Participatory Watershed Management for Sustainable Rural Sector in India

Sustainable environment is the only answer to safeguard our future from depleting away natural resources. Soil erosion & land degradation coupled with declining per capita availability of land & freshwater are posing serious threat to environment. Hence careful and concentrated efforts are needed for efficient and effective management of natural resources for increased productivity of the soils. Watershed management encompasses the concept on optimum utilization of soil and water for agricultural production as well as applying together the technical know-how the people and the environment in to a homogeneous situation. To overcome these problems related to water Central Government has started a program of watershed management viz. Integrated Watershed Management program (IWMP).The watershed program aims at full employment on the people who are struggling to earn their livelihood also they are not expected to pay attention to the conservation strategy unless their daily needs of food, fiber and fuel are met. This article also emphasizes on participatory watershed management.