Management of Degraded Land to Combat Desertification and Climate Change in India

R.B. Sinha, Joint Secretary (NRM&RFS)

Government of IndiaMinistry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare

Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmer WelfareNew Delhi, India.

India’s Land &Water Resource

Total Precipitation 4000 BCM

Utilizable 1123 BCM(SW 690, GW

433)

Utilized 634 BCM(SW 403,GW 231)

Net Sown Area 141 Million ha

Gross Cropped Area 195 Million ha

Net Irrigated Area 65 Mha (SW 25, GW 40)

Irrig. Potential Created 112 Million ha

Precision Irrigation 7.7 Million ha

Land Degradation Scenario of India

Sl. No.

Type of degradation

Area in m.ha

Percentage of Total

Degraded land

1 Wind and Water Erosion

94.87 79

2 Acidic soil 17.93 15

3 Alkaline soil 3.70 3

4 Saline soil 2.73 1.8

5 Water logged 0.91 1

6 Mining & Industrial waste

0.26 0.2

Total 120.40 100.0

Vision

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Functional Areas

Research and Development

Technology, Product and Practices

Infrastructure

Capacity Building

National Initiatives Programmes:

◦ Watershed Development◦ National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture◦ Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture◦ Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana◦ National Food Security Mission◦ National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture◦ Soil Health Card Scheme◦ Parmpragrat Krishi Vikas Yojana◦ Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana◦ National Mission Agriculture Extension &

Technologies◦ Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act

National Initiatives Research:

◦ Cental Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA)◦ Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI)◦ Central Forest Research Institute◦ Indian Institute of Water Management◦ National Institute of Rural Development

Policies ◦ National Farmers Policy◦ National Water Policy◦ National Forestry Policy◦ National Land Use Policy◦ National Agroforestry Policy

Dedicated Institution ◦ Ministry of Agriculture◦ Department of Land Resources◦ Indian Council for Agricultural Research

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmer Welfare (DAC&FW) National Watershed Development Projects for Rainfed Areas

(NWDPRA) River Valley Project and Flood Prone River (RVP & FPR) Watershed Development Projects for Shifting Cultivation Areas

(WDPSCA) Reclamation and Development of Alkali and Acid Soils (RADAS)

Department of Land Resources (DoLR) Draught Prone Area Programme (DPAP) Desert Development Programme (DDP) Integrated Wasteland Development Project (IWDP) DPAP, DDP and IWDP have been merged together in 2010 and

renamed as Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)

Upto March 2013

National Programmes for Degraded Land Development

Achievements of Degraded Land Programmes of GoI (DAC&FW and DoLR)

S. No

Name of Scheme Area Treated(million Ha.)

Investment(Rs. crore)

DAC&FW1 NWDPRA 11.03 4499.9

2 RVP & FPR 7.91 3581.7

3 WDPSCA 0.59 505.8

4 RADAS 0.91 195.1

5 EAPs 2.41 4351.5

Total (DAC&FW) 22.85 13133.9

DoLR1 IWMP (DPAP, DDP & (IWDP) 59.19 18442.1

Grand Total 82.04 31576.1

Since inception up to March, 2013

Prevention of soil erosion and land degradation ; Reduction of peak rate of runoff and improvement

in soil moisture regime ; Creation of water resources/bodies, and

augmentation of ground water; Improvement of soil fertility and productivity for

ensuring sustainable higher income; Increasing cropped area and cropping intensity,

besides crop diversification; and Creation of additional employment opportunities

in rural areas.

Major Outcomes of Land Restoration Programmess

Name of Departments

Programme for 15 years (2015-2030)

Physical (m.ha)

Financial (Rs. Cr.)

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmer Welfare (DAC&FW)

8.00 16000.00

Department of Land Resources (DoLR), MoRD 22.00 44000.00

Total (INR) 30.00 60000.00

Amount in Million US Dollar 9677.42

Plan for Restoration of Degraded Land by 2030

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA); to address issues associated with climate change by adaptation and mitigation strategies to ensure food security, livelihood security and economic stability.

National Agroforestry Policy, 2014; to encourage farmers for adoption of Agroforestry as an integral component of farming system to meet demand of timber, food, fuel and fodder.

Mission for Integrated development of Horticulture (MIDH) has sub-components of National Bamboo Mission (NBM) for promoting holistic growth of Bamboo sector by adopting area based regionally differentiated strategy and to increase area under bamboo cultivation in waste and barren lands for ultimate goal of prevention of land degradation and climate change adaptation

New Initiatives to address issue of Land Degradation

Conti…

Use of bio-fertilizers (Neem coated Urea etc.) are an ideal supplementary to reduce nitrogen related/nitrous oxide emission.

Reclamation of problem soils to enhance productivity of acid, saline, alkaline and water logged areas to ensure food and nutritional security.

Nation Agroforestry &Bamboo Mission (NABM) for promotion of horticulture/ bund plantation/ Agroforestry for bio-mass retention in field and thereby enhancing carbon sequestration with ultimate goal of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

National Policy for Management of Crop Residue (NPMCR) was formulated in order to manage residues to check emission of gases viz. CO2, CO and particles and also to promote multiple uses of crop residue.

New Initiatives to address issue of Land Degradation

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) is one of the schemes under NMSA through which assistance is provided for Organic Farming

Objectives includes promotion of eco- friendly agriculture less dependent on agro-chemicals and fertilizers, utilize the locally available resources & local indigenous traditional techniques for crop production, for developing 10,000 organic clusters of about 20 ha each and develop potential markets for organic produce

PKVY approach is to promote Organic farming through cluster approach and Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of certification

Project components are mobilization of stakeholders, quality control, following the recommended package of practices for tillage, pest and insect management & nutrient management, custom hiring centers, labeling and packaging assistance and marketing facilities at organic fairs

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Soil Health CardThe scheme envisages to enable farmers to apply appropriate recommended dosages of nutrients for crop production and improving soil health and its fertility. As per grid pattern, 25.3 million soil samples likely to be tested for macro as well as micro-nutrients.

Scheme mainly aim to provide Soil Health Cards every three years to all farmers, including recommendations related to soil test based nutrient management through network of Soil Testing Laboratories and capacity building of stakeholders

The total outlay for project is Rs. 5.6 billion and about 4.4 million soil samples have been collected so far.

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Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

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Increase gross irrigated area Bridging gap - irrigation potential & utilisation Water distribution network Enhance water use efficiency & Management Capacity Building, Training and Awareness

Generation Use of IT tools for planning and monitoring

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