Watershed Project
A watershed project is an integrated and comprehensive approach to address the sustainable management of a specific geographic area that encompasses all the land and water resources that drain into a common outlet, such as a river or a lake. The primary goal of a watershed project is to improve the overall health and resilience of the watershed ecosystem, protect water quality, mitigate flooding, and promote sustainable land use practices.
GOAL:- “Secured livelihood and strengthen socio-economic and ecological communities through watershed management”.
APPROACH:- Improve the agricultural productivity of poor rural communities by empowering them to adopt and practice watershed management for the enhancement of the sustained livelihoods and preservation of natural resources; along with integrated interventions.
CONTEXT BRIEFING :-The project aims at strengthening the capacity of rural communities and service providers to plan, implement, manage and maintain watershed management in a sustainable manner. The project is expected to benefit about 20010 households on this revenue land. These people are majorly laborers from scheduled castes and tribes.
With this objective the Work plan formulation and discussions will take place in Gram Sabha & the influenced members involved in plan, Gram panchayat member, village level watershed committee, user group, self help group, farmer producer organization, landless family are committed with our plan and they become motive for the project.
There are two catchments in our project area, both of them dry up soon around the month of October, so we can irrigate up to 50 % land by treating them both by many techniques like soil conservation, water conservation and collecting water. About 1842 hectares of fallow land can be converted into agricultural land by farm bunding and repair method.
By enhancing the natural resource base and improving sustainability, the proposed project will focus on Medium, small and marginal farmers who would benefit from: (a) watershed treatment, in particular, rainwater conservation and water harvesting structures that would increase water availability and efficiency; (b) improved support services in agriculture, horticulture, and livestock, including rain-fed agriculture development; and (c) agribusiness development and market linkages. Vulnerable groups (e.g., marginal landholders, landless, women etc): would benefit from: (a) improved livelihoods, mainly in the livestock and services sectors; The project would also promote the formation of community-based organizations, such as water user groups, farmer interest groups (FIGs), and Farmers Producers Organization (FPOs).
If the project area is treated with 21972 hectare area treatment and drainage line as per above plan, then soil erosion will be reduced by 75 to 80%, crop production will increase, area of second crop will be 50 to 60% This will increase the area of Rabi crop of 20010 families, 1842 hectares of fallow land will be converted into agricultural land.