The traditional water harvesting practices in India had developed gradually through thousands of years of farming experience. They were time tested, highly customised and suitable for each geographical region. Its diversity varies from the systems found at hot desert of Rajasthan to the cold desert of trans-Himalayan Ladakh, from the sub-temperate Himalayan mountains to the high tropical interspersed mountain ranges in South plateaus, the flood-prone Indo-Gangetic plains etc. They are called kuhals in Jammu, kuls in Himachal Pradesh and guls in Uttarakhand, zings in Ladakh, eris in TN. Tankas, kundis, bawdis, jhalaras and a host of others are found in the hot desert of Rajasthan.
The Water harvesting and agro-ecological systems are more fragile. They have to be continuously monitored, maintained and repaired. If any break happens then the system may collapse irreversibly. The aim of GM seed MNCs is to obtain monopoly in agriculture by breaking the traditional ones. Many Desi cattle breeds are extinct now due to the introduction of hybrid European breeds through Artificial Insemination. The A2 milk that enriched children until 60 years back is not there now.
The decline of century old traditional farming practices started its decline with the advent of British colonialism and bad government policies after independence. The natural resources like grains and timber were most needed for the British war efforts all over the world. The wealth of the land came from its internal resource mobilisation of village republics that were self contained. The surplus generated in the villages also supported people outside. In addition the British tried to destroy the traditional agriculture and industries in order to create an easy market for their goods. The muslin production in Bengal was destroyed by various means. William Bolts, a merchant in his book "Considerations on India Affairs", recorded instances of extreme brutality against silk weavers including cutting off their fingers.
The British had made an an extensive survey of agriculture system in TN during 1740s. In the Arcot District, they found that 54 Quintals of rice was harvested from one acre of land using simple manure and pesticides like cow urine and cow dung. Robert Clive who spearheaded the comapny's loot campaign in Bengal estimated that the number of cows in Bengal outnumbered the number of men. Similar was the situation in the rest of India. As a part of the Master plan to destabilize the India, cow slaughter was initiated. The first slaughterhouse in India was started in 1760, with a capacity to kill thirty thousand per day and at least one crore cows were eliminated in an years time. With the decline in cattle population, industrial manure like urea and phosphate made way to India.
Arthur Cotton, a pioneer of modern irrigation in India, noted in 1874 about local water harvesting systems as : "There are a multitude of old native works in various parts of India... These are noble works, and show both boldness and engineering talent. They have stood for hundreds of years. When I first arrived in India, the contempt with which the natives justly spoke of us on account of this neglect of material improvements was very striking; they used to say we were a kind of civilised savages, wonderfully expert about fighting but so inferior to their great men that we would not even keep in repair the works they had constructed, much less even imitate them in extending the system."
The colonial rulers neglected anything they could not own or earn money from. The declining grain production in Bengal was a great worry for the empire. So they invited an irrigation expert by name William Willcocks for advise. In a series of lectures delivered in Calcutta in the 1920s, Willcocks stunned everyone by arguing that the absolute best that the government could do was to revive the ancient flood irrigation system of the region.
With the progress of British rule, there was also a gradual shift in emphasis from minor irrigation works like tanks, wells, bandharas (dams) and small river channels to large dams and canals commanding extensive areas. The region, which never revived the wisdom of its ancestors, remains the poorest in the world.
The education system stressed the need for moving away from traditional practices. The educated Anglicized elites no longer appreciated or understood ancient wisdom. They were so successful that when India became independent, the leaders of modern India also turned their backs on the traditional systems and invested almost exclusively in mega-irrigation projects.
Puranas recommend protection of nature
The importance of protecting natural resources can be found in ancient texts, inscriptions and archaeological remains. Sayings related to trees are found in Puranas like Vrikshayurveda as -
दशकूपसमा वापी दशवापीसमो ह्रदः ।
दशह्रदसमः पुत्रो दशपुत्रसमो द्रुमः ॥
dasha-kupa-sama vapi, dasha-vapi-samo hrada
dasha-hrada-sama? putro, dasha-putra-samo druma
One vapi (tank) is as good as ten wells, one lake is as good as ten tanks, one son is as good as ten lakes and one tree is as good as ten sons.
The prosperity of the famous Vijayanagar kings (1336-1564) derived from its natural resources and agriculture. Great religious merit was also attached for taking care these practices. An inscription dating to 1413 states: "A ruined family, a breached tank or pond, a fallen kingdom, whomsoever restores, or repairs a damaged temple, acquires merit four-fold of that which accrued from them at first".
The region had turned into a dry land after its conquest by Deccan Sultans and rule of Nizams during Colonial Raj.
The Veeranam Lake in TN, built in the tenth century by Chola Kings, is still storing water and supplying it to Chennai city and rural farmers. The controversial Veeranam project was meant for supplying water to Chennai city. The project, conceived in 1967, was stalled due to corruption allegations.
