CAN WATERSHED-BASED INTERVENTIONS BE A PANACEA TO AGRARIAN DISTRESS IN VIDARBHA REGION OF MAHARASHTRA? A CASE STUDY

Watershed-based interventions have brought a paradigm shift in the resource conservation and production across the rain-fed landscape of the country. Yet some regions still face agrarian distress and Vidarbha region is one among them. The present study explored this issue with a focus on watershed-based interventions. The historical agricultural development and agrarian distress of Vidarbha region were examined with respect to conservation of natural resource and its impact on mitigating the distress and absolving the locals of misery. This study proposed to test the hypotheses that watershed approach of decentralised water harvesting and utilisation are the remedy to overcome the agrarian stagnation suffered by the Vidarbha region. Participatory watershed management project funded by a development agency was taken up as a case study. The watershed programme undertaken in the region attempted to address the water shortage problem, apart from addressing credit needs of the local stakeholders. The programme was evaluated from socio-economic view point examining the impact on agricultural production, income, poverty reduction and migration. The study argued that despite positive changes in socio-economic condition of farmers resulting from watershed programme, the economic gain was too little to push them out of the vicious circle of misery. It was suggested to further strengthen the subsidiary input supply chain including market intelligence and remunerative prices of crop, apart from strengthening the existing conservation efforts.


Introduction
Vidarbha, which has been in distress for long, is inhabited by the people belonging to the weaker sections of society such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes. The reason for backwardness is reported to be the diminution in development efforts suffered by this region in the State of Maharashtra (Phansalkar, 2005). Once a centre for public decision making in erstwhile Central Provinces and Berar in pre-Independence period, it lost this status to western Maharashtra subsequently. The regional disparities subsequently resulted in negligence of other developments including irrigation development (Shah et al., 2012;Phansalkar, 2005) leading to poor agrarian development in Vidarbha compared to other parts of Maharashtra. The spatial inequality had been cited, in literature, to be a complex interplay of factors viz., resource endowment, nature of population inhabiting the region, network of trade, history of investments on resource development and nature of polity addressing issues like infrastructure development, price policies encompassing both inputs and outputs in different sectors including levies and rebates (Frank, 1975;Amin, 2002;Phanslakar, 2005). Vidarbha region, historically, fared poorly in these factors in comparison to similar regions in other parts of the country. Despite the good resource endowment, the nature of polity practised over the years in Vidarbha led to its downfall, while similar regions advanced following proactive governance policy (Shah et al., 2012). The agrarian development in Vidarha was a fallout of the colonial feudal system coupled with fragmented peasant class, which never allowed Vidarbha to put a strong claim on the 'growth drivers' , which were experienced in other parts of western Maharashtra even in the post-Independence period. For the same reason, the region which was prosperous in terms of natural resources suffered from neglect of irrigation development leading to weak agrarian base over which subsequent agricultural development could not pick up (Phansalkar, 2003).
There are various theories about Vidarbha's agrarian stagnation, each examined from a different perspective. Starting with lopsided irrigation development as documented by Phansalkar (2003), poor governance encompassing the historical Zamindari system, development backlog and weak institutional base leading to lopsided agricultural development led to stagnation (Shah et al, 2012). The causes identified and the remedies suggested, by and large, pointed towards at least one common remedy, viz., decentralised water resource development, apart from others.The decentralised water resource development by local stakeholders through watershed development approach of agricultural development played a crucial role. This was amply demonstrated by villagers in Ralegan Siddhi and Hivre Bazar watershed development works in Maharashtra.In this backdrop, the watershed development, governed by the localised geohydrological setting, suited best to address the water availability issues, which, coupled with improved agricultural intervention,could lead to agricultural development of the region.

