Abstract

Conservation and judicious use of soil and water play an important role for sustainable crop production and improving the livelihood of people especially in the semi- arid and arid belts of India. The present work evaluates the changes brought about by soil and water conservation interventions in the beneficiary villages of Ratlam and Mandsaur districts, Madhya Pradesh in terms of cropped area, irrigated area and number of irrigations applied. An exploratory survey and evaluation through questionnaire based interview of the respondents was conducted. The post intervention period recorded a net increase of cropping area with ensured irrigation cover and more number of irrigations applied to the crop by the farmers of the beneficiary villages even in water scarce Rabi season.

Key words: Irrigation, watershed, soil and water conservation, ‘Sunehra Kal.’