Watershed Development & Soil Conservation

The Soil conservation programmes in the state are being executed since fifties earlier by the Agriculture department and after 1991 by the Watershed Development department. A lot has been learnt through these programmes. In early fifties only soil conservation works were taken on individual field basis. In early seventies the emphasis was given on good potential crop varieties moisture conservation practices input oriented cropping but this could not go long because of uncertainties in amount and intensities of rainfall coupled with resources of poor farmers. So the emphasis in the end seventies shifted to water conservation and water harvesting techniques. Good results were obtained but need for vegetative conservation measures and promoting simple low cost water management technologies was felt. Looking to this in early eighties the emphasis was on low cost technologies based on sectoral approach where Forestry Horticulture Soil Conservation Agriculture Animal Husbandry etc were p...