Rainwater conservation, management and governance in rainfed areas

Abstract

The success of rainfed agriculture depends on the rainfall availability and its distribution. In semiarid regions, erratic rainfall patterns and prolonged dry spells during crop growing season results in severe moisture stress and lowers crop productivity. Hence, rainwater conservation practices including in-situ moisture conservation to increase the soil moisture availability and construction of water harvesting structures to ensure groundwater recharge and supplemental irrigation requirement are very important. In addition to the traditional knowledge of water management in watersheds, modern techniques like soil moisture-based (IoT) micro-irrigation technique increases the water-use efficiency. It is the need of the hour to implement sustainable solutions to address the water crisis in both rural and urban areas. However, the effectiveness of these practices depends on coordinated governance and community involvement.