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Agricultural Water Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat

Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
R.P.S. Malik a, , Meredith Giordano b , Vivek Sharma c
a b c

International Water Management Institute, 2nd Floor, CG Block C, NASC Complex, DPS Marg, Pusa, New Delhi 110012, India International Water Management Institute, P.O. Box 2075, Colombo, Sri Lanka Centre for Advanced Research and Development, H II/195, Arvind Vihar, Baghmugallia, Madhya Pradesh, India

a r t i c l e
Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Decentralized India Investment Irrigation Smallholders

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
A recent initiative in Madhya Pradesh, India to promote privately funded, rainwater harvesting structures on farmers own land has shown substantial economic and livelihood benets. In contrast to the many poorly functioning, community managed rainwater harvesting programs, the individual or decentralized rainwater harvesting structures have led to signicant improvements in availability of irrigation water, a revival of the agricultural economy of the region, and substantial increases in farmer incomes and livelihoods. Since 2006, more than 6000 farmers in the state have invested in on-farm ponds. The investments are highly cost effective and farmers are able to recover their initial investment in approximately 3 years. While longer-terms impact studies are needed, this initial assessment suggests that on-farm rainwater harvesting ponds are a promising private small irrigation option in Madhya Pradesh and similar regions in India and elsewhere. 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction India has a long tradition of harvesting rainwater, dating back more than two millennia. Evidence of this tradition has been found in ancient texts, inscriptions and archeological remains (http://www.gits4u.com/water/water6.htm). While the tradition diminished considerably in the early part of the 20th century due, in part, to an emphasis on large scale irrigation projects, the practice has experienced a revival recently for a variety of reasons (Agarwal and Narian, 1997). In a country with more than 86 million ha of rainfed agriculture (Sharma et al., 2008), rainwater harvesting offers supplementary irrigation as well as protection against climate variability. It also offers additional options for farmers, who were previously dependent on groundwater resources and now are experiencing fast declining water tables due to overexploitation. Rainwater harvesting is gaining favor as a positive alternative to costly large-scale irrigation infrastructure projects, particularly in light of growing opposition to the impacts of these large structures on Indias environmental, ecological and social landscapes (Rangachari et al., 2000; Briscoe and Malik, 2006; Shah, 2013). As a result, the last 2 decades have witnessed a signicant increase in rainwater harvesting efforts, albeit in ways that are markedly different from their

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 11 25840811/25840812, fax: +91 11 25842075. E-mail addresses: r.malik@cgiar.org (R.P.S. Malik), m.giordano@cgiar.org (M. Giordano), card vivek@yahoo.com (V. Sharma). 0378-3774/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

traditional prototypes, in terms of the context and purpose (Kumar et al., 2008). Most past efforts in rainwater harvesting have been initiated by the government, although communities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been important stakeholders. Government support for the structures has come through direct rainwater harvesting programs or through complementary investments in watershed development (e.g., Indias Integrated Watershed Development Program), micro-watersheds, check dams, small tank revival, and groundwater recharge. With the support of national and state governments, rainwater harvesting structures are generally built on communal land, and, ultimately, are collectively managed through the formation of local water user groups in an effort to promote efcient management of the structures and equitable allocation of the resource. While community management is often promoted as a means to improve resource productivity, the model has been a source of many failed institutional interventions in India, including participatory irrigation management (PIM) and irrigation management transfer (IMT) (Shah, 2007). A review of the IMT/PIM literature suggests that community management of natural resources does not always produce the desired results of greater participation or empowerment of stakeholders, nor has such devolution always led to better management, more equitable access to water resources, or improved sustainability of the structures or the resource itself (FAO, 2007; Vermillion et al., 1999; Meinzen-Dick, 1997). Mukherji et al. (2009) examine 108 cases of IMT/PIM in public irrigation systems in India and other parts of Asia. The authors nd that successful

Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

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R.P.S. Malik et al. / Agricultural Water Management xxx (2013) xxxxxx Table 1 Number of farming households in the survey, conducted in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh in August 2010. Block Khategaon Tonkkhurd Total Adopter households 45 45 90 Non-adopter households 14 16 30 Total sample size 59 (6) 61 (8) 120 (14)

cases of IMT/PIM occur only under a set of context specic factors, which are either impossible to replicate, or very costly and therefore, impractical to replicate elsewhere. The authors conclude that transferring irrigation systems to communities does not necessarily ensure better management of such systems (Mukherji et al., 2009). Outcomes from watershed development programs in India, and community managed rainwater harvesting in particular, show similarly mixed results with unsuccessful projects signicantly outnumbering successful ones (Sharma, 2009). One of the most intractable problems in watershed development has been the lack of sustainability. Many projects fail to include strategies to maintain communal assets once project support ends (Sharma, 2009), and farmers often view the benets as short-term, through paid labor for construction (Joy, 2003). As a result, communities often have little interest in the longer-term operation and maintenance of project assets. Individual control over available water, by contrast, can enable a farmer to better plan agricultural operations, more efciently and productively use the water resources, and to maintain the structures for long-term use (Takeshima et al., 2010; Molle et al., 2003). A limited number of efforts at constructing private rainwater harvesting structures have been initiated in several parts of India with encouraging results (see for example Jana, 2011; Banerjee, 2011; Pangare and Karmakar, 2003). This approach emphasizes decentralized water harvesting structures built on farmers own land with farmers own resources. In this paper, we analyze the experience in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh, where there has been signicant farmer investment in on-farm ponds since 2006, following precipitous declines in groundwater levels and, consequently, agricultural production. We examine the impacts of the ponds on crop production and other farmer-reported changes to the regions agricultural and environmental landscape. We also present a benetcost analysis of farmer investments in the structures, together with considerations for further replication of the approach in other parts of India and elsewhere. 2. Methodology and data We formulated this case study following an initial scoping study and stakeholder survey in Madhya Pradesh to identify promising, existing small scale agricultural water management practices. Several practices were highlighted through this process, including the signicant private investment in on-farm ponds in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. Following initial interviews with district ofcials, non-governmental agencies and farmers, we selected this case study as one of several for further analysis.1 We collected detailed primary data through personal interviews in August 2010 using a customized, structured questionnaire administered based on a random sample of 90 farmers who have invested in decentralized rainwater harvesting structures (adopter farmers) and 30 farmers who have not invested in such structures (non-adopter farmers). The sample was drawn using a stratied random sampling scheme from areas characterized by 2 major geological conditionshard rock aquifers prevailing in the Tonkkhurd block, and soft rock aquifers interspersed with areas of hard rock

Note: Figures in parentheses denote the number of villages from which the sampled households were drawn.

prevailing in the Khategaon block of Dewas district.2 For sampling, blocks formed the rst stage unit, villages within blocks the second stage unit, and farmer households the nal unit of sampling. The selected sample was spread over 6 villages in Khategaon block and 8 villages in Tonkkhurd block. Assessing the structures and their benets and costs in these 2 contrasting geological conditions was deemed important as the time, effort and cost required to construct the water harvesting structure is likely to be higher in areas underlain with hard rock than in soft rock conditions (Table 1). We assessed the impacts on cropping intensity, cropping patterns and yield, and the benetcost ratio by comparing a selected number of indicators before and after farmer investment in onfarm ponds. Other impacts on the agricultural and environmental landscape, including livestock and sheries cultivation, groundwater recharge and changes to the surrounding environment, are reported based on information obtained during the survey. Since the intervening period between the project intervention and this assessment has been very short (varying between 1 and 3 years), we believe it is reasonable to assume that the inuence of non-project related factors, if any, has been insignicant. In addition to the primary data, we gathered information also through structured discussions with ofcials at the state, district and block level. We interviewed NGO representatives, private sector entrepreneurs undertaking the construction work of water harvesting structures, and several other individuals engaged in complementary services, such as agricultural marketing, input supply, and equipment supply. 2.1. The study region Dewas district is located in the moist, semi-arid region of Malwa in west-central Madhya Pradesh (Fig. 1).3 Beginning in the mid1970s the region underwent a rapid expansion in irrigated area, relying almost exclusively on groundwater. The natural rate of recharge in the region is low, and in the absence of signicant articial recharge initiatives, Dewas and all other districts in the region experienced signicant declines in groundwater levels. Extractions began exceeding 80% of natural recharge by the late 1990s (Shankar, 2005). Feedback from our preliminary interviews in the region suggests that current groundwater depths range from 60 to 90 m. Farmers and district ofcials stated that the failure rate of existing tubewells has increased signicantly, and most new investments in tubewells either do not yield any water or yield water with low discharge for only a short period of time. Furthermore, the water yielded is often of poor quality and unsuitable for irrigation. In addition to problems of groundwater quantity and quality, farmers in the region face severe constraints in availability of electricity for irrigation pumping. Even farmers whose tube wells yield

1 This study was carried out as part of a larger project examining the opportunities and constraints of small scale agricultural water management (AWM) technologies in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, and in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The AgWater Solutions Project was a 3-year, multi-institution project aimed to identify investment options and opportunities in agricultural water management with the greatest potential to improve incomes and food security for poor farmers. For more information about the AgWater Solutions Project and the case studies in Madhya Pradesh see http://www.awm-solutions.iwmi.org/home-page.aspx?reload.

