Chapter-1IntroductionIndia is a predominantly agricultural country, with 80 per cent of its population living in rural areas and a majority of its villages engaged in agriculture.Natural resources and particularly land and water are crucial for livelihood development. Increasing natural resource pro
2、ductivity isthus critical to enhance livelihoods and reduce poverty in rural areas as it is imperative for food, water and ecological security.About 55 per cent of our agriculture is rain-fed where delayed, deficient or erraticrains lead to severe reduction in crop production.There has been lack of
3、a coherent policy to develop natural resources asa means to enhance livelihoods, remove poverty, ensure household food security and spur decentralized growth. Self-sufficiencyin food grains production has been the main driver of strategies todevelop natural resources. The advent of green revolution
4、technologies during the 1960s focused attention on the “high potential” plains, beginningwith the Intensive Agricultural Districts Programme during the 3rd Five Year Plan. While thisstrategy served the nation well in ensuring aggregate food security, it isinappropriate for rain-fed regions as it req
5、uires complete control over waterthat these regions lack.Rain-fed regions first received attention during the4th Five Year Plan with the launch of the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) in 70chronically drought-prone districts. DPAP was, however, concerned withdrought proofing rather than liveliho
6、ods and growth-focused development ofnatural resources. Programmes fordesert areas, mountains and coastal areas have been even smaller andhave not fared any better than DPAP.The national watershed development programme (NWDP) begun in 1995was the first significant and considered initiative to develo
7、p rain-fed areas.There has been paradigm shift in development of rainfed areas and management of natural resources. The watershed development initiatives were undertaken basically for drought prone areas for conservation of water resources and development of agriculture. The public investment in rai
8、nfed areas was also low in the initial years however, with the change in government policy and development focus, there has been increasing trend of investment in watershed development programmes both by government and international donor agencies as watershed development programmes are aimed at con
9、servation of natural resources such as water and land development besides improving the agricultural productivity in the rainfed areas.Overall public investments in rain-fed areas have also been very low. Whilecumulative public investment in major and medium irrigation schemes isestimated at Rs 5.5
10、lakh crore at current prices, watershed development has cumulatively received less than Rs 40,000 crore. Private investment, themajor contributor to irrigation, is perhaps even lower in rain-fed areas. Also,procurement and price support policies have favored wheat and rice,neglecting millets and oth
11、er crops most suited to rain-fed areas.The declining per capita land and fresh water availability coupled with soilerosion and land degradation in India are posing serious threat to food,social, environmental and economic security. Land and water go togetherand their development cannot be considered
12、 independent of each other,especially for sustainability of rain-fed areas. Rain-fed areas constitute abouttwo-thirds of nations 142 million hectares cultivated area, are the resource poor areaswith low levels of productivity and suffer most from degradation and thevagaries of nature. It is estimate
13、d that these rain-fed areas contribute only 45per cent to total food production whereas irrigated areas which account for37 per cent of the cultivated area contribute 55 per cent to total food grainproduction.The productivity gains achieved during green revolution in irrigated areashave bypassed rai
14、n-fed areas. However, these irrigated areas are also nowunable to sustain the gains due to land degradation and falling factorproductivity. Even if full irrigation potential of the country is achieved, due topoor irrigation water utilization efficiency about 75 million hectares willstill remain as r
15、ain-fed and would continue to be a major food grainproduction domain.Conservation and management of rainwater hold key for sustainableagriculture in rain-fed/degraded areas. It has also been amply demonstratedin India and elsewhere that it is impossible to envisage or implementsustainable solutions
16、for land and water resources development andmanagement without active and full participation of local community.Development of land and water together with sustainable production systemwhen confined to small natural drainage unit such as watershed leads tosustainable development. Watershed managemen
