Practice Name:

A Technique of Water Conservation

Details

Category	Agriculture,Land Management,Soil Conservation,Water Management,Water harvesting conservation,Innovation
Scout	HBN
Details Of Innovation	Ranjanben was asked how she thought of a solution to the bund erosion problem. She says that for some years under several government schemes including the current watershed programme, the villages were encouraged to construct contour field bunds on the side towards which the runoff flowed; this was to conserve soil and water. The standard procedure for constructing bunds was to dig up burrow-pits of about 2051 or 1052 (equal to a unit of construction called brass, equivalent to 1000 cu.ft) along the boundary. The soil from the pit is used to lay the bunds of trapezoid cross section on the boundary ( contiguous to the pits). The assumption may have been that by digging along the boundary, the height of the bunds would increase and thus prove more effective in controlling soil erosion and in impounding runoff. The construction of bunds is subsidised and the farmer is paid labour wages on the basis of number of brass of soil dug. The farmers used to build the bunds as suggested by the local government staff and the bunds would be washed away in rains. The farmers had to make new bunds every year. SEWA organised a meeting of respresentives from watershed programmmes undertaken in eight villages; Ranjanbens solution to the problem was adopted in all villages under the programme. Every farmer initially contributes 10 % of his share of the grant for maintenance of bunds. The corpus now provides for repair as the grant period is over. The water committee comprises of 11 members, eight women and three men. The men were included because most of the women were illiterate and could not manage the accounts. Ranjanben is the chairperson of the committee. Ranjanben thought out a solution and tried it out in her own field. Instead of digging pits alongside the bunds, she dug them about three feet away and also three feet deep. The runoff flowing into the pits hit the other side of the pit before reaching the bunds. Thus, its force was abated and the stress on the bund was low. The year she tried this method only the bunds in her field were intact after the monsoon. At present, she is trying bravely to forget the eight hours when she was trapped under the earthquake debris in Anjar, Kutch. Her family suffered immense loss in the earthquake but it has not dimmed her spirits; she has re-located and re-established her sons business. She managed to organize water tankers to come to the village twice a day. She is however busy following up with the government to get grants under the watershed programme (DPAP) as there are still some areas in the village which require bunds. Her love for the soil is obvious in the way she talks about its colour, texture and its fertility. The villagers there have never used pesticides or fertilizers, emphasizing the fact anything can be grown in the soil provided they get water! At present, agricultural expenses are much more than their income but her eyes light up when she recalls the time rains came two years ago.

Innovator / Knowledge Provider	Ranajnben Joshi
Address	Gujarat
Languages Spoken	Gujarati
Vocation	Farming
State	Gujarat

PAS 1	"In order to minimize the postharvest losses and extend shelf life in Mango, postharvest treatments are given to the fruit after harvest. Among the postharvest treatments, hot water treatment is the one and should be applied at the beginning of the packing or packing process for improved quality and shelf life of mango. Mango anthracnose, a major postharvest disease, induces huge losses in mangoes and threatens mango export and consumption. [Obsa Neme Angasu, Olyad Gudissa Dessalgne and Tigist Nardos Tadesse, 2014. Effect of Hot Water Treatment on Quality and Incidence of Postharvest Disease of Mango (Mangifera indicia L.) Fruits. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences, 13: 87-92." https://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=ajps.2014.87.92
PAS 2	"Hot Water Rinsing and Brushing is commercially applied to several fruits and vegetables in order to reduce decay development and maintain fruit quality after subsequent prolonged storage and shelf-life (Fallik, 2010). This technology cleans and disinfects the freshly harvested produce at a relatively high temperature of 45-62°C, with the produce passing over revolving brushes for a very short time of 15-25 s (Fallik, 2010)"
PAS 3	Hot water treated fruits showed less disease incidence and weight loss compared to control (non-treated) fruits. In addition to that, hot water treatment help to improve the quality of mango fruits. The quality parameter such as pH and TA showed a significant difference among the treatment during the storage period. pH and TA of control treatments were found to be lower than in treated fruits. On the other hand, the effect of hot water treatment on the TSS was found to be non-significant difference among the treatments during storage period. Even, if there is no significant difference observation among the treatments in TSS, hot water treated mangoes had higher TSS than the control mangoes. [Obsa Neme Angasu, Olyad Gudissa Dessalgne and Tigist Nardos Tadesse, 2014. Effect of Hot Water Treatment on Quality and Incidence of Postharvest Disease of Mango (Mangifera indicia L.) Fruits. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences, 13: 87-92.] https://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=ajps.2014.87.92
PAS 4	"Eco-friendly hot water treatment reduces postharvest decay and elicits defence response in kiwifruit" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26002370/
Other Community Practices	"Irradiation : Growing public demand for chemical residue-free fruit is leading to increased development of alternative technologies, such as heat and irradiation. Gamma (γ) irradiation kills microorganisms and insects by damaging their DNA, but does not alter the nutritional value of food (Ferrier, 2010) and can even be used to extend the shelf life of fresh produce (Farkas et al., 2014)." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323347747_Post-harvest_storage_management_of_mango_fruit)
Practice ID	KNW0020000000135
Annotation ID	GIAN/GAVL/925
Reference	HBN database
Technology Transfer Terms	DIY

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