Cost Effective Rainwater Harvesting Technology for Livelihood of Submontane N-W Tract Zone Farmers of India

The submonatneous N-W tract of India receives high precipitation rate varying from 850-1100 mm, suffers from water scarcity during winter season (October to March). The soils of the tract are coarse textured with low water holding capacity and are not only hungry but thirsty too. Due to non-availability of irrigation facilities and deep to very deep water table in the area, the alternative method to irrigate crops is to explore minor irrigation potential through rainwater harvesting structures/ tanks or through effective water-conservation measures. A cost effective rainwater harvesting tank varying in capacities from 0.80 ha m to as high as 1.20 ha m capacity has been developed in districts of Solan and Hoshiarpur in states of Himachal and Punjab, respectively. However, farmers may have the option to design water harvesting tank of suitable capacity as per the water requirements of crops intended to be cultivated and also for other diversified use of stored water for crop production, fish rearing, kitchen garden purposes and other uses during winter season that mainly suffers from stress period. The designed water harvesting tanks were made up of clay, low density polyethylene (LOPE) black agric-film and brick lining in order to reduce the seepage losses. Using the stored water judiciously and economically in various farm activities is most acceptable especially for the cultivation of remunerative crops like ginger and tomatoes etc. This economically viable and easily adoptable technology needs to be disseminated and popularized among large sectors of farmers in the area. The paper describes all aspects, including cost of preparation, size and capacity of water harvesting tank, water loss, lining material used, water productivity, and diversified use of stored water have been dealt with.