The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
The paper describes the effect of rains on vegetal cover, different traditional practices and soil properties in the dry and monsoon period. Seven landuse systems i.e. open pine forests, tea plantation, rainfed agriculture, degraded land, grassland, recently restored site and a bare land were identified in the Bhetagad watershed of …
Western Ghats form the catchment of all the 44 rivers that sustain the agroeconomy of Kerala. A study was conducted to assess the effect of land use on runoff from small watersheds of Western Ghats. Three small mono-culture watersheds, planted with cashew, coffee, tea and one small watershed with dense …
In 1994, the Hanumantha Rao committee constituted by the Union government came up with a new set of guidelines for watershed development in the country. Later, the Union ministry for rural development issued a directive to implement micro watershed (up to 500 hectares) projects through village level committees. However, impact …
Newspaper reports show that from January 1, 2004 to May 16, 2004, about 29 farmers in Andhra Pradesh (AP) committed suicide. From May 17, the suicides suddenly increased: the AP Rytu Sangham, the farmers' wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has compiled reports of 279 suicides by farmers …
A women's self-help group in Punukula village approached a bank for a Rs 25,000 loan to buy an electric neem powdering unit last year, and was turned down. The group's credit history was good, say residents of this predominantly tribal village of 204 farming households in Palvoncha mandal of Khamman …
AP's plight brings into sharp focus India's agrarian crisis. The sorry state of institutional credit, consigned to the dustbin, is back on the agenda. The Union government has promised to double institutional credit available to the farm sector. In AP, institutional credit accounts for a mere 20-25 per cent of …
"The strategy for agriculture will certainly create new jobs, especially in the allied sector. However, agriculture's share of employment will actually reduce, from the current 70 per cent to 40-45 per cent.... As economies grow, the focus of economic activity shifts from primary activities to those that lead to greater …
There are several delivery systems whereby government can help farmers in AP. Some, like the agriculture extension system, institutional lending bodies and irrigation,, have a direct role to play in agriculture. Others, like the Panchayati Raj institutions, should’ve provided the template for success. None are currently of any good. Take …
INDEBTED farmers in Andhra Pradesh (AP) badly need relief. The state's legislative assembly has passed a bill imposing a moratorium on debt recovery, but farmers' suicides are not abating. The distribution of the Rs 1,50,000 relief package announced by the Congress government is very slow, and typically bureaucratic. The media …
They are a force to reckon with, the Meo-Muslim women of Chandoli village in Alwar district of Rajasthan. Despite using the same ingredients for developing self-help groups (shg), the village-based shg and its government-run counterpart produced totally contrary results. The former, inspired by non-governmental organisation (ngo) Ibtada, did good work …
The government of India has for long considered watersheds as catalysts for development activities in rain-fed areas. In 1994, it developed guidelines for implementation of watershed programmes. These were subsequently revised, in 2001, by the department of land resources of the ministry of rural development and circulated as guidelines for …
The sacred does sell. A community in Mawphlang, Meghalaya is showing the way. It has put up a toll barrier on the road leading to the Ka Law Kyntang or sacred grove. You pay a minor but valuable sum to enter the grove. Close by in Makarwat, which falls in …
what do cities like Mumbai, Karachi, Sao Paulo and Johannesburg have in common besides their high population? A strong reliance on forests for their drinking water, reveals Running Pure, a study by the World Bank and the World Wide Fund for Nature. Around a third of the world's top 105 …
Groundwater sustains almost 60 per cent of the irrigated land in India. Most districts in India today have larger shares of irrigated land under groundwater irrigation than under surface-water irrigation. This ominous change in water use patterns in India has been extremely rapid since the 1970s. Extensive groundwater usage has …
When residents of Mansingpura village in Madhya Pradesh's (mp) Betul district successfully cultivated wheat in the year 1996, it was the grand finale of their water conservation efforts. Thanks to the Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Development Mission, the village's groundwater level rose by over 30 feet. The mission was started by …
The Center proposes to consolidate all watershed programmes under a single ministry. The aim of the new programme, called Hariyali, is to streamline work and avoid duplication. "I am totally in favour of the move,' says N C Saxena, former secretary, planning commission. At present, three ministries run programmes related …
In theory, rainwater harvesting can drought-proof every village in India. In theory, drought-proofing requires strong and functioning village-level institutions. Travelling through Chattisgarh state
http://www.wotr.org The concept of water harvesting is catching like wild fire across the length and breadth of the nation. For those interested in knowing more about the concept and how to implement it, this is the right site. Watershed Organisation Trust (wotr) based in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, helps rural communities and …
Recurrent droughts and floods coupled with mass poverty, chronic unemployment and pervasive malnutrition are the major challenges before India. The Union government usually responds by complaining about truant rains and doles out funds in an arbitrary manner. As an alternative, I propose a nationwide watershed development programme through the statutory …
