Watershed Development
SPS has taken up 45,000 acres for direct implementation of watershed programmes spread over 34 villages, spending Rs. 60 million. This has generated nearly a million person-days of employment. The total storage capacity of the water harvesting structures created by SPS is over 1 million cubic metres. This has had the primary impact of ensuring drinking water security to all households in these villages. Rabi irrigation has shown a rise of 300% and the overall irrigation ratio has more than doubled. A significant impact of the work has been drought-proofing of the kharif crop. As in any typical dryland region, rainfall in our area is low, highly erratic and characterized by long dry spells between rainy days. Water harvesting structures help farmers tide over this crisis by providing crucial "life-saving" protective irrigation. We see the watershed programme as crucial public investment to incentivise private investments by even the poorest farmers on their own lands.
The value of agricultural output has gone up mainly due to expansion in irrigated area and higher per hectare yields. The yield of kharif (mostly rainfed) crops has shown a rise in the range of 10-20% and that of rabi (mostly irrigated) crops has shown a rise of 50-60%. Overall, the value of production of kharif and rabi crops together has gone up in the range of 80-160%. The Benefit-Cost Ratio ranges from 1.49 to 1.96 and Internal Rate of Return on investments from 30% to 49%. An 80% reduction in external migration has been observed during the years of ongoing watershed implementation.
With significant expansion in irrigated area and crop productivity, high labour absorption in agriculture is visible even after the watershed programme closes. It is this "sedimented employment" which reduces external migration from the area in the long run. Hundreds of tribal farmers who have grown a single rainfed crop all their lives are now cultivating 2-3 crops. Many have returned home after years to reclaim land they had virtually given up for good.
Our work has broken with conventional wisdom by recognising that watershed development is not just about harvesting rainwater; it is also about sharing it equitably and managing it collectively. Whenever our dams are built, written agreements are forged about water sharing, hours of pumping, sequence of irrigation, cropping patterns and watering intensities. In many cases, all households irrespective of their size of land holding are entitled to an equal share of the water. Our emphasis on equity and transparency has often met with severe resistance from vested interests. Our response has been non-violent, collective <em>satyagraha</em>, always aimed at building common ground with those opposed to us.
SPS Core Team members Rangu Rao, Murlidhar Kharadia and Milind Pandit lead the watershed team.