Recent Observations on Climate Resilient Water Management Practices for in situ Moisture Conservation

Climate change has an impact on Indian agriculture in various direct and indirect ways besides affecting the lives and livelihood of millions of Indians. Agriculture and allied activities, such as livestock and fisheries, constitute an important component of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contributing nearly 25 per cent of the GDP. Efficient management of natural resources is key for enhancing the adaptive capacity of the system and contributes towards the resilience of communities. Successful crop production in frequent drought and flood-affected regions depends on how effectively we conserve the deficit rainfall and manage the excess rainfall and soils to retain the moisture for longer periods for successful arable crop production. In the context of climate change and variability, farmers need to adapt quickly to enhance their resilience to increasing threats of climatic variability such as droughts, floods and other extreme climatic events. The present study was conducted with the objective of evaluation of the performance of different in situ Water conservation measures with respect to the climatic variability prevailed in the village. Demonstrations of appropriate practices and technologies recommended by the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) are being taken up in a farmer participatory mode so that the communities become familiar with these technologies and help in their adoption resulting in enhancing their adaptive capacity and coping ability against climatic change and variability. It was observed that the use of forest leaves and paddy straw was found very profitable to conserve soil moisture in situ with BCR Rs. 7.16 followed by the use of naturally occurred leaves in fruit plants with BCR Rs. 6.22 and use of plastics in vegetables with BCR 4.41. Respondents opined that the use of natural mulch was very cost- effective as well as it is compatible with the existing farming system and very simple in its application. Wheat with cultivation through ZTD showed a maximum yield of 46q/ha. Zero tillage technology showed very promising results in pulse and oilseed cultivation.