Dryland agriculture is most prominent in arid, semi-arid and
sub-humid regions of Indian subcontinents. These regions are home
to about 81% rural poor in the country. 55% of Indian agriculture
pertains to dryland agriculture where majority of farmers are
practicing subsistence farming due to over dependency on rain.
The major ecological and economical factors that make agriculture
unsustainable in this region, includes rainfed cultivation, small and
fractured land holdings, insufficient crop yield and limited scope
to adopt intensive agriculture. Many government funded watershed
development program in this region are currently practiced
and are mostly emphasized to increase the water availability in the
vicinity through various activities involving surface water harvesting
and utilization. The water harvesting mostly achieved in small
ponds (capacity < 1000m3 and depth less than 4m) and recycled as
life saving irrigation/supplemental irrigation to attain sufficient soil
moisture for successful crop production (Anbumozhi et al., 2001).
The major impediments in realizing the potential of water harvesting
and recycling in dryland agriculture of India however, is