Department of Agricultural Economics, Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, Tamil Nadu, India
Online published on 13 December, 2019.
This study measures the impact of watershed development programmes on the livelihoods of rural communities in the study area, the watershed in the Kinathukadavu block of Coimbatore district, from 2011 to 2016. The results of the sustainable livelihood approach show that various changes of capital assets were found to be positive on rural livelihoods. The difference-in-difference method shows a positive impact on the farming system and significant change in cropping intensity and the area brought under irrigation. Policies to promote women's empowerment and smallholder livestock production like livestock subsidy programmes should be designed and implemented considering their sustainability, and farmers should use cultivated land, livestock, forests and other common property resources appropriately and rationally.
