WATER POVERTY IN THE NORTHEASTERN HILL REGION (INDIA)

WATER POVERTY IN THE NORTHEASTERN HILL REGION (INDIA): POTENTIAL ALLEVIATION THROUGH MULTIPLE-USE WATER SYSTEMSFor closely spaced crops low cost mini-/ micro-sprinklers are available in a pre-assembled form withmainline sub-set and a riser sub-set.4.5. Cost and Income of Multiple-Use Water SystemsDue to different designs and village/cluster sizes, distance from the source, and other factors, the cost of thesystem may vary considerably. However, when looking at the whole range of the projects, the average costof the system is around US$ 100 per household considering both cash and non-cash payments. Further byfactoring in all the hardware and software costs (agriculture intervention and support staff costs), the totalcost in the hilly areas may vary from US$ 196 to US$ 226 per household (Mikhail and Yoder, 2009).Most of the farmers adopting multiple-use water systems focus on cultivation of vegetables andhigh- value crops. They use rain-fed land that has very marginal crop yields for cereal crops withoutirrigation and utilise very small plots of land and were not marketing any surplus produce. Thesurveys conducted in Nepal hills showed that MUS households on an average earned additionalannual income of US$ 190, which means that pay back period for the system was only 1 year andis very attractive. Households also consume about 10-15% of the increased production for homeconsumption improving health and nutrition.Assured water with good agronomy and markets works wonders even under most challenging situationsPhoto credit: ICAR Complex for NEH, Sikkim Centre36