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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATION(spring) season, mostly to vegetables and flowers. Overall, in the65 community watersheds, implementing best-bet practices withbetter water management resulted in significant yield advantages insorghum (35-270 per cent), maize (30-174 per cent), pearl millet(72-242 per cent), groundnut (28-179 per cent), sole pigeonpea(97-204 per cent), and intercropped pigeonpea (40-110 per cent).Integrated watershed management in India, primarily throughwater conservation and management compounded with variousin-situ and ex-situ interventions and improved practices, haveshown a significant increase in productivity, cropping intensityand income while controlling degradation of natural resources. Theincrease in cropping intensity, benefit-to-cost ratio and per capitaincome ranged between 30-55 per cent, 45-88 per cent and 19-78per cent respectively in different community watersheds after theimplementation of watershed interventions over the baseline period.In all these watersheds, the key driver for remarkable change is anincreasing quantity of greenwater and bluewater resources in theform of soil moisture through groundwater recharge initiatives suchas ex-situ and in-situ interventions. These interventions have builtresilience during drought years. As evident from the data at Adarshawatershed in Andhra Pradesh, the share of agricultural income tototal family income remained the same in the 2002 drought year,whereas non-watershed villages experienced a drastic reductionin agricultural income from 44 per cent to 12 per cent of familyincome. Families in these villages had to migrate to supplementtheir livelihoods, whereas in Kothapally, farmers could manage theirlivelihoods in the village itself.The participatory collective action approach adopted for bridgingthe yield gaps in the state of Karnataka has demonstrated theGroundwater availability and recharge during different rainfall andmanagement conditions in Adarsha watershed, Andhra PradeshGW availability at end of the monsoon (mm)1501209060300AWM NIDry year(following a wet year)GW recharge during monsoonSource: Garg and Wani, 2012AWM NIDry year(following a dry year)AWMNINormal year(following a wet year)AWMNINormal year(following a dry year)GW availability at beginning of monsoonvast potential of dryland agriculture for increasing thecrop yields and incomes of millions of small farmers.The unique mechanism of scaling-up with comprehensiveplanning, review and monitoring along with newinstitutions like Farm Facilitators, Raitha SamparkaKendras and supporting policies enabled the consortiumto cover 3.73 million hectares of rain-fed areain the state. Under the Bhoochetana programme,soil-test-based nutrient management interventionsalong with improved seeds, seed treatments and useof biofertilizers resulted in 35-66 per cent increasesin yield levels of dryland crops during the 2009 rainyseason in different districts. During the 2011 rainyseason with an unfavourable rainfall situation, theprogramme resulted in increases of 21-66 per centin major crop yields and 23-42 per cent in oilseedsover farmers’ practice. For the GoK, this translatedto an annual agricultural growth rate of 5.9 per centduring 2009/10, and 11.6 per cent during 2010/11.During 2011, 3 million hectares were covered in therainy season and economic returns were to the tuneof US$130 million. In spite of an unfavourable rainfallsituation in the state, farmers harvested increasedcrop yields with improved management practices,contributing to the economy of the state. This hasdemonstrated the power of science-led interventionsto achieve sustainability in the management of naturalresources for food security and poverty reduction infragile areas.Achieving food security and resilienceWater scarcity and land degradation are the mainconstraints to realizing higher productivity and improvingrural livelihoods in the semi-arid regions. Theintegrated community watershed management approachis a well tested strategy to address the issues of waterand soil degradation along with equity, efficiency andenvironment. Scarcity of water and knowledge sharingthrough the participatory monitoring of increasedgroundwater made farmers more receptive towardsefficient water use technologies such as drips and sprinklers,and enabled them to take appropriate decisionsabout suitable crops and areas to be planted. The newcommon guidelines have provided a framework to bringpeople to centre stage in taking decisions to improveproductivity and livelihoods through sustainable useof natural resources. Within the watersheds, stratifiedsoil sampling and soil-test-based nutrient managementprovides economic solutions to address soil degradation.Model watersheds and Bhoochetana in India havedemonstrated the role of a science-led approach inchanging farm-based livelihoods. However, policies andinstitutional mechanisms played a greater role in operationalizingthe strategy. To achieve the overall goal offood security and resilience in the semi-arid regions,we need to promote the adoption of science-led technologiesthrough appropriate institutional and policysupport, increased awareness and capacity building atdifferent levels.[ 221 ]