The workshop was structured in two sections. Research papers were presented from research institutes such as Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Central Soil & Water Conservation Research and Training Institute (CSWRTI), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), National Research Centre for Agroforestry (NRCAF), National Institute for Rural Development (NIRD) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). This was followed by presentation of success stories by various States.

The theme based presentations include –

Dryland Agriculture: Issues and Strategies 

This paper by Mohammed Osman, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad deals with the sectoral scenario, impact and future vision for dryland agriculture. The future scenario (in the next ten years) is marked by (a) Increased frequency of droughts and other extreme events with changing climate; (b) Major shifts in cropping pattern/crop mix driven by weather and economic drivers (c) Increased soil erosion and floods due to high intensity rainfall; (d) Shortage of green fodder and more demand for feed and concentrates (e) Acute labour shortage and sharp demand for mechanization of all operations (f) Increased dependence on groundwater in rainfed areas and (g) Operational holdings may not support household livelihood security of small and marginal farmers leading to more migration.

The critical areas to be addressed in watersheds include – (a) Technologies to cope with high intensity droughts and other extreme weather events; (b) Rainwater management including groundwater recharge with focus on demand management to enhance productivity at farm level; (c) Small farm mechanization to overcome labour shortage and (d) Diversified cropping/farming systems for risk minimization and meeting household income needs.

Participatory Watershed Development: Experiences from IWDP 

This presentation deals with the case study of two watersheds Bada Khera and Salaiyur watersheds located in semi-arid region under rainfed agriculture. These structures constructed under the watershed development programme have helped in reducing runoff and soil loss from the watersheds in addition to groundwater recharge. The focus was on crop improvement to benefit from the soil and water conservation interventions and increase crop productivity/ production in both the watersheds. Community organization component through formation and development of WAs, WC, UGs and SHGs has been a major strength of the projects by way of establishing people’s institutions and developing them as cohesive unit to take up development works in the watershed. The projects had tremendous impact on the income of the stakeholders which increased by about 44 per cent in both the watersheds.

Consortium Approach to Capacity Building for Watershed Management: A Conceptual Framework

This presentation by GIZ-NRM begins with a discussion on the evolution of watershed approach in India. It presents the consortium approach for watershed programmees in India and in particular identifies capacity building as the weakest link for scaling-up. It recommends quality capacity development at all levels through consortium approach. It also highlights the need for sharing knowledge using media tools.

Watershed Management: A Growth Engine for Sustainable Development

This presentation by Suhas P Wani and Anantha K H, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) deals with the evolution of watershed approach in India and discusses the vast untapped potential of rainfed agriculture in India. Current farmers’ yields are lower by 2 to 5 folds than the achievable yield. Based on a meta-analysis of 636 case studies the presentation suggests that watersheds are revolutionalising drylands. It deals with issues like holistic livelihood approach, science-based approach, sustainability, empowerment, farmers’ centric watershed as an entry point, social inclusion (equity & gender) and scaling-up and scaling-out.

Effectiveness of Watershed Management in India: Some Empirical Evidences

This presentation by U Hemantha Kumar, National Institute of Rural Development states that the gap between PIA and Watershed Committee at the watershed level appears to be critical in the whole process of implementation and management. In the context of exit protocol, maintenance of the infrastructure created was a serious problem prior to people’s participation. The nature of contributions was associated with the nature of interaction between the people and the PIA. Based on the case studies it suggests that the supervision part of the watershed projects is found neglected due to incohesiveness among the user groups. Establishing capacity and confidence building measures between different stakeholders is missing and needs to be strengthened for the sustenance of the project. Working capacity of WA/WC, PIA, involvement of primary stakeholders and homogeneous groups helped ensure equity and checked systematic corruption.

Success Stories in Watershed Management and Research Initiatives: A Case Study of Garhkundar-Dabar Watershed in Bundelkhand

This presentation by the National Research Centre for Agroforestry states that NRM through agroforestry interventions on watershed basis is the only option for sustainable agricultural productivity and improved livelihoods. The presentation discusses how integration of agroforestry technologies with NRM in participatory mode ensures livelihood opportunities and drought mitigation strategies for the region.

Success Stories of Watershed Projects under WDF

This presentation by NABARD presents the future watershed strategy and stressed the need to move towards holistic NRM approach by incorporating agronomic interventions, agriculture productivity enhancement, water resources management and livelihood interventions for sustainable development. It also recommends the need for move towards credit based development in the post watershed phase involving RRBs/ PACS/CBs. It talks of exploring involvement of subsidiaries of NABARD viz. ABFL/ADFT/ NABFINS for credit deployment. Furthermore it stressed the use of technologies like IT, GIS, GPS for planning, monitoring and impact assessment. It concluded with the need for completion of watershed projects without time overruns through adoption of techniques/ methods such as “Kaizen – Lean – Sigma”.

These thematic presentations along with the state wise presentations can be accessed below -