Agricultural Distress and Watershed Development
That Vidarbha region remained agriculturally backward owing to poor irrigation infrastructure was amply documented. A government report observed that "though the State average for irrigation potential had increased and the residual backlog of fact-finding committee (Government of Maharashtra, 1984) had been taken into account, the presence of 57 per cent of the outstanding backlogs in Vidarbha indicate a rising trend of regional disparity in this sector" (Planning Commission, 2003). Further, the region witnessed a substantial shortfall in actual expenditure for the irrigation sector as against excess expenditure in the rest of Maharashtra (Planning Commission, 2006). All this resulted in lower share (27 to 28 per cent) of gross cropped area under irrigation in Vidarbha (Mohanty, 2009). Similar had been the fate of agricultural credit flow for agricultural inputs and machinery affecting, thereby, use of high value inputs and,in turn, agricultural production in the region. This, coupled with a complex interplay of social, economic and environmental factors, resulted in misery leading to farmers' suicides in the region.
The small holding size with rain-fed subsistence farming and poor credit and market support resulted in farmers falling prey to vicious circle of poverty. Under these circumstances, it was argued that scientific management of natural resources such as land and water in combination with capacity building to sustain livelihood enterprises could minimise the impact of socio-economic and environmental causes.   Development, Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December : 2017 was taken as case study to examine the impact of watershed interventions in Vidarbha region.

Methodology
Vidarbha region of Maharashtra State, which lies between 18 0 45' and 21 0 45' north latitude and 76 0 0' and 81 0 0' east longitude in the eastern region of Maharashtra State of India, is mostly characterised by dryland farming. The region has tropical/semi-arid and sub-humid monsoon type of climate. The annual rainfall varies between 760 mm to 1600 mm. The mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures vary from 30.9 0 C to 34.0 0 C and 20.3 0 C to 21.3 0 C, respectively. The geological formations are Precambrian, Cuddapah and Vindhyas, Deccan trap and recent deposits. The climatic conditions of this region can be broadly described as semiarid. The mean annual rainfall ranges from 700 mm in the West to 1700 mm in the East. The region experiences sub-humid to humid conditions in monsoon season, semi-arid in winter season and arid in summer season. The region receives adequate rainfall but suffers from vagaries of distribution and consequently the scarcity and semi-scarcity conditions. Soil is sandy loam to loam and has poor depth. To address the problem of water scarcity and low productivity, the watershed management programme was undertaken in the region.
Vidarbha region comprises two revenue divisions e.g.,Nagpur and Amravati and consists of eleven districts e.g., Akola, Amravati, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Nagpur, Wardha, Washim and Yavatmal. Vidarbha occupies 31.6 per cent of the total area and holds 21.3 per cent of total population of Maharashtra. It is plagued by poverty and malnutrition and is less economically prosperous compared to the rest of Maharashtra. The land degradation statistics indicate Amravati, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli and Yavatmal to have high degraded and wastelands and Nagpur, Buldana districts to have moderate degraded and wastelands. Akola, Bhandara, Gondia, Wardha and Washim are the districts having less degraded and wastelands (ICAR and NAAS, 2010).

Figure 1: Micro Watershed Clusters of Vidarbha Region Surveyed
The study aims to test the hypotheses about the positive role of watershed-based approach of natural resource conservation to address the agrarian distress of the region. Hence, sample design was concentrated on the watershed management programme of NABARD executed in six districts in a cluster mode. All the six clusters where watershed management programme was launched were selected for the study. The data collected included socioeconomic and bio-physical attributes such as demographic features, vegetation status, land use, soil fertility status, cropping pattern, geo-hydromorphological features, input-output data on crops, income and employment and productivity.
In addition, interactions were held with field functionaries following focus group and personal interviews. Besides the traditional survey techniques, use of geomatic tools such as remote sensing and GIS were relied upon to corroborate the information supplied by beneficiaries about the changes brought about due to watershed interventions.
The standard evaluation approaches were used to assess the impact of watershed programme on different parameters. Before and after data comparison technique was adopted for all the socio-economic parameters. Statistical averages computed for the two periods were compared and analysed for impact assessment at constant prices of the year 2006-07, the period of initiation of watershed management programmes. The economic analysis was done by following discounted cash flow technique and economic viability parameters were computed. The rainfall data recorded during last five years are presented in Table 2.

Land Use Pattern and Watershed Interventions:
This land use pattern of the watershed is given in Tables 3a and 3b.About 77 per cent of the geographical area is under cultivation.   Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December : 2017 The remaining land is fallow and unculturable land. Of the total cultivated area, 87 per cent is rain-fed and the remaining is under seasonal or perennial irrigation. However, there is variation in the land use pattern among the watershed clusters ( Figure 3) and the watershed interventions varied across micro watershed clusters. The expenditure on watershed across micro watershed clusters also varied from ` 6 million to ` 27 million (Table 4). Among the interventions, highest expenditure was made on loose boulder structures followed by check dams and nala (local stream) bunds.

