INDIGENOUS SOIL AND WATER
 CONSERVATION IN INDIA'S
 SEMI-ARID TROPICS


Introduction

Soil erosion is a problem that imposes both on- and off-farm costs. As soil erodes, valuable
moisture and nutrients are lost, and the topsoil becomes increasingly shallow. The decline in
yields that results is a private cost borne by farmers. Off the farm, downstream rivers and lakes
become silted, shortening the productive lives of dams and other man-made structures. Soil
particles can also transport pesticide residues, poisoning water supplies downstream. These are
costs to society, but not necessarily to farmers.

While there is little disagreement among experts that soil erosion incurs costs, the magnitude of
those costs is widely debated. These different perceptions about the costs of soil erosion are
reflected in the value placed on soil conservation measures. Some groups argue in favor of major
efforts to conserve soil without questioning their cost-effectiveness, while others assert that if soil
conservation were profitable, private farmers would take care of it themselves. In any event,
information is scarce about both the actual costs of soil erosion and the implications for future
welfare of allowing soil to degrade at given rates (Seckler, 1987).

The Indian government has invested heavily in measures to control soil erosion. Vast sums of
money have been allocated to soil conservation in each five year plan. Between 1969 and 1990,
the budget for soil conservation was 16 billion rupees (between 1 and 1.5 billion dollars) (GOI,
nd).

Two assumptions, one explicit and the other implicit, underlie the government's policy. First, soil
and water conservation (SWC) in a watershed context is believed to increase agricultural
productivity in dryland areas. Second, achieving such an increase is considered worthwhile even
though its economic profitability is subject to debate.

The results to date of government SWC programs have been disappointing (Planning Commis-
sion, nd; Vaidyanathan, 1991). Farmers have neither willingly adopted recommended SWC
measures nor maintained those installed by the government. Some SWC officials have drawn the
conclusion that farmers do not know or care about soil erosion.2

Evidence from the semi-arid tropics (SAT) of South India, however, refutes this assessment.
Farmers there have developed effective soil and water conservation practices. These indigenous
technologies have evolved in different places in response to local agroecological and economic
conditions. Three principal factors determine the shape and scope of these efforts.

First, the designs of indigenous SWC technologies reflect the relative availability and opportunity
cost of different resources, including materials, human labour, animal power and cash. Indige-
nous designs also vary with site-specific agroclimatic factors.


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