Community Watershed Projects to Conquer Drought

Drought is already a thing of the past for some semi-arid regions of India. Through watershed technologies introduced by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), water can already be accessed for drinking and irrigating crops in the community watersheds such as in Kothapally village in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh. With the continuous water supply, the people of Kothapally were able to utilize new technologies including the introduction of improved varieties and hybrid crops, integrated pest management, and the restoration of wastelands. This resulted to significantly higher yields and greater income for the poor. Current assessment by an ICRISAT-led consortium shows that community watershed is a growth engine for the development of dryland areas recording an average benefit cost ratio of 2 with an internal ratio of 27%. This technology has also been replicated in India, China, Thailand, East and Central Africa. Dr. SP Wani, ICRISAT's principal scientist on watersheds, said, "Once we found solutions for immediate problems, the farmers became our ambassadors for implementing these interventions."

For details see the press release at the ICRISAT website:  http://www.icrisat.org/Media/2008/media15.htm