Newsletter- 8. May 2012

Transcription

1 Newsletter- 8 May 2012 Editorial Project Highlights WUA Self Rating Analysis Overview of Progress Farmers contribute one bag of paddy per acre for WUA Corpus Tank System Improvement Cross Learning VIPs visit APCBTMP PGM Farmer Initiatives Tribal Committee Procures Agriculture Implements Improved Practices in Chilli Cultivation Fisheries Income Increases, WUA Corpus Grows Training on Demand Assessment, Demand Raising and Collection of Water Charges Medak Farmers Study Horticulture Marketing in Kerala

2 Editorial APCBTMP is in its final year of implementation. Having grounded all the select schemes, there is optimism that the project can be completed on time. There is scope for undertaking some additional works utilizing the savings accruing due to selection of fewer tanks while reaching the target ayacut. Discussions are under way to extend the project period to complete all the works in full and hand over the tanks systems to WUAs for O&M. WUA having a strong corpus fund is a basic requirement for financial sustainability. The appointment of Nodal Support Organisations (NSOs) for sustainability monitoring is showing good results. The WUA corpus fund has grown to Rs crores by end of May There is scope for accelerating the corpus fund development. Some laudable instances of corpus development are reported here. For example, at the Chandrayanapalli WUA form Nizamabad district, members have started contributing one bag of paddy per acre for Corpus Fund and decided to go multifunctional. In Pinjaramadugu of Khammam district, the Fishermen Cooperative Society has contributed a portion of its profit to the WUA. Project Highlights Z 2157 tanks covering an ayacut of 2.55 lakh ha, has been A identified. Z For sustainability monitoring, 59 Nodal Support Organizations (NSOs) were appointed for 20 districts. NSOs have prepared WUA wise action plans and are closely monitoring progress. Z WUA corpus fund growth facilitated by NSOs, has reached Rs.8.56 crores by 31 May Z Administrative Approvals accorded to all 2157 tanks costing Rs Crores. Z WUA works for Entry Point Activities have been grounded in all 2157 tanks, costing Rs crores. Z Tender works have been grounded in 2146 tanks. Z Upto 31 March 2012, cumulative project expenditure on all components was Rs crores. Z Civil Works as per TIMP have been completed in 863 tanks and 403 tanks were handed over to WUAs for assuming O&M responsibilities. Z Budget outlay for is Rs crores and expenditure was Rs crores. Z Budget outlay for is Rs crores. 2

3 Overview Status of Works Grounded (May 2012) S. No District Project tanks Ayacut (ha) AA tanks Works grounded WUA Tender 1 Adilabad Anantapur Chittoor East Godavari Kadapa Karimnagar Khammam Krishna Kurnool Mahabubnagar Medak Nalgonda Nellore Nizamabad Prakasam Rangareddy Srikakulam Visakhapatnam Vizianagaram Warangal West Godavari APCBTMP: Component wise progress (May 2012) Components Unit No. Strengthening Community Based Institutions Support Organizations involved N 273 Tanks allotted to SOs N 2157 Nodal Support Organizations involved N 58 Tank Improvement and Management Plans (TIMP) prepared N 2157 Para workers trained N 6468 Corpus fund (WUA O&M Account) including 90% of Water Tax collected Rs/Lakh (Plough Back of) WUA Contribution in Kind to Works Rs/Lakh Tribal Development Plans approved WUA 51 Gender Action Plans prepared WUA 176 Tanks handed over to WUA for O&M Tanks 403 Improvement of Minor Irrigation Tanks Administrative approvals accorded Tanks 2157 Technical sanctions Tanks 2157 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 814 Participatory Groundwater Management Tanks selected N 314 PGM groups formed N 2276 PGM group members Men PGM group members Women Module 1 (Need and methodology of Participatory GW Estimation) N 314 Total Module 2 (PHM equipment handling, data collection & dissemination) N 305 Module 3 (Crop Water Budgeting) N 239 PHM volunteers collecting data N 1525 CWB Workshops organized Tank 189 Agricultural Livelihood Support Services Demonstrations completed N 3974 Vermi compost units grounded N 2422 Kisan Melas organized N 880 A focus group discussion between farmers and project staff on assessing water use efficiency and water productivity Fingerlings stocked Tank 777 CIGs for marketing N 254 3

