The road to ecological and economic prosperity
The experience of the last 22 years, starting from Ralegan Siddhi and Sukhomajri, shows that regeneration of a highly degraded village, ecologically and economically, takes more than 10 years.
The chart below is a summary of the ecological regeneration-economic development process in six villages spanning over 16 years. The chart, prepared by the Centre for Science and Environment, incorporates different stages of development in these villages. The trend shows that Ralegan Siddhi, the oldest of the lot, has not only regenerated its ecology but also has established a very matured institution to manage the resources created, thus making the whole process sustainable. Another important finding of this chart is that without a mature institution, the regeneration activities have stopped giving any benefit. For example, Gelhar Choti and Kakradhara. Despite regeneration of the ecology, the whole process stopped with the collapse of the village institutions. These institutions must continue to manage their natural resources for at least 15 years to get the full benefits from agriculture, animal husbandary and forestry combined. Forests take at least 15 years to grow in the watershed to start giving sustained economic benefits.
| Ralegan Siddhi Maharashtra (work started 1979) | Community mobilisation for water conservation. Water harvesting structures built with community participation. (1979-1982) | Watershed development activities taken up with community participation. Partial rabi crops besides total kharif crops. Wells have water. (1983-1984) | Fallow lands under use. Massive plantation and landless residents benefiting from it. Availability of fodder leads to increase in number of livestock. Incomes up by two-fold. Many user groups in charge of managing resources with the gram sabha as the nodal body. (1985-1989) | All the four watersheds in the village treated. Earning up three-to-four-folds. a quarter of the households earn in excess of half a million rupees a year. (1990 onwards) | ||||||||||||
| Raj Samadhiyala Gujarat (work started 1986) | Water conservation works taken up through users committees of the panchayat. (1986-1989) | Village wells get plenty water. Harvested kharif and rabi crops. Drinking water problem solved. (1990-1992) | Village income almost doubled from Rs 1.26 crore ro 2.50 crore. (1993-1994) | Declared a drought-free area. Groundwater level went up by three times. Village income reached Rs 4.50 crore. (1995-1998) | Two consecutive droughts of 2000 and 2001 didn"t have any impact. The average income of household during 2001 is Rs 5 lakh. (1999-2001) | |||||||||||
| Mahudi Gujarat (work started 1992) | A check dam on a seasonal river managed by a lift-irrigation co-operative society increased kharif yield by 75 per cent and 100 per cent rise in rabi crop. (1992-1994) | All villagers taking up to three crops. Per capital income of residents increases by two-fold. (1995-1998) | Two consecutive droughts of 2000 and 2001 didn"t have any impact. The village institution worked out water management plan to avert water scarcity. (1999-2001) | |||||||||||||
| Mandlikpur Gujarat (work started 1993) | Individuals started wells recharging by putting rainwater into wells. (1993-1994) | Village"s 150 wells recharged. Agricultural yield rises. (1995) | Village got record-breaking agricultural yield. It inspired many more neighbouring villages. (1996-1998) | The village could harvest the kharif crop in 2000 drought year. (1999-2000) | Drought again in 2001. No kharif and rabi crops. (2001) | |||||||||||
| Kakradhara Madhya Pradesh (work started 1995) | Watershed development activities taken up. Due to water availability agriculture records growth. (1995-1997) | Watershed works stopped. (1998) | The drought saw the village institutions collapsing. (1999) | |||||||||||||
| Gelhar Choti Madhya Pradesh (work started 1997) | Watershed development. More water, rise in agricultural yield. (1997-1998) | Government stops works. (1999) | Drought year. Took both kharif and rabi crops. (2000) | Drought of 2001 affected the village with severe water scarcity. (2001) | ||||||||||||
| 1st year | 2nd year | 3rd year | 4th year | 5th year | 6th year | 7th year | 8th year | 9th year | 10th year | 11th year | 12th year | 13th year | 14th year | 15th year | 16th year | |
| STAGE I: increase water availability and fallow land come under cultivation | STAGE II: improved and stabilised agricultural production based on existing cropping paterns | STAGE III: increased grass production and increase in animal husbandry | STAGE IV: regenerated forest starts giving economic benefits like minor forest produce | |||||||||||||