In
translating the options into reality on the field, non-credit and
even non-monetary factors have a larger and more important role
to play than credit.
The
Watershed Development Fund (WDF), with an initial corpus of Rs.
100 crore from NABARD and an equal contribution from the government
of India, will help give focused attention to the promotion of watershed
technology in various parts of the country.
Initially,
100 districts in the country have been identified for popularising
the concept of watershed development. Funds from WDF will be utilised,
among other things, for promotional efforts, community organisation,
capacity building, supplementary flexible financing and full-scale
financing of projects on a grant or loan basis through village communities.
NABARD
is also introducing cyclical credit to ensure that farmers in rain-fed
areas are not denied access to institutional credit due to non-wilful
defaults that may arise out of frequent failure of rains.
RIDF
Rural
Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) was created in 1995 with
an initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crore to provide funds to state governments
and state-owned corporations to enable them to complete various
rural infrastructure projects, especially those related to irrigation,
watershed management, flood protection and rural connectivity. RIDF
has six branches and the fund aggregates Rs 18,000 crore. Operations
under RIDF will continue during 2001-2002 with an increased corpus
of Rs 5,000 crore under RIDF-VII against which the bank has already
sanctioned Rs 1630.21 crore to 18 states by 15 October 2001.
Wadi
development programme
NABARD
is implementing a community project in Gujarat, named Wadi Development
Programme, for the rehabilitation of nearly 10,000 tribal families
in Dungar area of Dharmapur taluka. The project is being implemented
through a Pune-based NGO.
The
project envisages the development of a 'wadi,' that is an orchard,
for each identified tribal family in waste or marginal land. Soil
and water conservation measures, fuel and fodder cultivation as
well as inter-cropping, which provides employment to tribal families
during the implementation period, are part of the project. Thereafter,
the plantation is expected to generate adequate income for the families
and bring them above poverty level.
In
view of the successful implementation of the programme, similar
programmes have been taken up in three hilly blocks of Thane and
Nasik districts of Maharashtra.
Animal
husbandry
Animal
husbandry complements and supplements crop enterprises and have
become an important sub-sector contributing over a fourth of the
GDP from the agriculture sector. In spite of the rapid development
of the dairy and poultry sectors, the potential needs to be improved
by evolving appropriate breeding plans and augmentation of feed
and fodder resources, market-oriented product development and cost-reduction
in processing and marketing of livestock products.
