Developing old creeks for irrigation in South 24 Parganas

                  South 24 Paraganas  is the southernmost district of the West Bengal and occupies the southern part of the Bengal Delta. The district lies between 21°29’0” north and 22°33’45” north latitudes and between 88°3’45” east and 89°4’50” east longitudes. In spite of having proximity to Kolkata Metropolis, it is one of the backward districts of the state. It covers more than 50 % of the coastal areas of West Bengal).  Due to its low elevation a major portion of the district get submerged during high tides.

South 24 Paraganas is considered as the most problematic part of the coastal region of West Bengal in regard to agriculture activities. Rising sea level penetrating salt water in rivers flowing through Sundarban area posing a great threat to the livelihood of the local residents . As for ground water, it is mostly saline upto depth of 250 m and unsuitable for irrigation. However, there are some pockets of fresh water aquifers within a depth of 60-100 meter but they are small in numbers and might lead to saline water penetration just after few irrigation.

 Ambast et al. 1998 in their book, “The Sundarbans: A Disaster-Prone Eco-Region: Increasing Livelihood Security”, highlighted the importance of surface storage of excess rain water in dug out farm ponds up to a depth of 3 m over an area of 1/5^th of the farm. Moreover, surface stored rain water have low EC value  making it fit for irrigation. 

In the Sundarban area, the Hooghly river with its tributary systems leaves a number of meandering scars while on its way towards Bay of Bengal. These scars comprised of creeks, brackish water lakes, swamps etc. Out of these scars, the geomorphology of the creeks are considered to be ideal to surface store the excess rainwater for irrigation purpose.

With the objective to address issues with irrigation in the saline coastal zone, Project included areas from 24 South Paragana district to detect suitable sites with old creeks and develop them into Water Detention Structures(WDS). Development of 61 such Water Detention Structures has been undertaken with a command area 2727 Ha and bringing benefits to 7065 farm families. Total length of the WDS are 142 Km.

Distribution of the Schemes are as follows:

Sl No.	Name of Sub division	Name of Block	No. of WDS Schemes	Length of WDS Schemes (Km.)	No. of Schemes Completed & Handed Over
1	Baruipur	Baruipur,Jaynagar I, Jaynagar II ,Kultali	18	53.6	14
2	Canning	Canning I,Canning II, Gosaba,Basanti	41	86.38	22
3	Diamond Harbour	Magrahat II	1	1.5	1
4	Kakdwip	Sagar	1	0.6	1
	Total		61	142.08	38

 

Scheme distribution in the district

The Impact:

           Out of 61 Schemes undertaken, 38 schemes already has  been completed and handed over to the Water User Associations for the operation, maintenance and management of these schemes. Average baseline cropping intensity in the project area was 96.9 % which has increased to 194.3 % after the scheme implementation. South 24 Paraganas farmers basically prefers paddy which was main reason for low cropping intensity in the project areas before its interventions. Arrival of assured irrigation during dry season with solid extension service on agriculture and institutional strengthening has catapulted the cropping intensity to more than 100 % increase. The graph below represents the comparison of cultivated area( in Ha) in a WDS Scheme( Paruldaha) in Baruipur Block of the district before the arrival of WBADMIP scheme and after its arrival:

Besides increasing the cropping season, the project is also promoting horticulture plantation activities  covering  81 km around these water Detention structures involving members from 24 Water User Associations. Saplings of various economically viable tree species such as papaya, drumstick, karamcha, coconut etc has been planted in the wasteland around these surface structures to give the beneficiaries a sustainable income.
The project is also promoting successful technologies in fish culture in the district covering 28 ha of area and involving 950 beneficiary farmers so far. Fish farming is coming out to be one of the most lucrative activity in the project areas resulting 280 % increase in fish productivity.

The story of Paruldaha Village, South 24 Paraganas

               

Unlike other areas under WBADMIP, the story about Paruldaha is a bit different.The village is located in Baruipur Block of South 24 Paraganas district. Despite having abundant water from the  monsoon rains and proximity to Suryapur Canal, requirement for irrigation still remained  to a large extent particularly during Rabi when the season is mostly dry. The village was in a desperate need for a Water Structure to store the water from monsoonal rain and the canal for round the year use. 

