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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATIONImage: ICRISATImage: ICRISATEfficient management of water resources is needed to ensure livelihood supportA drain diversion into a wellThe scaling-up of these innovations has been attemptedin countries like India, Vietnam, Thailand and China.In India, the new model has been scaled up through aDepartment for International Development-supportedAndhra Pradesh Rural Livelihood Project in the stateof Andhra Pradesh. This approach puts the peopleliving in the watershed at the centre of developmentand involves not only soil and water conservation, butalso the efficient and sustainable use of resources toimprove the livelihoods of people including womenand the landless. In this programme, the scaling-upapproach has been extended to 50 watersheds (10nucleus and 40 satellite) in three districts of AndhraPradesh. With support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust ithas been extended to nine districts of Madhya Pradeshand seven districts in Rajasthan, India. Further, theWorld Bank-assisted Sujala watersheds and Adarshawatershed, Kothapally, have served as benchmark ornucleus watersheds and demonstrated the benefits ofintegrated watershed management. The technologyhas been adopted in the watersheds of neighbouringvillages and other areas by farmers with little technicalsupport from the consortium. This approach wasalso implemented in China, Thailand and Vietnam withsupport from the Asian Development Bank. The Bureauof Agricultural Research in the Philippines is adopting asimilar approach for scaling-out the benefits of productivityenhancement in watersheds.The recent comprehensive assessment of watershedprogrammes in India 9 led by ICRISAT and its partnershas clearly shown the potential of these programmesin the country, and the new Common guidelines forwatershed management 10 have adopted this approachfor addressing natural resource management alongwith improving livelihoods. Based on Sujala watershedexperiences, ICRISAT and the GoK have taken a knowltothe community. Soil health assessment, stress-tolerant high yieldingcultivars, water analysis and so on were used as an entry point for buildinga rapport with the community. Improved rainwater managementand harvesting resulted in increased efficiency in greenwater use as wellas augmenting water resources (ground and surface water) throughlow-cost water harvesting structures.Knowledge-sharing systemIn the watershed, knowledge-based entry point activities haveenhanced the farmers’ capacity and improved their participationin programme activities. Collective action in soil sampling, varietalselection and water management has ensured the sustainability ofthe system in the region. For example, the diagnostic farmers’ participatorysoil health assessment in the watershed revealed widespreaddeficiencies of zinc, boron and sulphur in farmers’ fields which wereholding back the potential of rain-fed agriculture in the region. 8Through the participatory approach nearly 100,000 soil sampleswere collected across 30 districts of Karnataka in India under theBhoochetana initiative, and taluk-wise and crop-wise recommendationswere developed based on the soil analysis for micro and macronutrients. This approach resulted in increased crop yields of 20-66per cent over farmers’ management, and ensured an increased agriculturalgrowth rate for the state. Similarly, under a Governmentof Karnataka (GoK) Sujala-ICRISAT initiative, farmers selectedimproved varieties of ragi (finger millet) and groundnut along withimproved hybrids of maize, sunflower and soybean through participatoryvarietal evaluation, and produced increased yields over theirvarieties. The economic benefits of improved management practicesin crops varied from Rs6,300 ha -1 in the case of finger millet toRs21,000 ha -1 in the case of sunflowers.Scaling-up processThe innovative integrated watershed management model hasdemonstrated that with proper management of natural resources thesystem’s productivity can be enhanced and poverty can be reducedwithout causing further degradation of the natural resource base.[ 219 ]