Impact of integrated watershed management programme on yield and economic parameters of farmers in Wardha district
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53550/Keywords:
Adoption, Cropping intensity, Employment, Knowledge, Production, Watershed practicesAbstract
The present study was conducted in Wardha district of Maharashtra State in the Vidarbha region. For the impact study of Integrated Watershed Management Program (IWMP) on developmental parameters of farmers, descriptive design namely, ex-post facto research design was used. IWMP has been implemented in the district since 2010 with its integrated Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) activities. This project has almost completed the period of four years. Hence, the project needs to be evaluated for its impact on developmental parameters. The impact was determined by the changes in developmental parameters of farmers before and after watershed development program. In the study, behavioral variables like knowledge and adoption were studied; however, yield parameters and income generating variables were also the key points to study the impact of IWMP. After critical analysis, it was observed that 90% of the respondents had high level of knowledge regarding watershed practices, while 87.5% farmers adopted at medium level. Change in production and productivity was observed due to implementation of IWMP. Similarly, cropping intensity increased by 12.28%, while employment and income increased by 19.57 and 50.71%, respectively. Overall impact of IWMP on yield and economic parameters in Wardha district was 50.64%. During the IWMP, yield and economic parameters significantly changed. Knowledge and adoption of watershed practices played an important role in increasing the production, productivity, cropping intensity, employment generation and income of farmers which show positive and highly significant relationship between behavioral variables of farmers and their developmental parameters.
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