2 Dewas district is divided in six blocks. A block is a smaller administrative unit within a district. 3 The Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh receives on average 8001000 mm of rainfall/year (Shankar, 2005).

Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

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Fig. 1. District demarcated map of Madhya Pradesh and location of the study area.

water, face constraints in extracting the available water due to inadequate and irregular electric power supply. As a result, crop cultivation in the region is generally restricted to one rainfed crop during the wet season, leaving much of the land uncultivated during the dry season. Farmers report precipitous declines in income and limitations on their ability to diversify their production activities and manage risk. For example, lacking sufcient water, some farmers are unable to produce sufcient fodder crops that would enable them to raise livestock in an effort to diversify their activities. In response to this situation, the district administration experimented, and later launched in 2006, a decentralized approach to rainwater harvesting, under which farmers were encouraged to build rainwater harvesting structures on their own land. For the construction of the ponds, the district administration suggested farmers allocate from 6% to 10% of their land for the ponds.4 The ponds are unlined but tractors are used to compact the soil in order to minimize seepage. The district administration provided the technical and logistical support, such as in siting of the structures (taking into account physical characteristics such as slope and rainfall), arranging for digging equipment from private contractors, and in price negotiations. The material and labor were provided by the farmers themselves. Since its launch, the initiative has taken the form of a movement, and the district administration reports that more than 6000 farmers have invested in the ponds (Umrao, 2011, personal communication).

3. Results The pace of construction rapidly increased following the program launch in 2006. About 87% of the sampled adopter farming households in Khategaon and 98% in Tonkkhurd completed their structures by 2008 (Table 2). The average area assigned for water
Table 2 Characteristics of water harvesting structures of farmers interviewed in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh in August 2010. Characteristic Proportion of water harvesting structures constructed during 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Proportion of operated area allocated to water harvesting structure Average depth of water harvesting structure when constructed (m) Average depth of water harvesting structure currently (m) Distribution of water harvesting structures according to their current depths (m) 1.522.13 2.443.05 3.354.57 >4.57 Khategaon (%) 16 20 47 13 4 10.04 3.47 3.75 (%) 22 36 26 16 Tonkkhurd (%) 33 20 45 2 0 8.79 2.20 2.67 (%) 36 47 13 4

4 This rule-of-thumb was determined based on prevailing physical and agronomic conditions in the district with the overall objective of encouraging investment without overcapitalization.

Note: Khategaon and Tonkkhurd are administrative blocks within Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. The survey was conducted in August 2010. We interviewed 59 farmers in Khategaon and 61 farmers in Tonkkhurd, for a total of 120 households. 45 households within each block adopted water harvesting structures. The above data relates to these 90 households.

Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

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R.P.S. Malik et al. / Agricultural Water Management xxx (2013) xxxxxx Khategaon Before (%)
a

Table 3 Changes in cultivated area, cropping patterns and cropping intensity. Season Indicator Tonkkhurd After (%) 91 7 2 47 46 7 194
a

Beforea (%) 97 0 3 9 15 76 125

Aftera (%) 98 0 2 53 43 4 198

Wet

Operated areab allocated to: Soybean Cotton Operated area left fallow Operated area allocated to: Wheat Gram Operated area left fallow Cropping Intensityc

68 30 2 18 4 78 122

Dry

Annual

Note: Khategaon and Tonkkhurd are administrative blocks within Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. The survey was conducted in August 2010. We interviewed 59 farmers in Khategaon and 61 farmers in Tonkkhurd, for a total of 120 households. 45 households within each block adopted water harvesting structures. The above data relates to these 90 households. a Before and after refer to periods before and after construction of water harvesting structures. b Operated area = owned area + leased-in area leased-out area. c Cropping intensity is the ratio of gross cropped area to net sown area expressed as percentage.