                   

The bridge

After recieving a mass petition from the local residents,  WBADMIP project official included the village under its  Water Detention Structure(WDS) scheme with a Command area of 85 Ha. Going by the the Project guidelines, a Water User Association was created with the name Paruldaha WDS Water User Association with 207 beneficiaries initially registering for its membership . Creation of the WUA infused a  momentum to the community based activities in the village. Giving a fine example of participatory approach, members of the WUA collectively donated money to build a bamboo bridge over the WDS to connect to the field located in the other side of the Water Detention Structure.

  ‘We are very satisfied because our committee has been able to make a positive contribution for welfare of all the members. The acceptance and credibility of the committee among the members have enhanced after the initiative. It also reflects our collective ownership towards the sub-project.”, Secretary, Paruldaha WDS Water User Association.       

                            

 Coriander Cultivation

The story doesn't end here, apart from gearing up the community based activities, support from the WBADMI project experts has spruced up the agricultural activities in the area. One of the notable development is increase in the "off-season" coriander cultivation , a short duration cash crop with a good economic return. It is becoming one of the lucrative business for the traders and a profitable crop for the local farmers. The reason being, its cultivation starts from pre kharif till july when the demand is highest in the nearby Mandis of Kolkata. where the prices goes up to 350 INR per kilogram. With an average input cost of INR 112,000 in one Hactare, farmers are getting yield upto 70 quintals per hectare with a market value of INR 210,000(@  INR 300/kg) i.e a net profit of INR 90000 per hectare just over a period of 40 days.
(To know more about coriander cultivation, contact Agri Specialist, DPMU, South 24 Paraganas)

                    

ADMI Project- Transforming Agriculture through Check Dam in Birbhum District

                       Till few years back the farmers of Rajnagar Block in Birbhum District had to spend a major part of the season struggling with the adversities of nature to protect their crops. Majority of the open wells in the village and the big lake have gone dry during Rabi season.. There were very limited economic activities, drought had brought life to a halt. This has been a common scene in this drought hit district of West Bengal until 7 Check Dams were constructed in clusters with the intervention of World Bank funded West Bengal Accelerated Development in Minor Irrigation Project(WBADMIP).

In its preliminary investigation, ADMI Project officials observed that due to scanty rainfall farmers in

the area used to cultivate only Kharif crops and during Rabi season the fields remain mostly dry. Paddy was the only choice which was not much economically viable at a time when they were already struggling with poverty and drought.  Apart from that, Low literacy and awareness in the area were depriving them from the modern tools and technology which they were in desperate need to enhance the productivity of their small and marginal land. Irrigation was carried out in a sporadic fashion using ‘china’ pump sets without any coordination among the farmers.
With the construction of the Check Dams, Community mobilization activities were carried out under which 202 members were registered for the formation of Water User Association, 25 % of the members belong to Schedule Caste Community and 10 % were female members
In the planning stage, it was envisaged that the irrigated water would be necessary only during Rabi season. However, due to inadequate rainfall during monsoon, there was acute shortage of water in the months of August and September, the water from the Check dams came out to be a sigh of relief for the kharif farmers.

Most interestingly fact about these Check Dams is that they are  saving almost 50% of the paddy crop from the clutches of climatic adversities. In a rough estimation it was figured out that each Check Dam could save upto  half a million INR worth of crops (Assuming per bigha yield is 6 quintals and price per quintal is 1100 INR). Putting all together, the 7 Check dams could save crops worth 3.5 Million INR approximately during its first season after handover thus  creating a total storage capacity of 17.89 Ha M (145.03 acre feet).

            

       The implementation of a check dam can transform the agriculture of the surrounding areas. By holding the monsoonal rains for longer after they have stopped, new and sustained irrigation techniques can be implemented which will in turn prolong the crop growing season. 

This water is expected to be sufficient at least till the next year’s rains. Other than recharging the nearby wells, it will also ensure that the source of bore wells in the village does not dry up.

Earlier, there was not enough water to farm for more than six months, now with the check dams the WUA farmers have prepared a crop plan for the Rabi season season as well.

     It’s not only the members of WUAs, there are spill over benefits that extends beyond the project area which is around 250 bighas against a command area of 150 bighas.
(Courtesy: IDS, SPMU)