17、t has, therefore, emergedas a new paradigm for planning, development and management of land,water and biomass resources with a focus on social and institutional aspectsapart from biophysical aspects following a participatory bottom upapproach. Government has accorded very high priority to theholisti
18、c and sustainable development of rain-fed/ degraded areas based on the watershed approach. It is being considered as principal vehicle fortransfer of rain-fed agricultural technology and to bring in ever greenrevolution. The national agriculture policy seeks to promote the integratedand holistic dev
19、elopment of rain-fed/degraded areas through conservationof rainwater and augmentation of biomass production through agro-forestrywith active involvement of the watershed community. Such system basedapproach distinguishes watershed development from earlier approach thatprimarily focused on soil and r
20、ainwater conservation.Over the years, various Central Ministries and Departments have beenimplementing watershed development programmes. From river valleyprojects (1960s) to the Common Guidelines for Watershed DevelopmentProjects (2008), the watershed development programmes have come a longway. The
21、Watershed Guidelines (1994) could be considered as a turning pointin the policy, practice and discourse of watershed approaches in India as theparticipatory watershed management and a focus on livelihoods, asopposed to merely resource conservation began with these guidelines.Agro-Climatic Conditions
22、:The agro-climatic regional planning strategy was developed in order to promote scientific utilization of available resources by taking a holistic view of climate, soil type, topography, water resources and irrigation facilities and relating them to output and employment (Pangare, et. al., 2006). Th
23、e country has been divided into 15 agro-climatic zones having 73 sub-regions and similar climate, rainfall, water demand and supply characteristic, aquifer conditions, soil types and topography (Table 1.1). Table: 1.1Agro-Climatic Regions in IndiaRegionRainfall (mm)ClimateSoilsCropsWestern Himalayas
24、 (Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal)2,000+Primarily humid, high altitude temperate, Laadakh is cold aridHill soils, AlluvialWheat, maize, rice, jowar, barley, potato, rapeseed.Eastern Himalayas (northeastern states)2,000 to 3,500Humid, Sikkim has inadequate moistureRed
25、sandy laterite, acidic, alluvial, red loamy teraiRice, maize, ragi, potato, wheat, jute, rapeseedLower Gangetic Plains (West Bengal)1,300 to 1,600Most sub-humid to dry sub-humidRed and yellow alluvial, deltaic alluvium Rice, jute, wheat, rapeseed, potatoMiddle Gangetic Plains (parts of Uttar Pradesh
26、 and Bihar)1,200 to 1,500Most sub-humid to dry sub-humidAlluvium, calcareous, teraiRice, wheat maize, sugarcane, jute, gram, potatoUpper Gangetic Plains (parts of Uttar Pradesh)720 to 980Dry sub-humid to semi-aridAlluvial, teraiWheat, rice, tur, sugarcane, bajra, maize, potatoTrans-Gangetic Plains (
27、foothills of Shivalik and Himalayas and plains of Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttaranchal)360 to 890Semi-arid to extreme aridAlluvial, calcareousWheat, rice, maize, sugarcane, bajra, gramEastern Plateau and Hills (Parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh)1,270 to 1,440Mois
28、t sub-humid to dry sub-humidMedium to deep black red and yellow, red sandy, red loamyRice, linseed, jowar, wheat, gram, groundnut, maize, nigerseed, ragiCentral Plateau and Hills (parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan)490 to 1,570Dry sub-humid to semi-arid and aridMixed red and black,
29、 red and yellow, deep black, alluvialWheat, gram, jowar, rice, maize, gram soyabean, bajra, rapeseedWestern Plateau and Hills (parts of Madhya Pradesh and most of Maharashtra)600 to 1,000Semi-arid and aridMedium to deep black and sandy alluvialJowar, bajra, groundnut, cotton, wheat, gramSouthern Pla
30、teau and Hills (parts Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu)670 to 1,000Semi-arid to aridMedium black, red loamy, red sandy, coastal alluvium, laterite, deltatic alluviumJowar, cotton, groundnut, ragi, castor seed, maize, rice, bajraEast Coast Plains and Hills (eastern coastal regions of Andhra P
31、radesh and Tamil Nadu)780 to 1,300Sub-humid to semi-aridDeltaic alluvial, coastal alluvial lateritic, red loamy, red sandyRice, groundnut, jute, sesamum, ragi, cotton, jowar, tobacco, bajra.West Coast Plains and Ghats (Western coastal strip of Maharashtra and Kerala)2,700 to 3,640 Humid to dry sub-h
32、umidLateritic, red loamy, coastal alluvium, mixed red and blackRice, ragi, sesamum, tapioca, groundnut, banana, jowar.Gujarat Plains and Hills340 to 1,800Semi-arid to aridDeep black, coastal alluvium, deltaic alluviumRice, ragi, sugarcane, jowar, cotton, wheat, maize, bajra, groundnut.Western Dry (R
