Water is one of the nature's most important gifts to mankind. The availability of water is vital for all known forms of life. The major source of water is rain and it is erratic and problem of water availability and scarcity is increasing; hence of excess use of ground water. Cultivation of agricultural crops is dependent upon water availability in winter and summer so conservation of maximum amount of water is a big challenge. To save the monsoon water and make it useful for agricultural practices various Soil Moisture Conservation activities are been implemented in Porbandar district by DWDU Porbandar.

Kasabad cluster (IWMP-3) in kutiyana taluka covers eight villages. Majority of the villages are under Ghed area of the district. Ghed area is unique as entire area is covered by excess monsoon water drained from nearby catchment area. During Kharif season cropping is not possible due to flooding and submergence. Farmer’s takes only Rabi crops like gram, ground nut, wheat and jowar but available water is insufficient. The quality of the water is very poor due to high salinity inhibited in the soil. Need of reliable sources of good quality water plays an important role in yield and quality of produces. The main sources of support irrigation in this region are ponds and check dams.

Fig.1: Pond Development at Dharshan village of IWMP-3

In Dharshan, one of the villages under IWMP-3 cluster, pond development was selected by the community to increase irrigation potential by harvesting rainwater. The activity costs Rs. 2.92 lacks and was implemented in survey no. 217 (GPS: 21°31’ 45.2” N & 69° 57’ 30.6” E) before monsoon in 2013. 25 farmers are directly benefiting by this activity for cultivation of Rabi crops. Now they are growing cotton, gram, ground nut and castor in 21.2 Ha of land. Due to excess rainfall in this year and construction of pond, water availability is increased by nearly 6,45,454 Litre, hence ensuring water availability in dry season i.e. till Feb-March months. Considering cotton and groundnut as main crops the estimated total increase in earnings is Rs 1.61 lacks (Shown in Table below). Indirectly it will also help in ground water recharging from the total surface area of the pond. The estimated economical returns of the farmers by agricultural activities as mentioned below:

Items	Cotton	Ground nut
Area covered under agriculture  around pond by 25 no. farmers (in Ha)	10	15
Approx. Production based on purely rainfed agriculture (In Tonne/Ha)	1.25	1.5
Total production	12.5	22.5
Approx. Increase in production (Tonne/Ha) (If support irrigation is available from pond)	0.1875	0.15
Total production (In Tonne)	14.375	24.75
Difference of Production (Tonne)	1.875	2.25
Avg. Market Rate in Rupees	1000/20 kg	600/20 kg
Increase in earnings (in rupees)	93750.00	67,500.00
Total earning  (in rupees)	1,61,250.00

Fig 2: WDT members are explaining regarding impacts of the activity

Farmers view:-

• Solanki Samat bhai Jehabhai said “ Last year I lost 2 ha of land near the pond and lost Pea crops in Rabi season due to lack of support irrigation. This year I expect a good yield as water availability is increased after pond development”
• Mer Parbatbhai Ranabhai said “I had been growing pea in Rabi season for last few years. But due to water conservation measures I am also cultivating cotton and groundnut with pea to get better earning”   

There are various other soil water conservation activities that are being carried out under IWMP. This project is able to fulfil the expectations of the community by directly and indirectly benefiting them, emphasizing on Natural Resource Management.

Contributors: Kiran Balas (Technical Expert, Porbandar), Kanu Baldaniya (Technical Expert, Porbandar), Aswinbhai A Odedara (President VWC)