Dynamics of Resource Conservation under Watershed Approach: A State Level Analysis

Watershed development in rainfed agriculture is a policy response to the increasing environmental crisis and on sustainability of agriculture. Experience shows that the watershed development programmes brought out significant positive impact. However, studies reveal that sustainability of the invest...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Productivity (New Delhi) 2014-04, Vol.55 (1), p.70
Main Authors: Rani, Ch Radhika, Kumar, U Hemanatha, Sharma, S S P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Natural resources
Socioeconomic factors
Sustainability
Water conservation
Watershed management
Watersheds
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Watershed development in rainfed agriculture is a policy response to the increasing environmental crisis and on sustainability of agriculture. Experience shows that the watershed development programmes brought out significant positive impact. However, studies reveal that sustainability of the investments undertaken by the different agencies has not been ensured.The involvement of hierarchy of administration and communities at the grassroots level in highly varying agro climatic and socioeconomic conditions invariably requires periodical assessment for achieving developmental objectives. The article is an attempt in this direction to assess the impact of watershed projects mainly on biophysical and socio economic conditions of watershed programmes across the states. Eight hundred and thirty seven watersheds have been assessed in nine states covering 121 districts. It is observed that community involvement in decision making, location specific structure, ensuring quality in structures corroborate each other to promote better soil and water conservation works. Institutional mechanism need to be established for sharing the resources generated through watershed for the impact to be visible and long lasting. Blanket budget allocations for unit area across different agro climatic regions also may not be feasible keeping in view of technical variations.
ISSN:0032-9924
0976-3902