Brief Description of the Study Area The area of study, Bhalki Gram Panchayat, is located in Ausgram-II block of Burdwan district, predominantly a backward area with semi-arid climatic conditions and red lateritic sandy soils. The average annual rainfall is around 1200 mm most of which is received during the monsoons (personal communication with block officials, 2011-12). Around two-thirds of the total population in the area belong to the backward classes. The project village, Bhalki as well as the control villages are located on the upper parts of the drainage basin of Ajay-Kunnur river system, tributaries of the Damodar river, at a distance of 45 kilometres from Burdwan, 25 kilometres from Durgapur and 20 kilometres from Bolpur. Watershed development measures have been undertaken in the village utilising the funds from NABARD’s micro-watershed development programme. The area is a bit undulated with slope less than 3 per cent. Most of the farm households are marginal land holders, with many of them working as share croppers. The project village lies on the boundary of the forested lands locally known as Jungle Mahal, covering around a third of the total village area. Before the commencement of the micro-watershed development project, agricultural activity in the treatment village was limited to the rainy season only. Mainly, paddy was grown having low productivity. Project Development In 2001, some villagers along with the local block development officer (BDO) came forward to organise the inhabitants of the villages into different SHGs to undertake micro-watershed development programme. Through meetings, awareness was generated by the change agents among the inhabitants about the importance of soil and water conservation measures and the benefits that can be shared by them. People were convinced about the arguments put forth; many of them joined as members of self help groups (SHGs). During the pre-project phase, saplings of bamboo were planted on the wastelands covering around 100 arjun, akashmoni, sonajhuri, shirish,
Brief Description of the Study Area The area of study, Bhalki Gram Panchayat, is located in Ausgram-II block of Burdwan district, predominantly a backward area with semi-arid climatic conditions and red lateritic sandy soils. The average annual rainfall is around 1200 mm most of which is received during the monsoons (personal communication with block officials, 2011-12). Around two-thirds of the total population in the area belong to the backward classes. The project village, Bhalki as well as the control villages are located on the upper parts of the drainage basin of Ajay-Kunnur river system, tributaries of the Damodar river, at a distance of 45 kilometres from Burdwan, 25 kilometres from Durgapur and 20 kilometres from Bolpur. Watershed development measures have been undertaken in the village utilising the funds from NABARD’s micro-watershed development programme. The area is a bit undulated with slope less than 3 per cent. Most of the farm households are marginal land holders, with many of them working as share croppers. The project village lies on the boundary of the forested lands locally known as Jungle Mahal, covering around a third of the total village area. Before the commencement of the micro-watershed development project, agricultural activity in the treatment village was limited to the rainy season only. Mainly, paddy was grown having low productivity. Project Development In 2001, some villagers along with the local block development officer (BDO) came forward to organise the inhabitants of the villages into different SHGs to undertake micro-watershed development programme. Through meetings, awareness was generated by the change agents among the inhabitants about the importance of soil and water conservation measures and the benefits that can be shared by them. People were convinced about the arguments put forth; many of them joined as members of self help groups (SHGs). During the pre-project phase, saplings of arjun, akashmoni, sonajhuri, shirish, bamboo were planted on the wastelands covering around 100
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