harvesting structures varied between 10% of the operated area5 in Khategaon to 8.8% in Tonkkhurd. To minimize the possible risks associated with investing in a new intervention, most of the initial adopters invested in relatively shallow structures. Newer structures became progressively deeper as farmers witnessed the success of the earlier investors. Initially, the depths of the structures ranged from 1.5 to 7.6 m, with average depths of 3.5 m in Khategaon and 2.2 m in Tonkkhurd (Table 2). The current average depths are 3.8 m and 2.7 m, respectively. A few farmers in the region have invested in structures as deep as 7.6 m, and farmers are increasingly constructing deeper structures to enhance water storage potential, while minimizing the area they set aside for that purpose. Farmers generally adhere to the 6% to 10% land allocation suggestion, described above, and they do not overinvest in their structures. Most farmers (87% in Khategaon and 96% in Tonkkhurd) report that the size of their water harvesting structure is just sufcient to meet their crop water requirements, and they do not have additional water to sell to neighboring farmers. 3.1. Impacts on crop production The primary motivation for investing in water harvesting structures has been to store available rainwater during the wet season and to use the stored water for irrigation in the following dry season. The water stored in these structures can also be used for supplemental irrigation in the wet season (i.e., during long dry spells), thus serving as a hedge against unreliable rainfall even in the wet season. We analyzed the direct impacts from investing in the structures on the agricultural sector through an assessment of changes in (i) cultivable land kept fallow, (ii) cropping intensity, (iii) cropping pattern in wet and dry seasons, (iv) cultivation practices, (v) water conservation practices, and (vi) crop yields. 3.1.1. Decline in fallow land and shifts in cropping intensity6 The most important consideration for investing in water harvesting structures has been to enable, through the provision of irrigation water, crop cultivation during the dry season. Before the construction of water harvesting structures, farmers cultivated nearly their entire operated area during the wet season, but kept fallow more than 75% of the cultivable area during dry season, due

to lack of water. Only a few farmers who had access to some source of irrigation could cultivate part of their land during the dry season. Following the construction of water harvesting structures, the available water in the structures has enabled farmers to overcome this constraint. As a result, the proportion of area kept fallow in the dry season has declined sharply to between 4% and 7%. Consequently the annual cropping intensity on adopting farmers elds has increased from about 122% prior to construction of these structures to about 198% afterwards (Table 3). 3.1.2. Changes in cropping pattern The primary purpose of constructing on-farm ponds is to provide water for irrigation during the dry season. Yet some farmers use the water also for supplemental irrigation in the wet season. Thus, we discuss the observed changes in cropping patterns during the wet and dry seasons. 3.1.2.1. The wet season. During the last several years, most of the sampled farmers have cultivated soybeans during the wet season, generally as a rainfed crop. However, some farmers in Khategaon block have also cultivated cotton on some of their land during the wet season. Soybeans do not require supplemental irrigation. Thus, the construction of water harvesting structures is not expected to result in changes to cropping patterns during the wet season. While rainwater harvesting structures are primarily intended for use in the dry season, the water stored in the structures following the onset of monsoons nevertheless becomes available for supplemental irrigation during the early wet season and allows for a shift in the cropping pattern away from rainfed crops (e.g., soybeans). Further, use of the structures for supplemental irrigation does not generally compromise dry season use, as the structures can be relled at the end of the monsoon season. In light of this, we inquired if the sampled farmers have attempted to use the stored water for cultivating irrigated crops during wet season, and, if not, what have been the constraining factors. Our results suggest that none of the sampled farmers (with 2 exceptions) has used the harvested water to introduce irrigated crops in the wet season. While many reasons were given, the non-availability and high cost of labor, and the lack of access to technology and output markets for the sale of irrigated crops are common constraints in both study sites (Table 4). 3.1.2.2. The dry season. Wheat and gram are the 2 most important dry season crops. Following the availability of irrigation water, sampled farmers have started cultivating wheat and gram on land which was hitherto uncultivated. Wheat and gram have different

Operated area = owned area + leased-in area leased-out area. Cropping intensity is dened as the ratio of gross cropped area to net sown area expressed as a percentage.
5 6

Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

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R.P.S. Malik et al. / Agricultural Water Management xxx (2013) xxxxxx 5 Table 5 Changes in crop yields reported by farmers, in quintals per ha. Crop Khategaon Before Irrigated Soybean Cotton Wheat Gram Crop 56 62 2 2 78 22 91 62 42 9 9 13 2 53 Soybean Cotton Wheat Gram 13.1 (12) 8.9 (12) 20.8 (15) 12.6 (11) Tonkkhurd Before Irrigated 19.8 (14) 12.6 (15) Rainfed 13.3 (45) 18.3 (3) 8.6 (2) After Irrigated 23.2 (45) 13.3 (41) Rainfed 12.1 (45) Rainfed 12.6 (30) 7.2 (19) After Irrigated 13.6 (12) 9.4 (3) 24.7 (42) 13.3 (42) Rainfed 13.1 (33) 7.7 (9) 9.9 (1) Proportion of sampled farmers reporting in the afrmative Khategaon Tonkkhurd 0

Table 4 Reasons given by farmers for not modifying cropping patterns to include irrigated crops in the wet season.

Started cultivating any new irrigated crop during the wet season Reasons for not cultivating Lack of skills in cultivating these crops Lack of access to technology Lack of access to markets for these crops Lack of transport facilities/high cost of transportation Lower market price than the existing crop Lack of processing facilities (e.g. rice shellers, sugar mills etc.) Insufcient water available to grow irrigated crops Non-availability/high cost of labor

24

56

Note: Khategaon and Tonkkhurd are administrative blocks within Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. The survey was conducted in August 2010. We interviewed 59 farmers in Khategaon and 61 farmers in Tonkkhurd, for a total of 120 households. 45 households within each block adopted water harvesting structures. The above data relates to these 90 households.

irrigation water requirements. Depending upon the amount of water available in the water harvesting structure, farmers decide how much of their available area to cultivate, and for which crop (wheat or gram) to optimize water use during the dry season. Farmers generally do not plan to meet the full crop water requirements, but rather seek to give 2 to 3 irrigations to wheat and 1 irrigation to gram. Following investment in on-farm ponds, the proportion of area cultivated during the dry season has increased from about 22% to about 96%. Wheat and gram are now being cultivated on almost equal proportions of the operated area with wheat occupying between 47% and 53% of the dry season cultivated area and gram occupying the balance (see Table 3 above). 3.1.3. Changes in cultivation practices In addition to extending crop cultivation to the dry season, there has also been a signicant shift in cultivation practices. With the availability of stored water for irrigation and consequential agricultural intensication, farmers are under increased pressure to complete various stages of crop operations in a timely manner. Farmers stated that this requirement, coupled with the severe shortage of agricultural labor and high wage rates has encouraged a switch toward more mechanized farming. Most of the sampled farmers in both study locations reported moving from bullocks to tractors (owned or hired) for land preparation and sowing. Crop harvesting is also being increasingly mechanized, with combine harvesters hired for harvesting and threshing operations. 3.1.4. Adoption of water conserving practices Water stored in the structures is pumped out for irrigation using either a small diesel engine or an electric motor. Given the efforts made in harvesting rainwater, we would expect that farmers would try to use the available water most efciently and maximize crop water productivity. Adoption of water conserving technologies such as sprinkler and drip could help in making more efcient use of the available water. The results, however, show that farmer adoption of water conserving technologies is still very low. Only 3 of the 45 farmers in Khategaon and none of the 45 farmers in Tonkkhurd reported using any water conserving practices. The reasons include lack of awareness, high cost of related technologies,

Note: Khategaon and Tonkkhurd are administrative blocks within Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. The survey was conducted in August 2010. We interviewed 59 farmers in Khategaon and 61 farmers in Tonkkhurd, for a total of 120 households. 45 households within each block adopted water harvesting structures. The above data relates to these 90 households. Before and after refer to the periods before and after construction of water harvesting structures. Irrigated refers to the area receiving irrigation water from water harvesting structure. Rainfed refers to area receiving no irrigation water from any source. Figures in parentheses denote the number of observations on the basis of which average yields have been computed.

lack of access to nance, and other technological impediments, such as laying and removing of pipelines and damage due to rodents. Another important reason reported for non-adoption is that the availability of irrigation has improved water availability to such an extent that farmers do not deem water conservation technologies as essential. An economic analysis to compare the cost of increasing the water storage capacity with the adoption of water conservation technologies could provide important insights. 3.1.5. Impact on crop yields The availability of irrigation water combined with improved farming practices, more intensive use of inputs and improved crop varieties have together resulted in increased crop yields (Table 5). The yields of all the irrigated crops are higher under after conditions as compared to those under before7 conditions. With limited data available, it was not possible to isolate the impact of availability of water per se to increases in crop yields. However, the availability of water from the water harvesting structures has enabled cultivation of irrigated crops during the dry season on land which was previously fallow. Thus, crop production in the dry season is actually a net addition to annual output, facilitated by the availability of water from these water harvesting structures. 3.2. Other reported impacts The primary impetus for farmer investment in rainwater harvesting structures in Dewas district has been to provide an alternative source for irrigation. However, other possible benets from on-farm water storage include opportunities for livestock and sh cultivation and groundwater recharge, improved drinking water availability in adjoining wells, and improved ecology. We present here farmer-reported benets related to livestock and sh cultivation as well as farmers perceptions of the impact of rainwa-

