The Odisha Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management Investment Programme (OIIAWMIP) was conceptualized with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to maximize the state irrigation potential and for the continued development of water resources sector. The project had a specific component of Minor Lift Irrigation Rehabilitation wherein 1400 Lift Points were to be repaired and associated agricultural training and improvement take place.
Sutra Consulting with its consortium partner was engaged during 2009-11 in the first phase of the program as an implementation consultant for this lift irrigation component. The assignment involved feasibility study, design and DPR preparation, WUA strengthening, technical support for procurement of material and community led construction, supervision of work, water management training to farmers and post installation support. A large team of experts were deployed to support the implementation, promote agriculture intensification and institution building involving promotion of Participatory Irrigation Management and strengthening of Water Users Associations. The assignment included a strong Monitoring and Evaluation component wherein a monitoring plan was prepared and installed in the Lift irrigation Cell to review project progress and processes. Our experts supported the Project to implement initial set of lift points, establish a process to prepare the Detailed Project Report for each site and mobilizing the community to get complete support in rehabilitation process.
World Bank Jharkhand Opportunities for Harnessing Rural Growth (JOHAR) project is implemented by the Jharkhand State Livelihoods Promotion Society (JSLPS) under the aegis of the Department of Rural Development, Government of Jharkhand (GoJ). The programme aims at enhancing and diversifying the household income in selected farm and non-farm sectors for targeted beneficiaries in the project areas. The programme intends to achieve it by mobilizing and aggregating rural producers including women and men from SC/ST and smallholder households into Producer Groups (PGs) and POs, with focus on diversification and/or intensification of their current production system, and improving their participation higher up in the value chain; strengthening the competitive advantage of target rural producers by transfer of climate-resilient production techniques, enhanced opportunities for value addition and effective market linkages; improving access to financing, including innovative financial products, through the community institution platform and formal financial institutions (FFIs)
Sutra Consulting is the Technical Support Agency for the Irrigation component of the project, and the team is providing its expertise for design of small irrigation systems, supervision during implementation of these systems by community institutions, development of training manual for para irrigation engineer and water users group, training to a cadre of Para-irrigation engineers for designing similar systems and training to a cadre of operators for these systems. The team of experts are providing inputs on assessing and finalising the potential water sources in the target areas, assessing static head through field survey, making detailed design based on field observations, preparing Detailed Project Reports through participatory approaches and providing supervision support during construction.
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) is a centrally sponsored scheme of Department of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative, Ministry of Agriculture and Government of Jharkhand. The programme is aimed at establishing micro irrigation schemes and increase the area under micro irrigation technologies to enhance water use efficiency. The programme would contribute in improving productivity of crops and income of farmers through precision water management, adoption of micro irrigation technologies in water intensive/consuming crops like sugarcane, banana, cotton etc. and give adequate focus to extend coverage of field crops under micro irrigation technologies, promote potential use of micro irrigation systems for promoting fertigation and establish convergence and synergy with activities of on-going programmes and create employment opportunities.
Sutra consulting provided evaluation support to the programme by examining the extent to which the components and activities under Per Drop More Crop (Micro Irrigation) component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) have actually met or are meeting their stated objectives as well as efficiency and effectiveness of the district in implementing of PMKSY-MI. The team of experts evaluated the Planning Process in the district and provided feedback on the adequacy and relevance of District Irrigation Plan (DIP), recommended benchmarks leading to functioning of District Level Committees and insights of fund flow and effective programme management. The evaluation process has contributed in giving insights on proper targeting process and beneficiary selection, physical and financial progress, adequate processes to be followed in system installation and constraints among farmers in using fertigation through MI system.
To restore ecological imbalance by developing the degraded non-forest wastelands, Goverment of India had created the Department of Wasteland Development during July, 1992 under the Ministry of Rural Development, which has been subsequently reorganized and renamed Department of Land Resources (DoLR). Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) is a flagship programme of DoLR, Government of India. The approach of the programme is quite comprehensive and the concept came through in such a time when the global environmental concerns have become quite strong. The programme envisages restoration of ecological balance by harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources such as soil, vegetative cover & water through watershed management initiatives.
Sutra Consulting is engaged as the Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Documentation (MELD) Agency for the Integrated Watershed management programme in project districts of Bihar. The assignment entailed monitoring and documenting the natural resources, community ownership and engagement based outcomes in approximately 322 Micro Watersheds/Sub-Watersheds across district of Aurangabad, Kaimur, Munger and Rohtas of Bihar. The team of experts are involved in conducting a baseline study, devising indicators for concurrent process monitoring, preparing frameworks for impact evaluation, devising framework for output-input monitoring, documenting best practises and maintaining a regular line of communication and reporting.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has proposed a next generation irrigated agriculture transformative project with climate resilience as its cross-cutting theme. The Project Development Objective is to enhance agricultural productivity, profitability and resilience to climate variability in selected tank systems of Andhra Pradesh. The project beneficiaries will include small and marginal farmers, water user associations, farmer producer organizations, and other agro-entrepreneurs. During project preparation, specific target areas will be identified and specific interventions will be designed to benefit women and other vulnerable groups. The project activities would be grouped into four main components: Improving Irrigated Agriculture Efficiency at Farm Level; Adaptive Sustainable Agriculture Practices; Climate-friendly Market and Agribusiness Promotion; and Project Management and Capacity Building.
Sutra Consulting provided two sets of technical services to the programme. Our team of experts conducted a baseline assessment to study the pre-project socio-economic and institutional status of existing agricultural and fisheries-based livelihood systems in selected smallholder irrigation systems (tank systems) covering a set of project and control tanks. Our advisors also undertook identification and assessment of environmental and social management measures in respect of the interventions for improving tank systems performance and resilience, improving irrigation efficiency, inflow hydrology management, improving productivity, adapting sustainable agriculture practices, innovative and technology transfer for fisheries production and agri-business promotion. A number of critical programme design documents including the Tribal People Planning Framework, Gender Action Plan, Integrated Nutrition Management Plan and Environmental Management Plans were developed by our team of advisors and have been widely disseminated.
