November News Letter - 9

Transcription

1 News Letter - 9 Editorial Project Outcome Indicators Overview of Progress WUA Corpus Fund Grows in the Bank Corpus Grows on Babul Trees World Bank Approves Project Extension Small Inputs Lead to Big Dreams and Bigger Profits November 2012 Tribal fishermen increase profits without middlemen Water Use Efficiency: The next big challenge Impact Study on crop adoption rate in Seven Districts Farmer federations and livelihoods: An eye opener Project grant for WUA office construction on cost sharing basis WUAs make pledge to maintain their tank systems

2 Editorial The Government of Andhra Pradesh through the first preference for availing the funds for office the Government of India submitted a proposal to construction. the World Bank to extend the Project WUAs building strong corpus fund is a must for their implementation period of APCBTMP by 21 months financial capacity to operate and maintain the tank up to September The World Bank has systems. Corpus funds have been growing steadily. accepted the proposal and has extended the However, more concerted efforts are needed to achieve project period to 30 September the target by each and every WUA. This newsletter reports By June 2012, APCBTMP has grounded all 2157 select some innovative ways followed by some WUAs to raise schemes. There is scope for undertaking some additional additional resources. These are good examples for other works utilizing the savings. An extension of the project WUAs to follow. period will provide sufficient time to fully complete all the The next big challenge is capacity building of WUAs to proposed works. Also strengthening the WUAs towards collect, analyse and understand the quantity of water from self sustainability will get greater attention. the tank used for cultivation of crops. Already WUA representatives are being trained in collection of data from One of the proposals approved for strengthening WUAs cut throat flumes constructed in water flow channels by is to provide support to build WUA s own office. This will the Project. This initiative will lead to participatory help establish WUA s individual identity in the village. A management of water resource estimation and improved sum of Rs. 1,500 lakhs is allocated during the current water use efficiency, a cherished objective of water sector financial year for this. The best performing WUAs will get reforms. APCBTMP Outcome Indicators (June 2012) 2

3 Overview Status of Works Grounded (November 2012) Sl. District Project tanks Ayacut (ha) AA tanks Works grounded WUA Tender 1 Adilabad Anantapur Chittoor E. Godavari Kadapa Karimnagar Khammam Krishna Kurnool Mahabubnagar Medak Nalgonda Nellore Nizamabad Prakasam Rangareddy Srikakulam Visakhapatnam Vizianagaram Warangal W.Godavari Total WUAs receiving TIMP Completion Certificates from Project officials APCBTMP: Componentwise progress (November 2012) Components Unit No. Strengthening Community Based Institutions Tank Improvement and Management N 2157 Plans (TIMP) prepared Nodal Support Organizations involved N 57 Para workers trained N 6468 Corpus fund (WUA O&M Account) including, 90% of Water Tax collected Rs/Lakh 1278 (plough back) WUA contribution in kind to works Rs/Lakh 407 Tribal Development Plans approved WUA 54 Gender Action Plans approved WUA 215 Tanks handed over to WUAs for O&M Tanks 637 Improvement of Minor Irrigation Tanks Administrative approvals accorded Tanks 2157 Technical sanctions Tanks 2157 Technical Sanctions (Tender Cost) Rs/Lakh Technical Sanctions (WUA Cost) Rs/Lakh 9729 WUA works grounded Tanks 2157 Tender works grounded Tanks % works completed Tanks % - 100%works completed Tanks % works completed Tanks % works completed Tanks % works completed Tanks 524 Participatory Groundwater Management Tanks selected N 314 PGM groups formed N 2267 PGM group members (Men) N PGM group members (Women) N Module 1 (Need and methodology of Participatory GW Estimation) N 314 Module 2 (PHM equipment handling, data collection & dissemination) N 305 Module 3 (Crop Water Budgeting) N 279 PHM volunteers collecting data N 1525 CWB-Workshops organized Tank 23 CWB Field days organised Tank 189 Agricultural Livelihood Support Services Demonstrations completed N 4720 Vermi compost units grounded N 2649 Kisan Melas organized N 2857 Fisheries inputs (Tanks) N 820 Commodity Interest Groups for Marketing N 771 3