7 Before and after refer to farm conditions prevailing before and after the construction of the water harvesting structures.

Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

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R.P.S. Malik et al. / Agricultural Water Management xxx (2013) xxxxxx Unit Khategaon Before After 77 17 4 164 % Change 15 37 0 34 Tonkkhurd Before 49 20 8 102 After 39 26 2 103 % Change 20 30 75 11

Table 6 Livestock numbers and milk production reported by farmers interviewed in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh in August 2010.

Buffaloes Cows Oxen Annual Milk Production

Number Number Number Liters (000)

67 27 4 123

Note: Khategaon and Tonkkhurd are administrative blocks within Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. The survey was conducted in August 2010. We interviewed 59 farmers in Khategaon and 61 farmers in Tonkkhurd, for a total of 120 households. 45 households within each block adopted water harvesting structures. The above data relates to these 90 households. Before and after refer to the periods before and after construction of water harvesting structures.

ter harvesting structures on the regions ecology, environment and groundwater resources. 3.2.1. Impact on livestock The availability of fodder is important for farmers considering investments in livestock. Previously, the lack of access to irrigation in the study region constrained the availability of fodder and therefore investment by farmers in livestock. To assess the impact of rainwater harvesting structures on livestock, we examined changes in both livestock numbers and milk production. Since the introduction of rainwater harvesting structures, the cultivation of wheat by farmers in the dry season has to some extent improved the regions availability of fodder and consequently encouraged farmers to improve and expand their livestock activity. However, livestock activity is also capital intensive, and thus progress on this front has been relatively slow. Rather than increasing herd size, farmers report initially investing in improving the quality of their herd by replacing the existing low milk yielding stock with improved breeds (e.g., by introducing high milk yielding cows and buffaloes from Punjab and Haryana). The results obtained from our survey suggest that while the total livestock numbers have either remained constant or declined somewhat, the mix of animals has changed (Table 6). The net result has been an increase in annual milk production by 34% in Khategaon and 11% in Tonkkhurd. 3.2.2. Impact on sh cultivation In general the rainwater harvesting structures are not used for sh cultivation. Only 3 farmers in the 2 study sites reported sh farming on a limited scale in their constructed ponds. The main constraint reported was the insufcient period during which the tanks are inundated. The water stored in the structures is depleted in 45 months. Some farmers indicated that it is possible to leave some minimum amount of water standing in the structure for a longer period for sh cultivation but they do not have the requisite technical knowledge. In addition, investment in aquaculture in this particular region of Madhya Pradesh is likely limited as the population largely follows a strict vegetarian diet. 3.2.3. Ecological and environmental impacts Farmers reported several positive, local ecological impacts. Almost 85% of the sampled respondents in both study locations responded that the density and availability of wildlife (such as deer, wolves and other similar large animals) have substantially increased in the region following the construction of water harvesting structures. Other ecological changes observed include a return of migratory birds to the region, and a signicant increase in the number of resident small birds (e.g., peacocks, ducks and fowl). No increase in mosquito populations was reported. 3.2.4. Impact on groundwater We did not have access to any ofcial data on the groundwater table before and after the construction of the structures.