4 Strengthening Community Based Institutions Multifunctional Water Users Association, Chandrayanpalli Nizamabad Farmers contribute one bag of paddy per acre for WUA Corpus I am Nara Goud, Chairman of Chandrayanapalli WUA for Ooracheruvu. We are situated on NH7 just 30 km Nizamabad to Hyderabad. Total village population is 2350, mostly small and marginal farmers. Ooracheruvu has an ayacut of 110 acres owned by 134 ayacutdars (SC-8, BC-104, and OC-22; 8 women). Ooracheruvu was selected under APCBTMP in WUA Chandrayanpalli has six members and four sub committees to monitor the works at each stage. Corpus fund mobilization is a major challenge for us. We discussed many options to build a good corpus from different resources. Meeting of ayacutdhars on WUA corpus development In October 2011, GODS, an ISO 9001:2008 certified voluntary organisation was appointed as NSO. We had many brainstorming sessions especially on how to build a good corpus. Consensus emerged on following an old custom of kind contribution. The WUA members agreed to contribute one bag of paddy per acre per season to WUA corpus fund. Further the Chandrayanapalli WUA decided to become a Multifunctional WUA. The WUA members resolved that the corpus fund would be used for the following purposes: 1. For minor repairs of Ooracheruvu. 2. To provide loans to small and marginal farmers at low interest rates Inaugural ceremony for kind contribution 3. To provide agriculture and non-agriculture loans for cattle feed, dairy, fishing, goat rearing and poultry 4. To provide individual loans for farmers for education, health, marriage and other domestic needs loans at village level 5. To introduce innovative agriculture technologies at farmers fields as Agriculture Resource Centre. The first contribution by 30 farmers was 36 bags of paddy (each bag containing 70 Kgs worth Rs.700/-) from 30 farmers valued Rs. 25,500 as kind donation for WUA sustainability. Mobilization of paddy as farmer contribution Sri. Nara Goud concluded, We are proud to start a practice which WUAs can easily follow with many benefits to all. The NinethWorld Bank Project Implementation Support Mission will be visiting APCBTMP during the 1st week of June

5 Training on Demand Assessment, Demand Raising and Collection of Water Charges One of the main objectives of APCBTMP is that the tank based producers manage their tank systems effectively. Once rehabilitation works are completed, the tank is handed over to the WUA for operation and maintenance, A reasonable amount of money is required in the Corpus Fund for meeting the O&M expenditures. Part of this is provided by the Government through plough back of 90% of water tax collected. A strong team of 205 engineers from the Project as well as from NSOs have been trained as resource persons through five Training of Trainers programmes of 15 days duration by WALAMTARI. A user friendly training module on demand assessment, demand raising, and collection of water charges was developed for the WUAs and its sub committees. Already, 1275 WUAs have been trained in 426 batches across 19 districts with total of 12,975 men and 415 women from Managing Committee, Finance Sub committees and Community Para workers. Tank System Improvement Attendance at these training sessions is excellent at 95%. In a recent NSO review, it was reported that water tax collection process has become smoothened due to the awareness created in these training sessions. Training Program on Water Tax assessment and Collection of Water Charges Restoration of Pedda Cheruvu, Sastrulapalli reduces gap ayacut by 95% Bund before restoration Peddacheruvu in Sastrulapalli village Manthani Mandal, Karimnagar District has an ayacut of 335 acres. No repairs or renovation works were taken up, prior to 2007, when it was selected under APCBTMP. It needed major repairs to its bund, two sluices, and feeder channel. Taking up the required works under the Tank Improvement Management Plan (TIMP), an amount Rs.34.0 lakh was spent on restoration of the tank. The gap ayacut has been reduced from 88 acres to only 5 acres now. The bund was fully covered with jungle on top and side slopes. The height and slopes and top width of the bund were not upto the standards. The height particulars of the bund are: Width: 3.00m, Height: 6.5m, side slope is 2:1. But the bund width was less than 2m, height 5m and side slopes are 1.5:1. In many places the width was only 1.0m to 1.2m. Under the project the bund has been raised to the original standards. Sluice at ch with sill level was totally damaged. The irrigation channel had no proper banking and was not in proper section with the result that the tail end ayacut was not getting water. Sluice was reconstructed with new shutter costing Rs.1.5 lakh. At a cost of Rs. 14 lakh 315m of guide walls were constructed. Now water is flowing to the tail end ayacut. Sluice at ch with sill level was completely damaged, ready to collapse. A bunga was also formed near the sluice, with heavy leakage flowing to the nearby valley. The head and pail wall of sluice were reconstructed with concrete. Bunga portion was also repaired. Guide wall and aqueduct, constructed with masonry were leaking, and water was not reaching the tail end ayacut. After taking up the construction of guide wall, sluice repair, feeder channel to the ayacut from Manthani to Garepalli Road, water is reaching the tail end ayacut. GNSS is the NSO facilitating the WUA strengthening. Recently, the National Remote Sensing Authority (NRSA) officials visited the tank and appreciated the improvement of the tank system. NRSA confirmed that the gap ayacut is reduced to 5 acres. The WUA and the ayacutdars are very happy with the quality of the repairs. They are confident that they can operate and maintain Peddacheruvu for economic prosperity and self sustainability. Bund and sluice after restoration 5

