Projects/Programs

"Advancement of instituional reform actions towards holistic IWRM in Karnataka, India". The assignment was to support and advise on water sector reforms in Karnataka, India by revamping four agencies of government - KERS, WALMI, ESC and WRDO to enable the state to bring in IWRM principles and river basin planning & management. An Advanced Centre for IWRM (AC-IWRM) was conceptualised, designed and setup - after a series of consultations within the government and outside, to provide leadership in water sector reforms, act as a think-tank on various issues in the water sector and advise the government, build capacity of various stakeholders in the state and sector, access expertise from open market, enable partnerships with international and national agencies and provide a platform for various departments to address water issues on IWRM principles.

“Andhra Pradesh Farmers Managed Groundwater Systems”. The APFAMGS project addressed the major issues of drought, water scarcity, wise use of water, food and nutrition security, decentralised management of water focusing on empowerment of poor to manage their own natural resources as a main strategy of poverty reduction and leading mainly to sustainable management of groundwater resources. The chosen strategy of enhancing the capacity of the farming and non-farming rural communities to manage their own natural resources in general and groundwater in particular through the civil society provided for a high degree of confidence in achieving the results and the aims. This strategy is the most effective as the rural communities have amply demonstrated the partnership with the NGOs working in their areas unlike the paternalistic relation they have with the government agencies. Demystifying the science of hydrology and simplifying it for the use by the farmers and their perception of direct benefits of this knowledge has also been a unique experience and is amply proven. (July 2004-August 2009, USD 6.4mln).

“Andhra Pradesh Water Management project (APWAM)” is addressing irrigated agriculture suffering from scarcity of water and pressing competition from other users, irrigation water distribution system is not inline with cropping patterns and actual water requirements owing to supply oriented design and operational procedures. This has resulted in set of secondary manifestations such as lopsided water distribution, water logging and salinity in irrigation command areas, poor irrigation efficiency, uncertainty and delay in water release in canals and suboptimal cropping patterns etc. APWAM project is aiming at scaling up of water use efficiency and productivity within the agriculture sector and contribute for reformation to empower the stakeholders to be actively involved in the integrated water resource management and service oriented management in contrary to supply oriented organization of water. The project primary beneficiaries are small and marginal farmers in affected command areas. (July 2004-October 2010, USD 4.3mln)

“MODERNIZATION OF IRRIGATION MANAGAMENT” is FAO’s normative progam. Participatory approaches and management transfer reforms have been promoted widely as part of the solution for more cost-effective and sustainable irrigation services. In recent years, large agency-managed systems have been turned over partially or completely to various types of management bodies, which have had to struggle to improve service to users. Although many important lessons have been learned, the results have usually been below expectations. Common diagnosis have identified that: (i) the farmer-oriented new management bodies have been inadequately prepared/trained/resourced, or just inexperienced; and (ii) these bodies have inherited dilapidated systems and have had to operate under severe financial constraints. There is growing evidence that failure in specifically addressing canal operation and service-oriented management (SOM) in practical terms is a main reason for the lack of success in donor-funded modernization programmes, management transfer and other irrigation sector reforms.

According to many studies carried out by the FAO Water Development and Management Unit (NRLW) of the Land and Water Division, substandard canal operation is among the major causes of underperformance of irrigation systems This finding motivated the initiative to revisit canal operation and develop basic methodologies that can enable management bodies and all the professionals involved to tackle this complex issue. The MASSCOTE approach, Mapping System and Services for Canal Operation Techniques is developed by FAO, field tested in several countries and largely implemented in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh states in India.

“Support to Andhra Pradesh Water Mission”. This support to the Water Conservation Mission aimed to further facilitate the policy and programme development in integrated water resource management in Andhra Pradesh, moving to an increasingly holistic perspective that besides supply management also includes water demand and water quality and looks at other water uses too. The achievement at the end of this support is: Development of a long term perspective on the Water Mission and its programme and Development of an overview of water priorities in Andhra Pradesh.