4 Strengthening Community Based Institutions WUA Corpus Fund Grows in the Bank Gabbada channel system (Ravanapalli reservoir) irrigates 1080 hectares cultivated by 2,946 farmers from 14 villages in Narsipatnam mandal of Visakhapatnam district. Under APCBTMP, the Gabbada channel system is being restored to fill the gap ayacut of over 300 hectares at a cost of Rs.198 lakhs worth of civil works. After many discussions facilitated by the NSO (AWARD) and the DPU staff, the WUA decided to let the corpus grow in a fixed deposit for one year. We want to save the money for the future when works are completed and we will take over the O&M responsibilities for the tank. Sri Lagudu Pydayya Naidu, WUA President said: We have participated in all the capacity building activities organised by the Project. All of us TC and EC members are actively involved in all project implementation activities. have made sincere efforts to build a healthy corpus fund. We convinced the Visakha Cooperative Dairy, a large number of whose milk producers are our ayacutdars benefitting from the water from the reservoir, to contribute to our corpus donate Rs. 4.0 lakh to the WUA corpus fund. Farmers contributed another Rs. 1.5 lakh. Corpus Grows on Babul Trees "Our fixed deposit of Rs. 5.5 lakh will grow to Rs. 6,01,196/- by June We will then see how best we can further build the corpus." There are many sources from which to build a healthy corpus fund. This was well demonstrated by the Nagasamudram WUA in Anantapur district. Nagasamudram tank, located about 11 kms from CK Palli, the mandal headquarters, was constructed in the 15 th century during the Vijayanagara dynasty. The tank used to irrigate 102 acres (41 ha) ayacut owned by 89 families. Auction fee from the bidder adds to WUA Corpus Fund In July 2007, Nagasamudram tank was selected for restoration under APCBTMP. Civil works worth Rs lakh have been completed and the tank WUA handed over to the WUA for O&M. Under this able leadership of Mr. D. Oblulesu, President and SmtKondamma, Vice President and guided by HARDS (NSO) and the DPU, Anantapur, the WUA has been exploring ways to build up its Corpus Fund for maintaining the tank system. Smt. Kondamma tells the whole story: During one of our discussions, members suggested that auctioning the fruits and leave of babul trees growing in the tank foreshore area could generate some much needed funds. So the WUA conducted an auction in a transparent way. We announced the auction by tomtom in the village. Four bidders participated paying Rs 100/- each as auction fee. Mr. G. Addeppa, a resident sheep rearer of Nagasamudram, won the auction for Rs. 10,000/- for one year. I deposited the auction proceeds of 10,000 rupees into our WUA O&M Account. Now we have Rs 12,800/- including cash contributions from ayacutdars. We still have to collect more funds, but we have made a good beginning. 4

5 Small Inputs Lead to Big Dreams and Bigger Profits Lives of 24 tribal ayacutdars of Kothurtanda have changed for the better in many ways with a Rs. 50,000/- grant to install a flour mill. Kothurtanda is a hamlet of Kondai, a remote village in Eturnagaram mandal of Warangal district. Peddacheruvu of Kondai was selected for restoration under APCBTMP in There are 153 families cultivating 198 hectares of ayacut under the tank. Having 24 tribal ayacutdars who live in Kothurtanda, the WUA qualified for special assistance under the tribal development component in APCBTMP. Mr Bachali Lakshmaiah, President, Peddacheruvu Tribal Committee explained how they achieved this: "We, the 24 tribal ayacutdars, formed a Tribal Committee and two Commodity Interest Groups. Now we are saving Rs.50/- per month Water Use Efficiency: The Next Big Challenge Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) has become an accepted practice in the State through the establishment of Water User Associations. Projects, such as the AP Community Based Tank Management Project with its primary development objective to strengthen the PIM processes, have made some impact in this area. However, one of the unmet challenges is improving water use efficiency through participatory processes. The main gap in this important aspect is the lack of accurate data to calculate the quantity of water used for a unit of produce. APCBTMP has demonstrated that participatory processes can be successfully employed for estimating groundwater use efficiency in its PGM component. Using this experience, the Project has now decided to involve the ayacutdars to collect the requisite data on surface water use. Water storage data will be collected using the measurement scales marked on the sluice and the water release data from the cut throat flumes constructed in the flow channels. Where multi-cropping is practiced, V notches are installed to capture data on water used for different crops. 5 per member. We have so far saved Rs. 6,500/-. "All these years, we had to cross Kondai vagu to go to Kondai village for grinding our grains, as we didn t have a flour mill in Kothurtanda. During the rainy season, crossing the stream was a very dangerous and difficult chore. At least three people had to hold each other to cross the stream safely. They would have to forego their daily wages on account of this. "So when we learnt that the project gives small grants to address our real needs, we proposed to set up a flour mill in our tanda. Accordingly, the WUA sent a proposal to the District Project Unit, Warangal. The Project approved a grant of Rs. 50,000/-. "We installed the flour mill in April Now all of us, especially the women, are happy and relieved. Not only has the flour mill reduced drudgery for our women folk, we do not have to forego our wages in the rainy season. "We have an income of about Rs. 100/- per day from the flour mill. After meeting the expenses of about Rs. 50/- for daily labour and electricity charges, we will save about Rs. 18,000/- per year. We have decided to contribute 25% of our savings to the WUA O&M fund to maintain our tank. "Now want to buy a Maize Sheller costing Rs.90,000/- out of our CIG savings and profits from the flour mill. We hope to get a 50% matching grant from the Tribal Welfare department. For this we will need proper advice and assistance from DEEDS, NSO and the DPU. Small inputs from the project reap rich dividends and saves us time and money." This initiative has been recommended by the 9 th World Bank Mission in June The Project has trained the project staff (Engineers and NSO staff) through Training of Trainers programmes by WALAMTARI. Engineers were trained on Design, Construction and Installation of Cut Throat Flumes. This is followed by these trained resource persons conducting field level training for the WUA representatives, Paraworkers and Neerugantis on data collection protocols, data recording and data analysis. Through this voluntary exercise of measuring and recording water storage and water flow data, the ayacutdars understand how these data are used for calculating water use efficiency. This participatory process will lead to realistic water budgeting and adoption of water efficient cultural practices. Krishnajigudem WUA of Warangal district is a pioneer in recording the water flow data and will become a model for all WUAs who will be trained on this challenging participatory initiative.

