Raising the Ground Water Table, herculean, collective effort

By Malii Shankar,

Digital Discourse Foundation

Though the Anantapur district in South – west Andhra Pradesh has long suffered drought and desertification, its recovery now shows in an increase in the ground water table. The desertification process had manifested in severe moisture stress, depletion of ground water loss of water and sanitation, malnutrition, famine and crop loss. It plummeted the human development index along with the ground water table! Dr. Malla Reddy Director of Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) tells Digital Discourse Foundation “desertification manifested in loss of crops, loss of greenery, life systems, bird and animal life … the entire ecosystem was ruined there was no life in the ecosystem”.

But the efforts of the state government and NGOs have at last borne fruit. Ground water table had depleted to around 300 metres below the ground (900 feet) in some parts of Anantapur by 1990. Today though, farmers who are stakeholders in raising watersheds – “Agro ecological interventions” are pleased to share gleefully that after rains today ground water can be accessed within 150 feet or 45 metres.

The Andhra Pradesh State government accredited around 10 NGOs Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre / AFEC, Rural Development Trust, Society for Education Development Services, MYRADA, Sri Sathya Sai Baba Trust etc to undertake the replenishment of ground water table an impossible task when the district was declared as being in the process of desertification in 1994. It was indiscriminate ill planned sinking of bore-wells that led to the depletion of the ground water table in the first place. However after the depletion of the ground water table it was in a way inevitable for the short term.

With India’s ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity it was decided that Biodiversity will be the key tool to replenish ground water instead of engineering interventions like rain water harvesting infrastructure only.

Hence “agro ecological interventions” like farm forestry, re-greening hill slopes, raising fruit orchards for watershed management, supply of bio gas, supplying fish fingerlings for water bodies, restoring soil moisture etc were taken up to complement construction of rain water harvesting infrastructure including check dams, farm ponds, sinking bore-wells, installation of street corner taps in villages, etc. Here’s a video blog on farm ponds constructed by Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) produced by Digital Discourse Foundation. These interventions were undertaken very intensely by NGOs like Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) Rural Development Trust, Society for Education Development Services, MYRADA, Sri Sathya Sai Baba Trust etc over a four decades period.

Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre / AFEC Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) claims credibility and leadership in “agro ecological interventions”. AFEC’s agro ecological interventions are highlighted here below:

1.      Project Details:

1	Mandals covered	:	6 Mandals: 1. Kalyanadurg,  '2. Setturu,  3. Kundurpi,  4. Rapthadu,  5. Atmakur,  6. Kudair
2	Total No. of Projects	:	NABARD – 6 completed, 2 in progress, MoRD/IWMP -3 Mega Watersheds completed
3	Total No. of Micro Watersheds	:	20
5	Total No. of habitations / Villages	:	30
6	Total watershed project area treated (in Ha.)	:	50,270 Acres
07	Total project cost (Rs. In lakhs)	:	26,12,96,000/-

 

2.    Watershed Development Interventions by AFEC:-

Sl.No	Activity	Unit	Qty	Acres	Benefitting Farmers/ Community
A	SOIL MOISTURE CONSERVATION WORKS
1	Contour Bunding	Rmt (Running metres)	1,20,212	9,265	1,761
2	Stone Outlet	Outlet	2,564	4,231	684
3	Stone Gully Plug	Gully plug	404	320	186
4	Rock Fill Dams	RFD	348	598	300
5	Gabion Soil Moisture Conservation	Gabion	20	35	7
6	Water Absorption Trench at Foot Hills	Rmt	10,070	125	63
7	Staggered Trench	Acres	45	-	Village Community
8	Boulder Removal	Acres	109	109	61
B	RAIN WATER HARVESTING STRUCTURES
9	Check Dams	Check dam	107	4,196	1,338
10	Repair of old check dams	Check dam	46	1,340	836
11	Percolation Tanks	Tank	9	203	40
12	Recharging of dried up Bore well	Recharge Structure	2	7	2
13	Farm Ponds	Farm pond	1,559	6,616	1,559
C	AFFORESTATION
14	Avenue Plantations	Km	40	-	Village Community
15	Block Plantation	Acres	77	77	Village Community
16	Greening of Hillocks	Acres	70	-	Village Community
17	Backyard plantation	Families	928	-	Village Community
18	Agave Suckers established on farm bunds	Plants	34,700	195	36
19	Farm forestry (Bund plantation)	Rmt	1,14,619	7,245	1,514
D	DRY LAND HORTICULTURE ESTABLISHED
20	Dry land Horticulture Development	Acres	-	2,880	734
21	NADEP Compost Pit	Compost unit	229	-	229
E	LIVE STOCK RELATED WORKS
22	Cattle Troughs	Cattle Trough	33	-	Village Community
23	Animal Travis	No's	6	-	Village Community
24	Fodder development	Farmer	18	9	18
F	VILLAGE COMMUNITY FACILITIES
25	Threshing Floor in community lands	Threshing Floor	10	-	Village Community
26	Construction of purified water plant	Water Plant	16	-	Village Community
27	Tent House	Tent House	4	-	Village Community
28	Solar Street lights	Street lights	45	-	Village Community
29	School Furniture set	Furniture sets	2	-	Children Community
G	NON-FARM LIVELIHOODS DEVELOPMENT FOR THE POOR
30	Livelihood development revolving credit fund	Rs.	1,95,97,200	-	3997

