Enhancing productivity of micro watershed based farming systems through lined water harvesting tanks in north eastern hills

A water harvesting system was evaluated in two different farming systems in hilly terrain with the objectives of studying its impact on crop and animal productivity and judging the financial viability of the storage system for sustainability. The present study suggested that due to availability of water for irrigation, the yield of food and fodder crops increased significantly and thereby enhanced the milk production of animals. In case of dairy based farming system (FSW-1), the introduction of rainwater harvesting system led to a substantial increase in the profit by an amount of 10,247.00 over control. While, for Agri-horti-silvipastoral system (FSW 5), the crop yield was increased by 9.3%, 15.1% and 48.1% in case of radish, cucumber and pea, respectively over the control. The plastic lined water harvesting tanks helped to reduce seepage loss to the minimum. Based on the estimated annual costs and returns, the financial viability criteria (IRR, NPV and BCR) were found favorable and affordable by farmers for investment on plastic lined water harvesting tank integrated with mixed farming systems.