33、ajasthan)400Arid to extremely aridDesert soil, grey brownBajra, gram, wheat, rapeseedIslands (Andaman and Nicobar)Over 3,000EquatorialPaddySource: Springs of Life, Academic Foundation, 2006.Wasteland:As per Wasteland Atlas 2005, 17.45 per cent geographical area of the country is reported to be waste
34、land. The proportion of wastelands to the total geographical area was recorded highest in Jammu and Kashmir (69.24 per cent) followed by Manipur (59.01 per cent), Meghalaya (59.01 per cent) and Sikkim (53.67 per cent). The proportion of wasteland against the total wasteland of the country was record
35、ed highest in Rajasthan (18.34 per cent) followed by Jammu & Kashmir (12.70 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (10.34 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (8.19 per cent) and Maharashtra (8.92 per cent) (Table 1.2). Table: 1.2State-wise Wastelands in India(Area in Sq. Kms.)StatesNumber of DistrictsTotal Geographical Ar
36、eas of Districts CoveredTotal Wastelands Area in Districts Covered% of Wastelands to Total Geographical Area% of Total WastelandAndhra Pradesh2327506845267.1516.468.19Arunachal Pradesh168374318175.9521.73.29Assam237843814034.0817.892.54Bihar37941715443.685.780.98Chhatisgarh161351947584.155.261.37Goa
37、23702531.2914.350.09Gujarat2519602420377.7410.43.69Haryana19442123266.457.390.59Himachal Pradesh125567328336.850.95.13Jammu & Kashmir1410138770201.9969.2412.70Jharkhand197970611165.2614.012.02Karnataka2719179113536.587.062.45Kerala14388631788.84.60.32Madhya Pradesh4930825257134.0318.5310.34Maharasht
38、ra3330769049275.4116.018.92Manipur92232713174.7459.012.38Meghalaya7224293411.4159.010.62Mizoram8210814469.8821.20.81Nagaland7165793709.422.370.67Orissa3015570718952.7412.173.43Punjab17503621172.842.330.21Rajasthan32342239101453.8629.6418.34Sikkim470963808.2153.670.69Tamil Nadu2913005817303.2913.33.1
39、3Tripura4104861322.9712.620.24Uttar Pradesh7024092616984.167.053.07Uttaranchal135348316097.4630.12.91West Bengal18887524397.464.950.79UTs2010973314.382.870.06Total5973166412552692.1617.45100.00Source: Wasteland Atlas, 2005.Estimates of wastelands in India are shown in Table 1.3. Out of total wastela
40、nds, about 28 per cent wasteland was categorized as forest degraded area. The largest forest degraded area was reported in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Bihar. Non-forest degraded area constituted 72.31 per cent and this proportion was reported 90 per
41、cent in Rajasthan and 82 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. Non-forest degraded area was recorded high in Rajasthan followed by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Table: 1.3Estimates of Wastelands in India(000 Sq. Km.)States/UTsNon-Forest Degraded AreaForest D
42、egraded AreaTotalAndhra Pradesh76.8237.34114.16Assam9.357.9517.30Bihar38.9615.6254.58Gujarat71.536.8378.36Haryana24.040.7424.78Himachal Pradesh14.245.3419.58Jammu & Kashmir5.3110.3415.65Karnataka71.2220.43912.65Kerala10.532.2612.79Madhya Pradesh129.4771.95201.42Maharashtra115.628.41144.01Manipur0.14
43、14.2414.38Meghalaya8.1511.0319.18Nagaland5.088.7813.86Orissa31.5732.2763.84Punjab11.510.7912.30Rajasthan180.0119.33199.34Sikkim1.311.52.81Tamil Nadu33.9210.0944.01Tripura1.088.659.73Uttar Pradesh66.3514.2680.61West Bengal21.773.5925.36UTs8.8927.1536.04Total936.91358.891295.80Source: Forestry Statist
44、ics India, 2000Evolution of Watershed Development ProgrammesWatershed Development Programmes in India are relatively new, which focus on soil and water conservation by the Ministry of Agriculture had begun in the early sixties (Planning Commission, 2004).After independence, India relied on multi-pur
45、pose reservoirs forproviding irrigation and generating hydro-electricity. In order to stabilize thecatchments of reservoirs and to control siltation, a Centrally SponsoredScheme of Soil Conservation Work in the Catchments of River ValleyProjects was launched in 1962-63. The Ministry of Agriculture s
46、tarted a schemeof Integrated Watershed Management in the Catchments of FloodProne Rivers in 1980-81. During the 1980s, several successfulexperiences of fully treated watersheds, such as Sukhomajri inHaryana and Ralegaon Siddhi in Western Maharashtra came into light. The Ministry of Agriculture also
47、launched a scheme for propagation of waterharvesting/conservation technology in rainfed areas in 19 identifiedlocations in 1982-83. In October 1984, Ministry of Rural Development adopted this approach in22 other locations in rainfed areas. In these 41 model of watersheds, ICAR was also involved to provide research and technology support.The purpose of these Operation Research