6 PHM Volunteer Increases Income Using New Knowledge Gained My name is Durgam Lakshmi Rajam. I am from Nizamabad village of Konaraopet mandal in Karimnagar district. My bore well was identified as one of the observation wells to measure the groundwater levels as a part the Participatory Groundwater Management in APCBTMP. Initially, I thought that only scientists could measure groundwater levels. When I volunteered for PGM, the Training Resource Person from the project taught me how to measure the groundwater level in my well. "I had sufficient water and got a good yield. My yield per acre also increased from 38 bags to 42 bags per acre. While I got 76 bags in kharif (worth about Rs 65,000) from two acres, I got 168 bags worth Rs lakh rupees during rabi from four acres. My income increased by Rs 78,000/- more. I was surprised to learn that the groundwater level before pumping (static water level) was mts, while pumping water level was metres below ground level. The water level lowered (drawdown) was only 3.04 metres during kharif I had irrigated two acres of paddy using a 5 HP pump set with 2'' dia delivery pipe. Then, I felt that my borewell might have enough water to irrigate more land. So I installed a 6 HP pump set with 2½" dia delivery pipe and observed the water levels before the Rabi season itself. I found out that even though the static water level was Mts and pumping water level was Mts, which more compared to Kharif levels, the drawdown was only 3.05 Mts, almost the same even with the increased discharge from my bore well. With this understanding, I planned to cultivate double my paddy cultivation to four acres during the rabi season. PHM farmer sharing Groundwater Management aspects With this limited experience, I can boldly say that crop planning based on understanding water level measurements can be very useful for groundwater users in the long run. I would urge that the PGM activity be extended to all groundwater users. This will help us understand the dynamics of groundwater better and lead to better management of this scarce resource. Tribal fishermen eliminate middlemen and increase income manifold Pendlipakala project, Devarakonda mandal, Nalgonda district is a large tank selected under the project for restoration. The tank serves 2435 ayacutdars cultivating 1621 hectares of land. Nearly 40 percent (950) of the ayacutdars are tribals, many of whom are also fishermen. Under the tribal development sub-component, 25 Tribal Common Interest Groups with 500 members were formed with the support of the WUA. Contributing Rs.50 per month, they saved Rs lakh. The CIG members prepared a tribal development plan which would optimize their income from fisheries. They wanted 50 fishing nets and10 tarpaulins for the fishermen, and 37 manual weighing machines and ice boxes for women fish vendors. The total estimate was 6.0 lakh rupees. The project provided a subsidy of 4.0 lakh rupees and the CIGs contributed 2.0 lakh rupees. The project also provided 1.0 lakh rupees as a corpus to the WUA Agri-business fund from which two CIGs have taken loans of Rs. 50,000/- each. APCBTMP has been providing inputs from for capacity building of fishermen and for stocking fingerlings. With these interventions, the fisherfolk are now able to harvest fish daily and sell in the local market as well as make bulk sales to agents. 6

