Sir Ratan Tata Trust - Institutional Grants - Programme - Rural Livelihoods & Communities

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Field Pilot undertaken by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) (AKRSP(I))

In January 2002, the Trust supported Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) (AKRSP(I)), Ahmedabad, in implementing a three year pilot, focused on 15 villages on the Mangrol coast of Junagadh district. This project involved: (i) construction of water harvesting structures for ground water recharge; (ii) construction of Roof Rain Water Harvesting Tanks (RRWHT), well sealing and percolation wells for drinking water; (iii) propagation of horticulture and water saving technologies, such as drip irrigation and sprinklers; (iv) farm bunding for soil and water conservation; and (v) trainings for farmers and beneficiaries on water saving technologies, horticulture, agricultural demonstrations, health & hygiene, etc.

The Phase I of the project came to an end in March 2005. During this period, several lessons were learnt, namely: (i) there are ways of minimising ground water use without compromising the farm economy, through a shift towards low water intensive crops and horticulture. There is also a need to introduce water saving technologies for all crops, including groundnut, which is grown as a mono crop in the Kharif season. Large scale promotion of horticulture needs to be taken up with the promotion of pomegranate, custard apple, goose berry, ber, chickoo and sea algae. At the same time, there is a need to make efficient use of water an integral part of agronomy practices; (ii) interventions which are individual based like micro irrigation, farm bunding or well sealing have a higher potential for replication and up-scaling; (iii) adoption rates of micro irrigation technologies are much higher when benefits are monetary and short term; (iv) different regions of the project area require different approaches. The focus in the fully saline zone needs to be on augmenting drinking water requirements, whilst in the partially saline zone, augmenting water resources through a river basin approach and agriculture interventions could be explored; (v) farm bunding is an effective measure for recharge of standing water in fields, especially in coastal areas where there are not many streams; (vi) the streams that are available, need to be effectively treated to tap all drainage; (vii) in the totally saline zone, the lower aquifer is saline, while the upper aquifer is sweet. The deep wells in this area need to be sealed, thus isolating the saline water; and (viii) drinking water plans need to be formulated for villages, which provide higher coverage at lower costs, consisting of different interventions such as roof rain water harvesting tanks, drinking water wells, reverse osmosis systems, decentralized drinking water distribution systems etc.

The lessons learnt during the Phase I were kept in mind whilst designing Phase II, which commenced in July 2005 and covers 28 villages in Mangrol, Malia and Veraval talukas of Junagadh district, including 15 villages covered in the earlier phase. The objectives of the project are: (i) to generate wider awareness about the deteriorating conditions resulting from salinity ingress and its solutions; (ii) to promote adoption of water use efficient agronomic practices and devices; (iii) to continue to develop a set of replicable models for community managed economically sustainable drinking water schemes; (iv) to develop a model on principles of river basin treatment to augment the water resources; and (v) to assist village institutions to evolve and implement strategies already tested. The project is being implemented through village level institutions, with the village-level "Pani Samiti" being central to all activities. Project activities involve the following:

Generating Wider Awareness: AKRSP(I) is organizing various events on salinity such as Padyatras, street theatre and Melas. These mediums for mass communication have been extremely successful during the Phase I. Other activities involve: (i) developing appropriate communication material particularly regarding water use efficiency; (ii) exposure visits; (iii) trainings; and (iv) documentation and dissemination through events, print media and radio.
Promoting Adoption of Water Use Efficient Agronomic Practices, Crops & Devices: Interventions initially focus on demonstrating the impact of water use efficiency devices in the partially saline zone in a concentrated manner. Other interventions involve promotion of horticulture, setting up demonstration plots on farmer fields, setting up of experimental farms, trainings on different technologies, studies on appropriate crops along with their economic analysis and development of supply chains for effective marketing and processing of agriculture produce.
Promoting Economically Sustainable Drinking Water Schemes: This is mainly focused in the totally saline zone. Physical interventions involve: roof rain water harvesting tanks; percolation cum drinking water wells; hand pumps; repair and restoration of existing water supply schemes; and installation of reverse osmosis plants in select villages. Focus is laid on ensuring that systems are put in place for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and sustainable use of drinking water schemes.
Treating Streams to Augment Ground Water: Two types of treatment are being undertaken. In the upper reaches, ground water recharge is being carried out with percolation tanks and check dams; while in the lower coastal belt, recharge is undertaken with farm bunding, etc.
Strengthening of Existing Village Institutions to Implement Strategies: In addition to strengthening "Pani Samitis", two village institutions are being developed as Resource Centres, which would house communication material and personnel for extension. Capacity building and skill development is being undertaken through leadership and technical trainings over the project period.

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