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Abstract:
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"This paper presents the results of a case study of a watershed development project in the Karnataka state of India. The case study was conducted in 1988 in Mittemari, which is one of the sub-watersheds of the Chitrawati watershed in Kolar district of the state.
"The Mittemari project covered 750 ha of land out of the total geographical area of 1245 ha of the sub-watershed. The project was launched in January 1984 and by March 1987 almost all the targets set for the project had been achieved at a total expenditure of Rs.21.07 lakhs. The average cost of soil and water conservation measures was Rs.1582 per ha and of afforestation Rs. 5000 per ha. The average yields of all the major crops grown in the sub-watershed increased markedly as a result of the project. The average incremental net benefits from the agricultural land covered under the project was Rs.1712 per ha in 1986-87. It was not possible to estimate the benefits from the horticultural and forestry activities because of their long gestation and from reduced soil erosion. A major indirect benefit of the project was increased availability of water in the sub-watershed. This was evident from the increase in number of bore wells from 5 in 1983 to 28 in 1988, open wells from 11 to 18, and irrigated area from 60 ha to 150 ha over the same period of time. On the basis of these results, we could say that the Mittemari project was successful in achieving its objectives.
"The main factors that contributed to the success of the project were a strong support from the Government of Karnataka (GOK), availability of appropriate technology, an appropriate organisation structure, availability of adequate funds, and use of a well-tested and proven methodology of watershed planning and management. The major weaknesses of the project were inadequate people's participation, omission of animal husbandry activities, and lack of effective coordination with other agricultural and rural development programmes. On the whole, we could say that the watershed approach as developed and adopted in the Mittemari sub-watershed holds a high promise as a basis for planning and management of land, water, and forest resources in India."
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