 

Such “agro ecological interventions were the best practices envisioned in the Convention on Biological Diversity Indeed… It meant that biodiversity resources and life forms would be utilized to replenish the ground water table. In the process, NGOs like Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) devised perceptive schemes to ensure stake holder participation … another mandate of CBD. Farmers were supported with saplings, sprinklers, micro finance, water supply etc to raise fruit orchards. Multi crops of fruit orchards comprising fruit trees like Gooseberry Mango, Sapota, Jamun, Guava, Citroen, Ber and Custard Apply ensured not only multiple fruit yield but the roots and leaf litter supported diverse microbes in the soil strata replenishing soil moisture and soil nutrition.

This in turn enriched the fruit yield and fructose in the fruits, enabling farmers to harvest better yields of organic farming and thereby double / increase the yield and sustaining for themselves profits plus livelihood security. CBD thus helped retrieve multi cropping and sustainable agriculture best practices in desertified Anantapur.

Do watch and share Dr. Y.V. Malla Reddy, (Director Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC)’s  AFEC:Dr. Y.V. Malla Reddy, Director AFEC's full length interview 

Replenished soil moisture helped replenishing the ground water table. The State Government as well as Government of India, NGOs, donors, and the farmers were all very happy. With increase in ground water table rains increased, water and sanitation and the human development index of the district increase leaving the weather hardened populace too happy.

Biodiverse natural farming brought in plantations of native trees like Pongamia pinnata, Ficus species, Neem or Azadarichta indica, Tamarind or Tamarindus indica, fruit yielding trees like Mango, Sapota, Jamun, Guava, Gooseberry, fodder yielding trees like Glyricida, and different types of grasses which help in percolating rainfall in different seasons all characterize “biodiverse multi-cropping”. Fodder banks created by these rich foliage trees gave ample dairy yield and livelihood and food security to the livestock farmers.  

With micro finance to help women folk of impoverished farmers, Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) facilitated training in confectionary making for women folk in the farmers’ families. This training by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra – a quasi agricultural research and training institute helped the women learn how to make lip smacking and tasty snacks from native crops like millets and oilseeds - not the first choice for confectioners usually. The women benefitted from Microfinance set up by AFEC. Against orders they supplied traditional snacks made from native crops like millets and oilseeds. With this supplementary income the women are now able to afford to pay for their children’s education, and their health and hygiene. 

Today it will not be wrong to say desertification has been combated successfully in large parts of Anantapur. Some sand dunes remain of course but large tracts of hill slopes have been re-greened, farm produce stretches to the horizon everywhere one sees.

Watch the Films Re-greening a Sandscape Part 1 and Part 2 (in English) on these two links:  in Telugu on this link: in Kannada on this link: and in Hindi on this link: 

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HGErO1GvAE&t=6s
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjwexIU58is&t=418s

You may wish to listen to a podcast on micro finance for native nutrition in English on this link:  

Of further interest to you re photo blogs on the subject of successful watershed management in Anantapur; It is available in English on this link: in Hindi on this link: in Telugu on this link and in Kannada on this link.

Indian agricultural, horticultural, cultivars and commercial crops 

Understanding Biodiversity is another relevant photo blog. 

Watershed Management in Anantapur - interventions by SEDSNGO

Watershed management a success story in Anantapur after three decades

 Dryland Climate Smart Agriculture

One of the agro ecological interventions of Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) can be viewed on this link:Video Blog

Another video blog on fruit orchards maybe interesting to you.

If complex legislation like CBD, Biodiversity Act etc can be demystified in this fashion for the benefit of grassroots population, then the purpose of Statesmanship is achieved, to say the least. Of course all NGOs involved and the state Government also get credit for transparent implementation of the legislation… a herculean task indeed.

Malini Shankar, Digital Discourse Foundation