7 Impact of adoption of new technologies in APCBMTP A sample study was conducted on adoption of new technologies in 34 villages from 7 districts under APCBTMP. Paddy, Maize and Sun Flower were the demo crops planted and crop diversification, IPM and ICM technologies were demonstrated and adopted by the sample farmers. A total of 679 farmers, cultivating 1589 acres of land under the project have adopted various practices. The average yield increase of the farmers adopting the practices as compared to the average village yield varied from 2.4 to 6.0 quintals for paddy, 5.0 quintals for maize and 1.6 quintals for sun flower. Farmer federations and livelihood programs of tribal farmers in Thane district: An eye-opener to WUA presidents of Karimnagar district A group of 22 comprising WUA presidents and project staff of Karimnagar district spent three days studying farmer federations and livelihoods programs of tribal farmers in Jawahar village in Thane district, Maharashtra. These activities are supported by the Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA) of BAIF Foundation. The team members had intense interactions with farmers while visiting fields where various sustainable horticultural practices are successfully implemented by tribal farmers. Tribal Committees Procures Agriculture Implements Mr. Venkata Raju, WUA President, Sarvanna Cheruvu, Perkapalli, Saidapur mandal summed up thus: The WADI programme promotion of three horticulture crops of Mango, Guava and Cashew in a one-acre plot and marketing of produce by the farmers federation, floriculture as an inter crop, nursery raising as subsidiary livelihoods, community seed bank, women federations, watershed development and cashew processing unit are very interesting and profitable enterprises. WUA Chairmen interacting with WADI farmars Mr. P. Sailu, President, Pedda Cheruvu, Sastrulapalli village, Manthani Mandal felt inspired and spoke for all: We have learned a lot from these tribal farmers doing terraced farming and podu (shifting) cultivation. Truly sustainable and income generating practices. We will also adopt some of these practices. 7

8 The World Bank Extends APCBTM Project Closing Date The closing date for Andhra Pradesh Community Based Tank Management Project (Cr IN/Ln IN) will be extended from December 31, 2012 by 21 months to September 30, The extension was granted on the request by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. While agreeing to extend the project implementation period, the World Bank noted: Satisfactory progress is being achieved in meeting the project development objectives. Data reported by an external M&E agency from a sample of project tanks indicate that yields of paddy, maize and groundnut have increased by 8 percent, 21 percent and 45 percent respectively and cropping intensity has increased 15 percent from baseline values. In tanks where fisheries interventions have been undertaken, fish productivity has nearly tripled from baseline values. Institutional strengthening efforts have also led to improvement in WUA functioning as measured through a number of intermediate outcome indicators. WUAs make pledge to maintain their restored tank systems Strengthening WUAs to take over O&M of the restored tank system is the primary objective of APCBTMP. On the works proposed in TIMP, completion of the Project formally handover the tank system to the WUA. On 18 th August 2012 WUAs organised an impressive tank dedication ceremony at Banda Posanipally, Yeldurthy mandal, Medak District. APCBTMP Grant for WUA Office Construction on Cost Sharing Basis The Project shall provide a grant to 750 of the best performing WUAs to construct their own office space on a cost sharing basis at the cost of Rs 2.5 lakhs each, with 20% WUA contribution. WUA shall identify 5 cents of land (200 sqm/ 240 sq. yard approx.) and shall ensure its voluntary transfer in the name of the WUA.The location identified will not be a part of Gram Panchayat Office. If it is in the GP campus, the WUA should get NOC from the GP. APCBTM Project will specify the layout and other specifications of the building for the WUA Office.Tribal, Gender and Remote WUAs shall be encouraged to take up the construction of WUA office buildings. Eight WUAs received TIMP Completion Reports and their Certificate from project officials. Nearly 200 women and men ayacutdars from the nearby WUAs participated in this function. All the WUA members taking the following pledge We, the members and representatives of WUAs of Bandaposanipally, ShetpallyKalan, Panthula Pally, Eswantharaopet, Mangalparthy, Yeldurthy, Sheripally, Chandapur, Gavvalapally, and Ambajipet, do hereby solemnly affirm that we shall faithfully and without prejudice, assume the responsibility of operation and maintenance of our tank. State Project Director (APCBTM Project) Irrigation and Command Area Development Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh Jalasoudha, 3rd Floor, Erramanzil, Hyderabad Website: pmu@apmitanks.in 8