Transforming livestock productivity through watershed interventions: A case study of Parasai-Sindh watershed in Bundelkhand region of Central India,Agricultural Systems

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Transforming livestock productivity through watershed interventions: A case study of Parasai-Sindh watershed in Bundelkhand region of Central India
Agricultural Systems ( IF 6.1 ) Pub Date : 2021-12-10 , DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103346
Inder Dev ₁ , Ramesh Singh ₂ , Kaushal K. Garg ₂ , Asha Ram ₁ , Deepak Singh ₃ , Naresh Kumar ₁ , S.K. Dhyani ₄ , Anand Singh ₂ , K.H. Anantha ₂ , VenkataRadha Akuraju ₂ , Sreenath Dixit ₂ , R.K. Tewari ₁ , R.P. Dwivedi ₁ , A. Arunachalam ₁

Affiliation

CONTEXT

Global experiences reveal the positive impact of watershed-based interventions in improving livelihoods and environmental security. In the drylands, increasing forage resources and improving livestock productivity is a critical challenge.

OBJECTIVES

The overarching aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of watershed-based interventions on livestock population, productivity, fodder resources, and biomass availability. The paper describes the interrelationship between land, water, crop, and livestock and how the gap in forage deficit can be bridged through a range of watershed interventions.

METHODS

The study was undertaken in the Parasai-Sindh watershed of Central India between 2011 and 2016. A 300-year-old defunct haveli (a traditional rainwater harvesting structure) was renovated and nine check dams along the drainage line were constructed. Nearly 25,000 running-meters of field bunds were constructed. Large fields (2-3 ha) were divided into relatively smaller plots (0.3–0.5 ha) to reduce runoff velocity. The impact of watershed interventions on water availability, livestock productivity, forage yield, and income was studied through hydrological monitoring, primary household survey and principal component analysis (PCA) biplot and hierarchical clustering.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The watershed interventions enhanced groundwater availability leading to greater fodder availability, 22% increase in livestock population (ACU) and a 120% increase in milk production over a period of five years. The bovine population recorded a surge of 193% (cattle) and 32% (buffalo) over this period. Mean dry matter (DM, fodder) availability also increased from 10 t/household/year to 16.7 t/household/year owing to improved water availability. Groundnut (rainy season) and wheat (post rainy season) contributed significantly as forage resources. There was an annual forage demand of 5560 t DM for a livestock population of 2175 ACU in 2011 and of 6770 t DM for a livestock population of 2650 ACU in 2016. Annual forage biomass availability was estimated at 4219 t DM in 2011 and 6977 t DM in 2016. There was a deficit of 1341 t DM (24%) in 2011 which turned into a 3% surplus of 210 t DM in 2016 through watershed-based interventions. With increased cropping intensity and milk production, average annual household income increased from US$ 1325 to US$ 2430 over the five-year period.

SIGNIFICANCE

This case study clearly illustrates the impact of watershed-based interventions on livestock population, productivity, forage resources, and biomass availability to bridge the gap in forage deficit. Its findings serve as a guide to widely scale up watershed-based interventions for improved water and biomass availability, and livestock productivity in semi-arid and dryland regions.

中文翻译：

通过流域干预改变牲畜生产力：印度中部邦德尔坎德地区帕拉赛-信德流域的案例研究

语境

全球经验揭示了基于流域的干预措施对改善生计和环境安全的积极影响。在旱地，增加草料资源和提高牲畜生产力是一项重大挑战。

目标

本文的首要目标是分析基于流域的干预措施对牲畜种群、生产力、饲料资源和生物量可用性的影响。该论文描述了土地、水、作物和牲畜之间的相互关系，以及如何通过一系列流域干预措施弥合草料短缺的差距。

方法

该研究于 2011 年至 2016 年在印度中部的 Parasai-Sindh 流域进行。对一座已有 300 年历史的废弃haveli（一种传统的雨水收集结构）进行了翻修，并沿着排水线建造了九座拦河坝。修建了近 25,000 米跑垒。大田（2-3 公顷）被分成相对较小的地块（0.3-0.5 公顷）以降低径流速度。通过水文监测、主要住户调查和主成分分析 (PCA) 双标图和层次聚类，研究了流域干预对水资源可用性、牲畜生产力、饲料产量和收入的影响。

结果和结论

流域干预措施提高了地下水的可用性，从而提高了饲料的可用性，在五年内牲畜数量 (ACU) 增加了 22%，牛奶产量增加了 120%。在此期间，牛的数量激增了 193%（牛）和 32%（水牛）。由于可用水量的增加，平均干物质（干物质、饲料）可用性也从 10 吨/家庭/年增加到 16.7 吨/家庭/年。花生（雨季）和小麦（雨季后）作为草料资源贡献显着。2011 年牲畜数量为 2175 ACU 的年草料需求为 5560 吨干物质，2016 年牲畜数量为 2650 ACU 的年需求量为 6770 吨干物质。2011 年年度草料生物量估计为 4219 吨干物质和 6977 干物质在 2016 年。2011 年的赤字为 1341 吨干物质（24%），通过基于流域的干预措施，2016 年变成了 210 吨干物质的 3% 盈余。随着种植强度和牛奶产量的增加，五年期间家庭年均收入从 1325 美元增加到 2430 美元。