An Economic Enquiry into Synergistic Effects of Watershed Development Project on Farm Economy in Hot Semi-Arid Eco-Region of Rajasthan, India

Abstract: This paper is an attempt to evaluate the various synergistic effects of watershed development project on rural households in hot semi -arid region of Rajasthan, India. The evaluation is subjected to before and after analysis. The data gathered through households survey of all the beneficiaries during 1997-1998 in the Chhajawa national watershed developed under ICAR model watershed scheme between 1985-1989 and compared to bench mark. The study indicate that land utilisation in watershed increased by 57 %, while gross irrigated area from 32.5 ha in before project situation to 376.7ha in 1997-1998.A complete shift of cropping pattern in favour of more remunerative and quality crops such as soybean in monsoon season and mustard, wheat and coriander in winter season was observed. The results also highlights a remarkable improvement in the yield of various crops such as wheat (309%)and linseed (95%) after the project The average productivity increases by 87% after the project. The study also examines the economic viability of the project and found that the project was economically viable with 96.94 lakh of NPV, 96.25 of IRR and 2.03 of BCR at 12% discount rate