Field Pilot undertaken by Shree Vivekanand Research & Training Institute under Kharash Vistarotthan Yojana
Since November 2003, the Trust is supporting Vivekanand Research & Training Institute (VRTI) under a three year project to develop a model for salinity management, in a watershed comprising 20 villages in Mundra and Mandvi talukas of Kutch district.
VRTI is actively involved in raising and generating awareness among the local people about judicious use of ground water for agriculture thus preventing sea water intrusion inland, which affects agriculture as well as livelihoods. The awareness activities involve training programmes, lok dayaras, exposure tours and seminars on the related subjects. Upto August 2006, a total of 104 training programmes have been organised and have coveres over 1,960 beneficiaries. The training programmes cover the following subjects: (a) irrigation and water management practices in agriculture; (b) soil reclamation measures for salt affected areas; (c) integrated nutrient management; (d) compost preparation methods; (e) field water harvesting practices; (f) animal keeping and kitchen gardening; (g) improved crop cultivation practices in salt affected soil water conditions; and (h) capacity building programmes.
In each village of the project area, Lok Dayaras are being organized, consisting of folk songs on the subject of salinity, thereby raising awareness on the problem. Upto August 2006, a total of 15 such Lok Dayras have been organised, reaching out to over 3,800 beneficiaries. VRTI also arranges exposure tours to locations where their activities are in place, thereby exposing people and convincing them to adopt corrective procedures on usage of groundwater. Upto August 2006, a total of 14 such tours have been conducted. VRTI has also conducted two seminars / workshops so far, one of which focused on better cultivation of date palm, where experts and successful farmers were invited to share their experiences and impart helpful tips to other farmers. It may be noted that Date (Kharek) is one of the more important agricultural produce in the project area.
VRTI has also focused on remedial measures to reclaim soil as well as horticultural plantations, which have been affected with the salinity. These include: (a) trench irrigation; (b) land preparation; (c) green manuring; and (d) composting. In trench irrigation, a trench, 1.5 feet wide and 1 foot deep is constructed surrounding the tree trunk, under the canopy, in which 10 kilograms of manure and an equal quantity of farm waste is added. Appropriate culture is also introduced, in order to accelerate the decomposition process, following which the trench is adequately watered and covered with date palm leaves. This procedure enhances the moisture holding capacity in the root zone and arrests the radial growth of the roots beyond the trench area and into the saline zone. Besides, the organic matter provides a buffer for salinity ingress and reduces the evaporation losses, resulting in a 40% saving of water, compared to flood irrigation, where large quantities of water are used, which lead to salt deposition due to the salinity. So far, trench irrigation has been introduced in over 32 hectares of land, benefiting over 70 farmers.
Focusing on water saving technologies, VRTI has installed drip irrigation systems in date palm plantations resulting in appreciable reduction of water used for irrigation over 39 hectares, benefiting 36 farmers. Besides, it has actively promoted rainwater harvesting (nine Roof Rain Water Harvesting Structures so far) and recharging groundwater that has become saline due to excess withdrawal by farmers in the absence of regular monsoons. 17 check dams (covering an area of 2,403 acres and benefiting over 257 households) and 16 percolation tanks (covering an area of over 2,560 acres and benefiting over 213 households) have been constructed for harvesting the rain water, thereby recharging deeper aquifers and bore wells. Other water harvesting structures that have been constructed include farm bunds over 47 hectares, benefiting 13 households and 36 farm ponds over 40 hectares, benefiting 36 households.
The project has also covered activities to ensure supply of drinking water in the villages through installation of pipe lines for 80 farmers over an area of 675 acres, to supply drinking water and construction of storage tanks to store the drinking water, besides raising awareness on sanitation. Roof Rain Water Harvesting Structures have also been constructed in schools in many villages and their usefulness in storing rainwater in underground tanks demonstrated.