Success Stories
The traditional rainwater harvesting alone converted a drought-prone village in Maharashtra, Ralegan Siddhi, into a rich agricultural village. It was a was poverty stricken village in 1975. Krishna Bhaurao Hazare, a retired driver from the Indian army, began constructing storage ponds, reservoirs and gully plugs. Due to the steady percolation of water, the groundwater table began to rise. Simultaneously, government social forestry schemes were used to plant 300,000-400,000 trees in and around the village.
The Arvari river flows through a drought stricken region in Rajastan. According to historical records of the region, the river Arvari used to provide groundwater recharge to wells in the area. The river was brought back to life by the villagers themselves through over 200 water harvesting structures built in the 70 villages in the catchment of Arvari. It has become a perennial river ever since.
Decline Of Water Harvesting Systems after independence
The main reasons for the disappearance of water harvesting systems after independence are
(1) With the construction of large dams and canals, the reliance on local water harvesting structures also vanished. So people converted the ponds, wells and tanks into more profitable commercial properties. The appreciation land value due to the profusion real estate black money is also a factor.
(2) The increased dependence on ground water due farm modernization and power subsidies.
(3) Conversion of farms lands into commercial properties.
(4) Cutting down of trees.
Zero Budget Natural Farming
The Economic Survey 2019, on agriculture sector, has suggested adoption of Natural Farming along with application of appropriate technologies to make agriculture sustainable for the 12.5 crore small and marginal farmers, which together account of 85% of the total farmers in the country. The finance minister, while presenting her maiden Union Budget on Friday, stressed on the need to go back to the basics on Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), saying this model needs to be replicated throughout the country.
It is not a new thing. Such methods were existing throughout India until 18th century. The extinction of Desi cattle, extensive use of fertilizers & pesticides after the Green Revolution and disappearance of traditional water harvesting systems have changed the farming ecosystem. After the liberalization of Indian economy, the farmers are in a perpetual debt trap. Agriculturist Subhash Palekar started experimenting with zero budget farming with the aim of pulling the farmers out of this debt trap.
The myriad of beneficial microbes and substances found with the Desi cow dung and urine is cultured and fermented to create a miracle preparation called Jivamrutha or The Nectar of Life. The dung and urine of desi cattle contain high concentration of micro-organisms that helps to draw up worms from the lower layers of soil to the top. This cheap, simple, and effective ferment has an even stronger capacity to attract beneficial organisms. This makes the soil more permeable helping rain water to penetrate deep into the earth. After preparation, Jivamrutha, with its billions of beneficial microorganisms, is then applied to fields, where the ferment generously attracts and feeds even more microorganisms, earthworms, and bacteria, which in turn break up micronutrients like nitrogen, making them available to plants.
From just one single cow it is possible to produce all that a farmer needs to farm up to 30 acres! With zero external inputs, this completely changes the costs for a farmer. The European hybrid cows are not useful at all for a ZBNF farmer.
Access to free water resources is essential for ZBNF. Rain fall happens at Zero Budget and its storage via soil recharge also comes with zero budget. The natural cycle is that each and every drop of rain water that fall on land has to reach ocean. The purpose of RWH systems is to delay the cycle time. When there is free surface runoff, the rain water reaches ocean within 48 hours to one week time. With soil recharge this cycle time can be increased to 6 months or even a year.
Among all the suggestions for bettering the agricultural economy, the first choice should be for improving the water harvesting practices. This alone can leap India forward. Any neglect of this sector will be a disaster like the present water crisis experienced by Chennai people.
The Economic survey 2019 also said that around 89% of groundwater extracted is used for irrigation and crops such as paddy and sugarcane consume more than 60% of irrigation water.
What happened to Desi cattle
Kerala is one of the first state to introduce European hybrid cows through Artificial Insemination. For the implementation of Indo-Swiss Project during 1960s, Kerala launched a dual campaign of crossbreeding cattle and exterminating unproductive indigenous cattle. The government implemented the infamous Kerala Livestock Improvement Act of 1961. The act required farmers to castrate productive bulls within one month under threat of penalization. The act ultimately resulted in the mass culling of native breeds. Most bulls were sold for slaughter in the years after 1961.
Here are a set of tests to accurately identify native cows
(1) A hump on the shoulder
(2) oily skin, a straight back, beautiful eyes, has a friendly character and has its beauty
(3) a pronounced dewlap (a fold of loose skin hanging under the throat of a cattle)
(4) ability to dispel insects by shaking their skin
(5) Native cow dung has a pleasant fragrance, is semisolid, and falls like a ring rather than the flat cowpats of the hybrids.
(6) insect holes at the place where dung falls is a clear sign of the microbial attractiveness of native cow dung
(7) modest requirements for food and water
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