Farm level rainwater harvesting across different agro climatic regions of India: Assessing performance and its determinants

Abstract

Rainwater harvesting and its utilization have a very important role to play in harnessing the production potential within dryland systems. This study assesses the performance of small rainwater harvesting structures (farm-ponds) in 5 major rainfed states of India over the period 2009-2011 using data from multiple sources and stakeholders. Rainwater which is harvested using structures of varying types and sizes was used for either supplemental irrigation or recharging open-wells. In many cases, the farm level rainwater harvesting structures were highly effective for rainfed farming and had a multiplier effect on farm income. In some situations however, it was viewed by farmers as a waste of productive land. The use of farm ponds in Maharashtra, for example, resulted in a significant increase in farm productivity (12-72%), cropping intensity and consequently farm income. In the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, farm pond water was profitably used for supplemental irrigation to mango plantations, vegetables or other crops and animal enterprises with net returns estimated to be between US$ 120 and 320 structure −1 annum −1. Despite such examples, the adoption of the farm ponds was low, except in Maharashtra. A functional analysis of the reasons for high adoption of water harvesting structures indicated that factors such as technical support, customized design, level of farmer participation, age, existing ownership of open wells, annual rainfall and household assets were the major determinants of performance of farm-level rainwater harvesting structures. Based on this countrywide analysis, different policy and institutional options are proposed for promoting farm-level rainwater-harvesting for dryland agriculture.

A watershed approach to managing rainfed agriculture in the semiarid region of southern Mali: integrated research on water and land use

“…Land and water resources are increasingly scarce and are extensively used for agricultural systems, both in rainfed and irrigated semiarid regions of the world (Garg et al 2012;Kumar et al 2016). Rainfed agricultural systems rely almost exclusively on 'green' water resources, i.e., stored soil moisture from precipitation (Lathuillière et al 2016), while irrigated systems also rely on water delivery from streams, aquifers or from water storage structures (McCartney and Smakhtin 2010).…”

Feasibility and Adoption of Rainwater Harvesting by Farmers

“…The adoption will increase with the support of credit access and advisory and technical training. The close relationship of researchers or government advisors increases the adoption rate Wakeyo, 2013;Zingiro et al, 2014;Kimani et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2015;Kumar et al, 2016). The flow of adoption can be seen in Fig.4. …”

Water Harvesting as a Technological Innovation and Greater Solving of Climatic Change Impact to Supply Fertigation

“…In general, water harvesting is the activity of direct collection of rainwater. The rainfall collected can be stored for direct use or can be re-charged into the ground water [1], [7]. Rainfall collection and stored it in tanks actually not be used for drinking, kitchen or bathroom sinks unless it is potable water that cab consumed; but good enough for resources of irrigation; livestock water supply, washing clothing, flushing toilets or landscape watering in other words collected rainfall harvesting has proven the value of harvesting rainwater for outdoor use [8]- [12].…”