Participatory Watershed Management: A Case Study of Salaiyur Watershed in Coimbatore, India

Abstract: This paper presents the participatory watershed development at Salaiyur watershed in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu, India. The strategies adopted towards community organization, basic resource survey/bench mark data collection, plan preparation and implementation through community participation have been discussed. Watershed interventions have helped in increasing groundwater recharge and duration of water availability in wells. The lining of shallow ponds with HDPE sheets resulted in significant water saving. Introduction of drip irrigation under banana and sugarcane observed water saving of 29 per cent. Crop Diversification Index has increased from 0.469 to 0.707 under rainfed condition and under irrigated condition from 0.59 to 0.762. The performance of mango and tamarind was observed to be good in the pits filled with original sieved soil + pond silt +FYM. People’s participatio