However, farmers in the region perceived some improvement in groundwater availability. About 40% of the sampled farmers in both study locations reported that seepage from the structures had led to a rise in the groundwater table as reected by the relative ease in obtaining drinking water from open wells in the region. 3.3. Benetcost analysis of investing in water harvesting structures Based on the data obtained through the surveys and described above, we present in Table 7 estimates of annual increments in benets and costs on an average sampled farm in the study region. The calculations only include all quantiable costs and benets, and therefore do not include qualitative data obtained, such as the environmental and ecological impacts described above. To help farmers offset part of the capital cost in undertaking construction of the structures, the Government now provides a one-time capital subsidy of up to INR 80,0008 (Government of Madhya Pradesh, 2013). However, as budgetary constraints limit the number of farmers eligible for this activity, the benetcost ratios include 2 scenarios1 without a subsidy and 1 with a capital subsidy of INR 80,000. From a farmers perspective, the availability of a government subsidy implies a corresponding reduction in the farmers nancial cost to invest in the structure. Due primarily to differences in the capital cost of the structures between Khategaon (soft rock region) and Tonkkhurd (hard rock region), the benetcost ratios differ between the 2 blocks. Without a government subsidy the benetcost ratio works out to between 1.92 in Khategaon and 1.48 in Tonkkhurd. The estimated payback period in the 2 cases is 2.5 and 3.1 years, respectively. With a government subsidy of INR 80,000 the farmers capital cost of investment is reduced. As a result, the benetcost ratio improves to between 2.39 and 1.72 in the case of Khategaon and Tonkkhurd, respectively. The respective payback period also declines to 1.9 and 2.6 years for the 2 locations. 3.4. Scaling up: what constrains farmers from investing in structures? If the investment in decentralized water harvesting structures has been so protable, why is it that a large number of farmers, especially some of those located in the vicinity of the adopting households, have not so far invested in this activity? The results from our survey identied the following 2 key reasons: (i) lack of access to nancial resources to pay for the initial cost of constructing the water harvesting structures; and

Equivalent to USD 1480 at an exchange rate of 1 USD = 54 INR.

Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

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R.P.S. Malik et al. / Agricultural Water Management xxx (2013) xxxxxx 7 Characteristics Average size of farm (ha) Average size of water harvesting structure (ha) Average depth of water harvesting structure (m) Net annual increase in income from crop production (Rs) (gross value of output-operating costs) Net annual increase in income from livestock production (Rs) Total annual increase in net income (Rs) Capital cost of structure (Rs) Life of structure (assumed) (years) Annual depreciation (Rs) Annual interest cost (at 10% of capital cost) (Rs) Annual maintenance cost (at 2% of capital cost) (Rs) Opportunity cost of land where the structure built (=annual loss of net value of crop production on land where harvesting structure built) (Rs) Total annual cost (Rs) Benet: cost ratio Pay back period (years) Khategaon 8.1 0.84 3.47 135,041 11,122 146,163 361,330 15 24,089 36,133 7,227 8,597 Tonkkhurd 10.1 0.89 2.20 154,673 2,720 157,393 484,675 15 32,312 48,468 9,694 16,064

Table 7 Farm level estimates of benets and costs of investments in water harvesting structures. Parameter Farm and structure

Benets

Scenario 1no government subsidy Cost

76,046 1.92 2.5 281,330 61,112 2.39 1.9

106,537 1.48 3.1 404,675 91,604 1.72 2.6

Scenario 2capital subsidy of Rs 80,000 by the government Capital cost of structure (Rs) Cost Total annual cost (Rs) Benet: cost ratio Pay back period (years)

Table 8 Awareness of and willingness to invest in water harvesting structures by sampled non-adopting households. Characteristic Awareness of water harvesting structures Knowledge of someone who has constructed such structures Ever seen/visited such structures Number of respondents who would not like to invest in similar structures on their farm Reasons for unwillingness to construct structures Lack of funds to invest Difcult to part with land for the purpose Access to alternative irrigation sources Unsure about economics of investment Unsure about sufcient water availability to ll a structure Unconvinced about long-term implication of such investment Unsure about technical feasibility of structures Khategaon (n = 16) 13 12 12 11 11 10 6 0 2 0 2 Tonkkhurd (n = 14) 13 13 13 14 10 11 2 2 3 2 0 Total (n = 30) 26 25 25 25 21 21 8 2 5 2 2

Note: Khategaon and Tonkkhurd are administrative blocks within Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. The survey was conducted in August 2010. We interviewed 59 farmers in Khategaon and 61 farmers in Tonkkhurd, for a total of 120 households. 90 of these households adopted water harvesting structures. These results pertain only to the remaining 30 households we interviewed that did not invested in rainwater harvesting structures.

