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Leaching the Salts to Reclaim the
Land
India's Uttar Pradesh Sodic Lands Reclamation Project I
This article is the first in a series on lessons learned in sustainable
land resource management (SLRM). In a world characterized by population
growth, pervasive rural poverty, and increasing food requirements,
the Bank's SLRM thematic group is attempting to address complex
land degradation problems with sustainable land use solutions that
are essential in the fight against poverty.
In this first installment, Today takes a look at the Uttar Pradesh
Sodic Lands Reclamation Project which began in 1993, covering 69,000
hectares. Its success was so evident that the Bank announced a $194
million credit to continue the project, launching the UP Sodic Lands
Reclamation Project II in April 1999 for 150,000 more hectares.
An additional 375,000 farm families will benefit from sodic land
reclamation, bringing the total number of families benefiting to
550,000.
Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 160 million people, is India's
most populous state and one of its poorest. Its economy is dominated
by agriculture, which represents a 40 percent share of the state's
GDP and 75 percent of its employment.
A growing concern in the state is the declining productivity of
food grains, especially rice and wheat, which is mainly due to water-induced
land degradation such as sodification, groundwater depletion, and
loss of soil fertility. Sodification, especially in poorly managed
irrigated areas, has left an estimated 1.25 million hectares of
land completely barren. A further 1.25 million hectares of low-yielding
salt-affected lands cover about 10 percent of the net cultivated
area of Uttar Pradesh.
In 1993, the state, its farmers and communities, and the World
Bank, joined together to address these problems, and create sustainable
solutions.
Fruitless land, fruitless labor
Delhi-based Task Manager M. Balasubramanian says that by linking
issues of environmental protection, land tenure, and improved agricultural
production, the Uttar Pradesh Sodic Lands Reclamation project was
able to provide a truly integrative solution to a complex situation.
"Real farmer participation has been the key to success,"
says Balasubramanian. "Farmers' groups made all the decisions
and have done virtually all of the work:175,000 families, all small
and marginal farmers, have been working together to reclaim their
lands; among them are 50,000 previously landless laborers."
When the land becomes sodic, it is too salty to farm. The weather
of Uttar Pradesh, which alternates between heavy monsoons and prolonged
dry periods, makes sodification worse. Where drainage is blocked—naturally,
or by roads and canals—surface water accumulates and evaporates,
leaving sodium ions from the salts to form an electrochemical bond
with clay particles in the soils, creating toxic salts.
A key part of the project was assuring land tenure for the farmers.
Staff worked with thousands of formerly landless farmers to divide
the land into parcels and negotiate the complex process of ensuring
clear title.
On their own lands, farmers provided most of the arduous labor.
They followed these phases of the reclamation process: testing the
soil, digging surface drainage, building tube-wells, applying the
gypsum and water for leaching, flushing with good-quality groundwater,
planting crops, and regularly continuing to flush salts from the
link drains.
Within six months, farmers experienced improved agricultural productivity
and higher incomes. Yields of rice and wheat doubled original project
estimates, wage rates doubled, and land values quadrupled. Farmers
planted income-generating high-value crops, animal husbandry improved,
and fewer farmers abandoned the fields to seek work in nearby cities.
Project staff helped establish women's savings and credit groups
to supplement family incomes. Banks then began to offer the groups
credit for dairy farming, sewing, tree nurseries, and trading. Loan
repayments have been prompt; arrears are negligible. Some groups
have lent their savings to other farmers so they could meet some
of the crop production costs.
Farmers launched private sector micro-businesses to provide inputs
and services like seeds and tree seedlings, agricultural extension,
and soil testing. They have also continued cultivating reclaimed
lands even after the withdrawal of project assistance—a strong
measure of project sustainability.
Lessons Learned
• Staff have learned many lessons about what makes this
kind of project a success. In terms of project design, they emphasize
building in project replicability and flexibility. The project
model was so successful and transferable that the Uttar Pradesh
government is following it in non-project districts.
• Another lesson learned is to ensure the participation
and incentive of the chief beneficiaries. Simply put, farmers
were the best extension agents. Whole communities were involved
in the maintenance of physical assets such as drainage networks.
• Beneficiaries profited greatly from knowledge sharing
through study trips. Farmers visited successful pilot projects
in other parts of Uttar Pradesh, and then they passed on what
they learned to other farmers.
Staff knew that it was essential to pick a project that clearly
benefited multiple levels of stakeholders. Both local farmers
and the state government had clear incentives, which maximized
participation and cooperation.
• A shortcoming in the original project was that it didn't
address the farmers' need to get their new crops to market. Consequently,
an important component of the new Sodic Lands II project includes
upgrading 700 kilometers of roads connecting 235 villages to the
highway road network.
• For smooth implementation, staff felt that the capacity
and commitment of the leading implementing agency, the Uttar Pradesh
Bhumi Sudhar Nigam (UPBSN), or Land Development Corporation, was
absolutely central to project success.
• In terms of maintaining quality results, hiring an external,
independent monitoring and evaluation group proved to be a good
move. The Indian Institute of Management carried out monthly reviews,
improving the quality of implementation.
• Conducting a comprehensive media campaign also proved
essential. All India Radio and other traditional media proved
very effective in educating communities about the technology and
project plans.
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