6 Participatory Groundwater Management Farmer Initiatives My name is Balaram, of Kanumanur village, Narva Mandal, Mahabubnagar district. Mavidikunta tank in my village was selected for APCBTMP in As there are 78 borewells in the zone of influence of the tank, our tank is also selected for PGM interventions. The borewell users have been formed into 10 PGM groups with 78 men and 78 women members. The 156 groundwater users were oriented on the groundwater scenario. Five representative borewells were selected for PHM data collection and the owners were trained on the methods of measuring the hydrological parameters like water levels and discharges. I have 2.5 acres outside the tank ayacut with a borewell. 2.5 acres outside the tank ayacut I have been cultivating paddy all these years. But crop losses near harvest time due to shortage of borewell water have been regular bitter experience for me. Sri B Ramudu s well, in the field adjoining mine, is one of these PHM observation wells. He has been measuring the water levels and discharges regularly twice a month. Based on the data collected by the five Participatory Hydrological Monitoring (PHM) farmer volunteers, crop water budgeting workshop, attended by 65 groundwater users, was conducted in December Crop water budgeting workshop made us realize that that changes in cropped area and cropping pattern would be needed to avoid crop loss due to shortage of groundwater at critical stages. As a member of the PGM group formed around B Ramudu s borewell, I used to keenly observe the PHM processes. I wanted to measure water levels and discharge from my borewell to have a clear understanding of fluctuations and the potential consequences. Under the guidance of our Training Resource Person, I purchased the requisite pipes and joints costing me Rs. 998/-. I installed them on my bore well and started recording the water level and discharge data from 15 April Now, I understand the water level fluctuation in my borewell and its consequences. I have already diversified to vegetable cultivation in half acre as it requires less water than paddy. By observing me, Sri. Balaswamy, member of our PGM group, has made the required alterations in his borewell for collecting PHM data. PHM Components installed by Sri. Balaram Agricultural Livelihoods Support Services (ALSS) Improved practices in Chilli cultivation fetches four times more profit My name is Reddeppa from Kattakindapalem village, Chittoor district. Pungamma cheruvu in my village was selected for restoration under APBTMP. I own 2.5 acres in the tank ayacut. I took active interest in all project activities. Then I was selected to conduct demonstration of good agriculture practices in a half acre on my land of chilli crop with technical support of the Horticulture department. I got critical inputs like vermi compost and neem cake from the project. I followed all the agricultural practices proposed such as maintaining optimum spacing, usage of more organic fertilizers, growing border crops of maize and an intercrop of marigold mainly to reduce fruit borer infestation. In order to differentiate the best practices, a control plot (CP) without any such inputs given was identified by the NSO (Dhan Foundation) where the differences at various stages of crop growth were recorded. Reddeppa s half acre demo plot produced 1.05 tons of chilli, whereas the CP got only 0.88 tons (16% less). My cost of cultivation was Rs. 6,120. The CP farmer spent Rs.7,720. I sold my produce for Rs.10,500 while CP s produce fetched him only Rs. 8,750. Thus, I made a neat profit of Rs from my half acre demo plot. The CP got only Rs. 1,030 profit. Reddeppa's half acre chilli demo plot with border crops of maize and marigold See my prioft is four times greater, Reddappa said proudly. 6

