Soil & Moisture Conservation
Agri-products constitute vital parts of several of our supply chains. Most of these products are grown in moisture stressed regions of the country where farmers are vulnerable to the vagaries of the monsoons, which, in turn, has an impact on procurement of such products by us. Our watershed programme contributes to sustainability in the following critical ways:

1. Top soil conservation and critical irrigation stabilises farm productivity, giving farmersassured returns and, thus, financial sustainability;

2. Efficient management of the water regime promotes sustainability of agriculture; and

3. We are assured of procuring agri-products in the desired quantity and of desirable quality.

From 5 projects covering 100 villages during 2004-05, the activity was extended to 23 districts covering a total of 450 villages. Most importantly, responding to the agrarian crisis in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, which has witnessed a large number of farmer suicides, we initiated our first project in Yawatmal district.

We also signed an MoU with the Government of Rajasthan for the joint development of a watershed programme covering 5,000 hectares in Bhilwara District.

That the farmers value the work being promoted by us is evident from the fact that to date as much as 21% of the total expenditure has been raised from them. Sustainability too is being ensured through water user groups, which have already created a maintenance fund through levy of user charges.