Rain Water Harvesting and Ground Water Recharging in North Western Himalayan Region for Sustainable Agricultural Productivity
Journal Title: Universal Journal of Environmental Research and Technology - Year 2011, Vol 1, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper reveals the study of low cost traditional water harvesting structures that helps in improving the socio-economic status of the poor farmers of the hill region. In the foothill region of North Western Himalayan region of India, the soil erosion has converted most of the fertile soils into barren, fallow and degraded lands. It is estimated that about 40 per cent of the total geographical area of Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Jammu and Kashmir is highly degraded. Soil loss through erosion is about 3.6 to 80 t ha-1. The farmers are not aware of rainwater management for storage and ground water recharge. The major constraints identified for conservation and management of water and soil in the area includes lack of technical knowledge and poor economic status of the farmers. Assessment of the area showed that if rainwater is conserved vis-à-vis managed properly and existing technologies are refined for specific land and pedospheric characteristics, it would rehabilitate the degraded lands and in turn increase the productivity in the area. Low cost farm ponds are a better option for collecting rainwater excess during monsoon periods for utilization for irrigation. The most efficient and cheapest way of conserving rainwater at the agricultural farm was found to be in- situ runoff management, which also reduces soil losses and increases the opportunity time for ground water recharging. The earthen embankment for rainwater harvesting has cost benefit ratio of 1.38:1. In addition, good results of harvesting and storage are being achieved in ferro-cement water storage structures of different dimensions of 3 to 5 m deep and 1 to 3 m in diameter.
Authors and Affiliations
Rohitashw Kumar, Thaman S. , Agrawal G. and Sharma Poonam
Keywords
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