Figure 3: Land Use Pattern in Different Watershed Clusters in Vidarbaha Region
Forest Land Panchayat Land Submerged Area Under Tank

Revenue Land Gaothan (Land occupied by household) Cultivated Land
Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December : 2017   Similarly, adoption of artificial insemination and yielding crossbreeds and improved buffaloes were executed to improve livestock production. The programme brought out changes in production enterprise resulting in enhanced income and employment, household and farm asset augmentation, reduced poverty and out-migration during lean period, apart from improvement in social indicators. The discussion is organised into three major sections e.g., change in social indicators, change in production indicators and change in economic indicators followed by overall economic analysis of the programme.

Impact of Watershed Intervention
Crop Production:The major crops prior to watershed intervention included soya bean, mung, wheat, gram & urd. Some area under desi cotton also existed. Introduction of Bt. cotton reduced area under desi cotton. The project interventions resulted in significant rise in area under rabi (winter) cultivation while kharif (rainy season) cultivated area did not show much change (Table 5). Maximum increase in area  (Table 7).  Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 36, No. 4, October-December : 2017 Change in Economic Profile Income and Employment: As a result of the execution of watershed programme, the labour employment generated worked out to be 305,599 persondays per annum. Different activities such as crop production, livestock, horticulture accounted for 60 , 10 and 4 per cent, respectively. The remaining employment was accounted for by other activities like micro enterprise (8 per cent) and agricultural labour (18 per cent). As a result, the change in income was observed to the tune of 38 per cent ( Figure  5). Increased income was invested on farm assets, consumer durables and also on livestock owned.

Consumer Durables and Farm Assets:
The increased income during the project execution and after has been invested in creating farm assets, including pucca (permanent) house owned ( Figure 6) and also for purchasing consumer durables (Table 8). The investment on well increased from ` 61,137 in the pre-project phase to ` 77,530 in the post-project phase, an increase of 25 per cent, which was a significant development. Similarly, per household investment on motor and pump owned before the project was ` 15,003 and ` 11,391, respectively before programme implementation. It increased to ` 18,558 (24 per cent) and 14,882 (31per cent) after programme implementation at constant prices. While the investment on bullock cart increased by 20.5 per cent, the value of cattleshed increased by only 2.6 per cent. The investment on thresher owned did not change. The farm households of Vidarbha region also invested on house construction, cooking gas, refrigerator, television, telephone (mobile) and motor cycle. Major investment was made on telephone (mainly mobile sets), refrigerator and television. The average investment on these assets before programme was ` 1262, ` 4689 and 31983, respectively. These increased tò 2336, ` 8078 and ` 5510, respectively, after programme execution. The average value of investment on other durables increased only The investment on television increased by 16 per cent as a result of programme execution.
(Before -Before watershed intervention) (After -After watershed intervention)  Livestock Ownership: There was an increase in bullocks, cross bred cows, goats and poultry (Table  9). The maximum increase (five times) was observed in cross bred cows, followed by goat (79 per cent), poultry (78 per cent) and bullocks (12 per cent). The average income from milk production worked out to be ` 4115/year (1320-16800 `/annum).  Medium-term 1.32 2010 175000 175000 4 13 -10 Long-term 0.66 2008 140000 140000 5 6 -Household Indebtedness: Majority of the farmers availed of short and medium terms loans (Table 10).The short-term loan was taken by 81 per cent farmers and the average amount of loan worked out to be ` 54,138 out of which 11.5 per cent was repaid till the time of survey.
Similarly, about 6 per cent of the beneficiaries surveyed availed of medium-term loan, the average loan amount being ` 68,458. Only 2 per cent of the loan amount could be repaid till the time of survey. The whole amount of long-term loan was yet to be repaid as revealed by the farmers during the survey. Only 2 per cent of the surveyed families reported about the family migration in the pre-programme phase and this status reduced to 0.7 per cent during postprogramme phase (Table 11). However, the duration of migration slightly reduced. While the families migrated for an average of 4 months in a year prior to programme implementation, this reduced to 3 months / year after the programme implementation. Similarly, male migration declined from 3.3 per cent before the programme to 1.3 per cent after the programme.
The seasonal migration was reported by only 0.7 per cent farmers prior to watershed programme. Across the clusters, Amravati and Dahegaon reported high male migration as compared to other clusters. The whole family migration was about the same in all the clusters except for Amravati and Buldhana. On the other hand, clusters like Buldhana reported high incidence of seasonal migration, which was almost negligible in other clusters (Figure 7).