The activities proposed were:

    • Development of Andhra Pradesh Water Vision
    • Capacity Building in Local Water Resource Management
    • Research and Development in Water Policy
    • Information and Innovation Management
    • Review of Legal Framework for Water Resource Management

“North Bengal Terai Development Project”. The project to achieve its objective of poverty alleviation consisted of investments in small-scale irrigation facilities, watershed improvement, market infrastructure, farmer capacity building, etc. The project also worked on policy experimentation, government capacity building and institutional development. The general pattern that was followed in the project was that the activities were first tried in pilots and experiments, next introduced in the main programme and then subsequently consolidated in larger programmes of the government or private sector. There have been tremendous impact of the various low-cost investments on the local economy of the region which is an area that is under capitalized. The project support unit has also gone through an interesting organisational development process. Whereas most externally aided development projects do begin and end as a project, in this case, the project has succeeded in evolution of an insitu organisation (CDHI) which is being well received by the government and recognising the need for various services in improving the effectiveness of the delivery mechanism of the district administration.

“Bundelkhand Integrated Water Resources Management Project”. BIWRMP fitted well in the Government of India’s over-all policy framework for participatory watershed development, adopted in 1994. It was unique in one respect: its focus on enhancing government ownership for the poverty, gender and social equity, environment and participatory process dimensions of participatory watershed development. The original project idea was to develop twenty watersheds in three districts in the Bundelkhand Region of UP in catchments of about 2500 hectares each, by adopting a bottom-up process approach which focuses on the formation of vibrant village level organizations. The ultimate project aim was to create a responsive government structure with increased effectiveness to cater to the needs at village level.

“Andhra Pradesh Groundwater Borewell Irrigation Schemes”. The APWELL project has been operational from 1995 until March 2003 (USD 50 mln). Its long-term objective has been to improve the living conditions of small and marginal farmers in the project areas, through the provision of groundwater irrigation facilities. The project also strived to make women equal partners with male farmers in agriculture and related activities. The project served 463 villages in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh: Kurnool, Cuddapah, Prakasam, Chittoor, Anantapur, Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda. In brief its main components are:

    • The provision of comprehensive borewell irrigation infrastructure to groups of small and marginal farmers' households (3 to 5 per bore-well).
    • Support activities to ensure increased agricultural productivity and net returns from agriculture of project farmers in a sustainable manner.
    • Local organisational development to build effective Water Users Groups (WUGs) to manage irrigated agriculture under each borewell, Borewell Users Associations to support the WUGs and initiate further development activities and women Self-Help Groups for saving and credit and income generation.
    • Gender awareness and integration activities for increased women involvement in development activities and to ensure that men and women become equal partners in development.
    • Environmental management, focusing on groundwater studies and development of mechanisms for participatory groundwater monitoring and management.
    • Capacity building of staff of APSIDC, farmers, and partner NGOs in all aspects of groundwater irrigated agriculture.

“Agriculture, Man and Ecology”. AME is multi-faceted. Over the years, there has been intensive institutional learning about concepts and approaches in ecological agriculture. AME has also gone through an interesting organisational development process. Whereas most foreign funded development projects do begin and end as a project, AME has succeeded in growing up from a project into Indian organisation. AME successfully addresses Integrated Farming Systems, and at multiple levels simultaneously: farmers, NGO fieldworkers as well as trainers, researchers and policymakers. AME’s central concerns have been to address rural poverty and gender inequity through a clear focus on Low External Input Agriculture and sustainable natural resource management in dryland areas. AME facilitates linkages between Government institutions, the private sector and civil society, gender mainstreaming in Government Programmes such as ANTWA and the FAO – GoAP Programme for Master Training in Cotton IPM. As such, AME has proven to be a unique niche player, which has been able to do path breaking work towards institutional convergence in integrated dryland management in the past five years.