(ii) reluctance of farmers, especially those with very small landholdings, to set aside part of their already small cultivable area for construction of such a structure (Table 8). 4. Conclusions Decentralized rainwater harvesting structures have played a positive role in alleviating severe water scarcity challenges in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh. Given the small landholdings in India, farmers are generally sensitive about either diverting or utilizing a part of their land for non-cultivation purposes. However, farmers who have invested in the structures have experienced improved water availability through rainwater harvesting, which in turn has directly and indirectly improved the socio-economic conditions of rural population and environmental landscape of the region. Furthermore, the decentralized nature of the structures has avoided many of the management and sustainability issues faced in community approaches to rainwater harvesting, including the allocation of shared resources and the maintenance of the supporting assets. Further upscaling this option, however, requires consideration of 2 key issues. The rst relates to resource sustainability. As noted

above, positive environmental impacts were noted by farmers in the district following the implementation of rainwater harvesting structures, related to the surrounding ecology as well as, and importantly for the region, groundwater recharge. The potential downstream impacts need to be further studied, however, before implementing the model on a larger scale. An assessment in a semi-arid watershed in Andhra Pradesh, for example, found that while rainwater harvesting improved crop yields and groundwater recharge locally, water outows from the developed area declined signicantly resulting in potentially large negative impacts for downstream users (Garg et al., 2011). Moreover, within the study region itself, increased cropping intensity following the introduction of rainwater harvesting, may in fact result in less water being available to recharge groundwater supplies. The second issue relates to equity. To date, the adopters of the structures have been nancially better-off farmers in Dewas district with relatively larger landholdings. While the 10% rainwater harvesting model is protable even after accounting for the loss in productive land due to construction of the structures, poorer farmers with smaller landholdings are reluctant to adopt the model for both risk- and nancial-related reasons. Setting aside even small portions of land is a risk for smallholder farmers. In

Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002

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addition, access to and nancing of the signicant initial investment cost associated with structuresbetween INR 360,000 and INR 485,000 for a 0.8 ha structure9 is a signicant challenge as reported by many non-adopting farmers. Government subsidies are available to support farmers on a limited basis, but not all eligible farmers are able to access the subsidy or other forms of external nancing. Complementary interventions could be explored to overcome these constraints. First, in terms of the size of the structures, similar models, such as the 5% hapas10 structures prevalent in West Bengal, have shown promise among all social classes of farmers (Banerjee, 2011; Jana, 2011). Further investigation of structure size and crop mix may open up a greater spectrum of decentralized rainwater harvesting options. Expanding or extending existing credit options for smallholder farmers is another possible intervention. Currently, Indias public sector banking system treats loans for rainwater harvesting structures as commercial loans, with a higher interest rate than the concessionary rate offered for other types of agricultural loans, such as crop loans. Treating rainwater harvesting structures as part of the agricultural loan portfolio would allow a wider spectrum of farmers to nance the structures. Microcredit, cooperative banks and/or the donor community may also become involved through loan guarantees or revolving lines of credit. A third option is to develop links with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which guarantees employment to rural households on construction work that addresses the causes of chronic poverty. Initiated by the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the program seeks, among other things, to provide a growth engine for sustainable development of an agricultural economy. MGNREGS now covers the entire country with the exception of districts that have 100% urban populations. The majority of the permissible works being carried out under MGNREGS relate to building infrastructure to enhance water security in rural areas. Building structures on private land, however, is permitted for only a subset of farmers belonging to certain socio-economic categories, as dened under the Act, and therefore excludes all but the poorest farming households. Extension of this facility to wider strata of the rural poor could accelerate adoption of decentralized rainwater harvesting structures. Decentralized rainwater harvesting is a nancially viable alternative to large scale, centralized irrigation infrastructure and to community managed structures. Starting on a small scale to ensure proof of concept, the initiative quickly took the form of a movement in Dewas district, where the practice has improved agricultural incomes, expanded livelihood options and provided non-agricultural benets to the broader community and environment. It is applicable to regions of India and elsewhere that receive moderately high rainfall, and offer a potentially more sustainable option to groundwater irrigation. Further examination of the research and investment opportunities described here could expand the reach of this promising small private irrigation solution. Acknowledgments This report was funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The ndings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reect positions or

policies of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We appreciate also the helpful comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers. References
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Between USD 6600 and 9000 at an exchange rate of 1 USD = 54 INR. Hapas are water harvesting structures which have been promoted by some NGOs in West Bengal (India) following a criterion somewhat similar to the one reported in the present study. Most of these structures in West Bengal have been built on the farms of small farmers.
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Please cite this article in press as: Malik, R.P.S., et al., Examining farm-level perceptions, costs, and benets of small water harvesting structures in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Agric. Water Manage. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2013.07.002