Discussion
Vidarbha is mainly a rain-fed farming region and the crops are dependent on vagaries of monsoons. Due to frequent occurrence of dry spell, delayed onset of monsoon and early withdrawal, prospects of good crop were bleak without appropriate rainwater management.The groundwater level was declining because of excessive lifting of water in the absence of replenishment. Similarly, the uneven distribution of annual rainfall (700mm) of the region, which was sufficient to support the production system,in the absence of water conservation measures, remained unutilisable.This made living of the farmers unstable and difficult with uncertainty in yield and income. The region, emerged as the country's farmer suicide capital, had been reeling under its worst agrarian crisis ever due to truant rainfall leading to massive crop failure in cotton, paddy, pulses and soya bean.
The low crop and animal productivity had resulted in low livelihood security. This, coupled with inadequate finance for agriculture, lack of supporting enterprises, such as post-harvest cottage and agro-based industries and nonavailability of good quality seed, timely availability of desirable fertilisers and pesticides, had compounded the farmers' woes. circumstances, watershed programme helped to have more availability of irrigation water due to water storage structures which resulted in stabilisation in production and improvement in crop income. This supplemented the income from enhanced milk production due to better vegetation status,which helped farmers improve their socio-economic conditions. Farm indebtedness, particularly the short-term loans, taken for purchase of agricultural inputs for crop cultivation declined as a result of watershed management as better crop production enabled them to partly repay it. Drought and uncertainty in agricultural production, also reasons for distress, improved and water conservation resulted in increased area during summer in some clusters. The changes, however, were not uniform for all the watershed clusters studied and the differential impact of the programme was attributed to rainfall, natural resource endowment and the efficacy of the programme activities across the clusters in the region. In fact, selection of sites, design and execution of watershed activities played a crucial role. Despite same average rainfall, Yavatmal reported higher crop production and productivity change as compared to Washim. This could be attributed to design, execution and maintenance of farm bunds with outlets. This was reflected in water availability including soil moisture regime. This supported production interventions resulted in increased income, poverty reduction and reduced migration outside the village. Similarly, Buldhana experienced improved cropping intensity and crop productivity in post-watershed programme due to better efficacy in execution of programme interventions like farm bunds with pipe outlet. Proper design, location and work execution of contour trenches in non-arable land of Dahegaon, similarly, resulted in better vegetative coverage post-monsoon. Little improvement in these aspects would further enhance the impact of the programme. Jalyukta Shivar Campaign has become a people's movement in Maharashtra and it is proving to be useful for irrigation and enhancement of groundwater level. It would, however, not be out of place to emphasise the scientific approach in sustaining the campaign to realise the fruits of the conservation works carried out.

Conclusion
Vidarbha region's backwardness, despite glorious past during pre-Independence period, has been attributed to spatial disparities brought about by, among others, poor infrastructural development, a result of weak political commitment after the country's independence. The agrarian development over the period suffered from water resource development, among others. Various government programmes have attempted to address it by investing money on various developmental schemes. However, the desired change in the agricultural scene has not been witnessed and the farmers of the region have continued to take extreme steps of suicides. The local water harvesting and watershed management approach, practised elsewhere with similar characteristics, has been suggested as a cost-effective and efficient approach in the present paper. A case of the watershed management programme executed by the apex funding agency of the country has been evaluated. The socio-economic evaluation has revealed that with in-situ harvesting of rainwater, farmers have realised increased yields. The resulting increase in agricultural income has not only addressed the nutritional security, to some extent, but also the seasonal migration, apart from purchasing farm assets and consumer durables.The paper strongly recommends further strengthening of the watershed programme in the area so that the crux of the agrarian problem is addressed at the earliest. While the earlier approach was scattered, the present approach is cluster-based, which addressed the natural resource management in a better way. In the agrarian setting of Vidarbha region, other developmental schemes can follow once the local peasantry is helped to stand on its legs with support to livelihood by strengthening the resources such as water and soil.