7 Fisheries Income Increases, WUA Corpus Grows A win-win scenario from Pinjarmadugu, Kamepally mandal, Khammam Peddacheruvu in Pinjaramadugu village, Kamepally mandal, Khammam district was selected under APCBTMP in The two main stakeholders of the tank are: 119 ayacutdars having 134 acres and 36 fishermen families. The tank has an effective water spread area of 50 acres (20 EWSA/Ha) for fisheries. Fish trial netting The WUA Chairman, N. Satyanarayana and the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) President, K. Ramachandraiah, agreed that there was very little cooperation between them before APCBTMP entered the scene. Facilitated by the NSO (CARDS), two FCS members, B. Thirupathaiah and D. Pathaiah were co-opted to the WUA and began to attend WUA meetings regularly. The project provided fingerlings on 50 percent cost sharing basis in and again in 25 percent subsidy to the FCS. We were also taken on an exposure visit to fish seed farms, fish culture farms in Akiveedu, Bheemavarm, and Kaikalur in West Godavari districts. We were also shown films and folk and trained in various aspects of fish production and marketing, the FCS President said. The fish yield has increased from 6,680 kgs. (Worth Rs 267,000) to 12,240 Kg (worth Rs 489,000). Our income has almost doubled (83%), beamed the FCS President. Encouraged by the NSO, the FCS paid the lease amount of Rs.4,000/- to the Government. The regular interaction and improved cooperation resulted in the FCS voluntarily contributing Rs.5,000/- from its profits to the WUA. We now understand that proper O&M of the restored tank system is important for sustaining our livelihoods opportunities, said the FCS President. We have agreed on a water release plan which enables the FCS to continue fisheries even in the summer season. Thus it is a win-win situation for both the WUA and the FCS. said the WUA Chairman. Tribal Committees Procures Agriculture Implements There are 77 WUAs with 10-50% tribal ayacutdars in eight districts eligible for special assistance under APCBTMP. Of these, 46 tribal development plans have been grounded at an estimated cost of Rs.23 lakhs. As part of these TD plans, various agricultural implements have been procured by Tribal Development committees: These are: Adilabad : 6 Rotary Tillers Krishna : 2 Portable Diesel Pumpsets Khammam : 2Flour Mills, 24 Tarpaulins, 22 Portable Diesel Pumpsets Medak : 1 Flour mill, 1 Maize Miller Nizamabad : 4 Brush Cutters Warangal : 1 Flour Mill The DPU, Adilabad with the convergence of Agriculture and Horticulture department mobilized additional amount of Rs.2.6 lakh for procuring the six units of Roto Tillers. All the commit- tees were encouraged to utilize their savings towards O & M of the assets in future. Sri. P Sudarshan Reddy, Hon ble Minister for Major Irrigation handing over a Brush Cutter to Tribal Committee, on 21 April 2012 at Sirikonda, Nizambad Dist. 7

8 Cross Learning VIPs visit APCBTMP During the last few months, a number of high level officials from multilateral agencies, the central government, and some state governments visited APCBTMP. Shri Rajendra singh, Tarun Bharath Sangh(TBS) Alwar, Rajashthan, winner of the Ramon Magsaysay award was one of the visitor of the APCBTMP. The main focus was on understanding the Participatory Ground Water Management component within the context of conjunctive use of water, community initiatives in water management, PGM methodology and replicable in other projects and states. The visitors interacted with the primary stakeholders in Kalmira Village of Nalgonda District and Gumpampalli Village of Atchmapet Mandal, Madhavanipalli Village of Amarabad Mandal, Kollampalli Village of Narayanapet Mandal, Kanmanoor Village of Narva Mandal of Mahaboobnagar, Nalgonda Districts. All the visitors are appreciated the level of community participation and the communication methods used. They Field observation by visitors Medak Farmers Study Horticulture Marketing in Kerala DPU, Medak organised a study tour for 20 select WUA members to the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council (VFPC), at Kochi, Kerala during April They visited VFPC and Madvanuru Market. Then interacted with SHG members in Chelakara GP, and Seed Processing Unit, Atlur in Palakkad District. In a concluding session, the farmers summarized what they learnt from this visit. The main features of the VFPC are: Self help, participation & prosperity is main theme of the VFPC Form Self Help Groups (SHGs) with farmers for collective action Form SHG federations, constituting Executive Committee for Marketing, and register under Section 25 of Companies Act 1956 Provide Minimum Sales Price to avoid middle man system Impart the correct crop technology for vegetables and fruit cultivation through demonstrations Vegetable gardening on the terrace introduced by VFPC at Kakkanadu, Kochi 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 noted the need for anchoring community management initiatives in regular government plans and projects with the NGOs playing a facilitation role. Asst. Manager explaining the marketing process at Madvannur Market VFPC negotiates and organizes meetings with Bankers to provide loans to farmers in SHGs Provides infrastructure and equipment to the Marketing Executive Committee for effective functioning Officeless extension work by the VFPC staff, technically qualified and experienced in agriculture extension. Facilitating the production marketing and inputs marketing to the farmers. Providing the market rates from across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka States by SMS. The excellent faculty of VFPC Smt. Amjaa, Manager Taining, and Smt. Sephi Joseph, Asst. Director (Seed) and the Asst. Managers explained the various aspects of Vegetable Production, Marketing and Consumption. We thank them al. We can use most of these ideas to form viable Marketing Federations in APCBTMP with minor modifications. We really enjoyed the visit and learnt a lot. It was a memorable experience, concluded Shri. Narsimha Reddy a progressive farmer from Narsapur Village, Mulugu Mandal.