“Haryana Operational Pilot Project”. The HOPP was identified on the basis of the results of the Haryana Operational Research project implemented by Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) and the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI). The research centered on the possibilities of sub-surface drainage to solve waterlogging and salinity problems in different parts of Haryana State. From on-station research it was concluded that the technology developed could be effective for the most affected lands, estimated to be around 50,000 ha. On the basis of these research results it was decided to implement a more operational project at a still limited scale (2,000 ha) to explore the modalities and difficulties of mechanized laying of drainage pipes. Next to introducing and testing this new technology at a larger scale, this project gave attention to farmer participation and monitoring and evaluation of technical and social-organizational aspects.

“Technical Assistance to National Hydrology Project”. The Hydrology Project aims at assisting the Government of India (GOI) and the nine participating states Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu in developing comprehensive easily accessed and user-friendly databases covering all aspects of the hydrological cycle, including surface water and groundwater in terms of quantity and quality and climatic measurements, particularly of rainfall. The establishment of Hydological Information System in each agency, state and national level; rationalizing the data network for data collection, validation & processing; setting up data centres; capacity building, institutional development, etc. were the critical components of the project.

“Network Operational Research Project”. The programme aims at the development of appropriate location-specific drainage and reclamation technologies and establishing competent centres in these fields in the four states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan. The credible project end-result is the establishment of a sufficient level of knowledge and capacity in drainage, water logging and salinity control at the four selected centres to allow these centres to continue the work further and serve as a nuclei for further regional developments. Transfer of knowledge from Alterra (ILRI) to various State Agricultural Universities has been a core activity in this programme.

"Tungabhadra Irrigation Pilot Project", Phase-II : The TIPP-II project aimed to carryon field level operational research into the innovative water management practices in a distributory engaging firmly with the Water User Groups at all stages of the project in partnership with the CADA of Government of Karnataka. The special focus was also on the social and gender aspects of the water management apart from the infrastructure rehabilitation

"Integrated farming - Transfer of Technology" funded by Brot Fur die Welt, Germany. Providing irrigation sources for agriculture and horticulture programmes, technical advice for small scale quarryinglmining, etc.

"Exploration and Assessment of Groundwater Sanctuaries in the Upper Kunderu Sub-basin for judicious management and utilisation in the drought areas of Nandyal, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India." funded by Department of Science and Technology (GO]), New Delhi. Conducted geophysical and hydro-geological surveys for locating groundwater, drilled wells, prepared lithologs, conducted well logging, pumping tests, monitored water levels, conducted environmental isotope studies for dating of waters and delineating the recharge areas, water sampling for quality monitoring, collected meteorological data, etc.

"Rehabilitation programme in earthquake affected villages of Maharashtra, India" funded by Partners International, USA. Selected sites for drilling borewells for drinking water, supervised drilling and installation of pumps, etc.

"Comprehensive watershed planning in Bundhelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, India."funded by ACTION AID India, New Delhi. Involved in preparing a comprehensive plan of integrated watershed development contributing to water resource management.

‘Integrated Watershed Management in Veeravalli village, Bhongir, Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh"funded by CAPART (GOI), New Delhi. Conducted resource inventory, topographic survey of micro watersheds, implemented soil and water conservation measures, tank desiltation and conducted artificial recharge experiment.

"Revitalisation of abandoned openwells in drought prone areas of Nalgonda district, Andhra pradesh" funded by Department of Science and Technology (GOI), New Delhi.

"Conjunctive water use and sharing of resources for integrated development in parts of Kunderu basin, Kumool district, A.P., India" funded by CAPART, Ministry of Rural Development (GOI), New Delhi. Selected sites for drilling of community irrigation borewelis through integrated hydrogeoiogical and geophysical surveys, supervised drilling prepared lithologs, conducted yield tests, prepared contour maps of ayacut area and designed pipeline layouts.

"Gravity Surveys for Lignite in Rajasthan, India"funded by MECL, Nagpur, India. Conducted gravity, magnetic and electrical surveys, topographic surveying, soil sampling for geochemical analysis, drilling, well logging, etc.