DEVELOPMENT OF DRYLAND AGRICULTURE ON WATERSHED BASIS IN HOT ARID TROPICS OF INDIA - A CASE-STUDY

A study on watershed management was initiated in 1986-87 at Jhanwar vi llage (District, Jodhpur) and surveys were conducted to assess the pro blems, resources and potential of the area. The action plan was prepar ed and implemented. Farmers hi the watershed area showed keen and sust ained interest in adoption of improved dryland farming technologies, i ncluding sustainable land use systems. Productivity analysis of waters hed area indicated considerable improvement in gross monetary returns under different cropping systems. Water harvesting, through creation o f farm ponds and its recycling in agro-horticulture (Ziziphus mauritia na) system resulted in diversified production (fruit, fuel and fodder) and sustained 1.14 adult cattle unit ha(-1) yr(-1). Development of pa stures in community grazing lands increased forage production (2-3 t h a(-1)) over traditional methods (0.3-0.4 t ha(-1)). Adoption of variou s physical and biological land treatments in the eroded rocky catchmen t reduced the soil erosion and increased the ground water recharge: Th e program has resulted in an overall increase in the productivity by 2 5-30%. Although highly location specific, such a model has high replic ability in large part of arid tropics in India and elsewhere.