Tikamgarh Livelihoods and Institution Building Project

Tikamgarh is located in the northern part of Madhya Pradesh and lies on the Bundelkhand Plateau between the Jamni, a tributary of Betwa, and Dhasan rivers.

Irrigation is the major scourge of agriculture community in the region. It is dependent mostly on the wells and old but strongly built chandeli tanks. In Tikamgarh district, there were around 995 tanks out of which 146 are irrigation tanks commanding some 29000 ha of land. Equally significant is their function as recharging structures for wells. As per the report of Central Ground Water Board, Tikamgarh had only 18 tube wells (for irrigation) in 1994 as against around 55,000 dug wells. The success of these dug wells could be directly attributed to the existence of the tanks. It is also reflected in the proportion of cultivated area irrigated being over 57% in Tikamgarh as compared to the state average of only 23%. However, a majority of the tanks remain in an utter state of neglect with hardly any community or government initiative to either revive or maintain the tanks.

In order to redeem the situation we began working in Tikamgarh District in 2003. Our role initially was to support the Government teams working in the World Bank aided DPIP project for rehabilitation of irrigation tanks. We also took upon ourselves the mantle to restore the tanks in the Jatara block of the district with support from the Canada High Commission.

We have rehabilitated five large tanks so far. Balancing the interests of various stakeholders such as the command area farmers, fishermen and the tank bed cultivators is a challenging task. The first critical step towards rehabilitation of tanks involves formation of the Tank User Groups (TUG), which comprises of farmers having land in the command area. The Managing Committee of the TUG is responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the physical work. We build the capacity of TUG members through regular meetings and exposures.

We have made attempts to bring together the various stakeholders (TUG members, local NGOs, State Government, district administration and donors) on a common platform to debate on the issues that plague Tank management system. Aim being to sensitize them to the impending need of government intervention to devolve management of tanks to the TUGs and bestowing upon them a legal entity.

Tank rehabilitation has directly benefited around 400 families. Desiltation and lining of tank canal has increased the volume of water reaching the field and minimized water losses through seepage. This has meant reclamation of waterlogged land in some cases and increase in at least one irrigation to the command area in almost all cases. In many cases, one additional irrigation has led to increased productivity.

To promote people owned institutions around water and water based livelihoods in Bundelkhand we have now taken up the Poorest Area Civil Society (PACS) Project. Through this project we aim to strengthen the Tank User Groups and also promote other community-based organizations like Self-Help Groups that will undertake diverse water sensitive agri-based livelihoods.

To address the twin problem of water stress and stagnant agricultural yields we have taken the lead in this part of Bundelkhand to promote drip-based horticulture, water saving cultivation of medicinal plants and vermi composting – all these initiatives not only use water efficiently but also enhance people's income by giving better returns.

After strengthening these groups we aim to federate them into an organization of producers that will disburse credit, provide marketing support and also undertake processing of agricultural produce. The organization will also facilitate women's access to government programs and other institutional linkages.

Our vision: To increase the income of poor families by remunerative and diversified agriculture through increased availability of credit, water and promoting farmers' agri-business organization.