Wardha district (20° 18' to 21° 21' N. and 78° 4' to 79° 15' E) lies in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The district has a predominantly agrarian economy with 65 per cent of the main workers being engaged in agricultural activities, either as cultivators or as agricultural labourers. The total cultivable area of the district is 4729 sqkm, which is about 75 per cent of the total geographical area of the district. The cropping pattern of the district could be described as cash crop based production system with cotton and soyabean together accounting for about 71 per cent of the gross cropped area as of 2005-06. The other major crops of the district are red gram and sorghum. Agriculture in Wardha is rain-fed in nature. The district receives an average annual rainfall of 1041 mm. Black soil is the predominant soil type in the district and it is classified into heavy, medium and light categories.

Rainfed agriculture as practiced in Wardha district is largely dependant on the southwest monsoon. Southwest monsoon - the lifeline of agriculture in Wardha district is erratic in nature, is skewed in its distribution, and shows a declining trend with a reduction in the number of rainy days. This has serious surface soil and water run-off implications for an area like Wardha which has soils with poor water holding capacity. Soil and water run off has very severe adverse impact on soil nutrient status, crop productivity and subsequently on the food and livelihood security of the rural people.

This paper posits that the adverse impact of the peculiar nature of the rain-fed agriculture in Wardha can be mitigated by adopting appropriate interventions. It states that planning and implementing appropriate interventions are absolutely essential to sustain and improve agriculture on which nearly three fourths of the district’s population depends

The study attempts to draw action plans for scalable model of sustainable agricultural practices at two different levels – at the district level, and at the panchayat level. Panchayat level planning is attempted by taking the case of one panchayat, namely Lonsawali panchayat, in the district. The study uses a combination of primary and secondary data sources. Focus group discussions, participatory resource mapping, and participatory planning was done with the farmers in the village panchayat.

Publication date
Type of publication
Document
Objective
Adaptation
Collection
Eldis
Sectors
Agriculture and forestry
CTCN Keyword Matches
Soil moisture conservation techniques
Agriculture
Community based
Mitigation in the pulp and paper industry