It is important to ensure involvement of village communities in watershed management activities and maintenance of conservation structures by villagers for further sustenance. The Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC) director Dr PK Mishra said this during a five-day short training programme on soil and water conservation and watershed management which concluded at the institute on Friday.
Mishra said that mindset of people needs to be changed. The people should be empowered with right knowledge and skill for natural resource management, he stressed.
The institute’s HRD and Social Science division head Dr lakhan Singh, Head, HRD and Social Science Division spoke on experiential learning and watershed convergence. Different aspects of natural resource conservation and integrated watershed management approach to achieve sustainable productivity were covered under the training course which was attended by 20 officers of different disciplines from 9 districts of Odisha.
Agronomical, engineering, forestry based measures of erosion control along with management of soil resources for enhancing productivity were taught during the training. Other relevant topics like water harvesting systems, ground water recharge and application of remote sensing, GPS and GIS tools for watershed planning were also covered in class room sessions.
Contour cultivation suitable for 1-2 per cent slope; mulching of crop residues, organic manures and litter reduces the impact of raindrops, runoff, soil loss and evaporation. Contour bunds constructed at a specified interval to intercept the runoff flowing down the slope and graded bunds allow safe disposal of runoff stored in the field may be helpful for soil and water conservation, the trainees were informed.