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4 min read

Harvesting Water, Harvesting Income

Duldula Block, Jashpur District, Chhattisgarh
Natural Resource Management
Water Security
Ajivika Dabari campaign launch
Community members mark the launch of the Ajivika Dabari farm pond campaign in Duldula.

Duldula Block is home to over 11,000 households across 66 villages, most of them dependent on rain-fed farming. A block-wide farm pond campaign is now turning that dependence into water security.

Agriculture in Duldula, a largely tribal block of forests and hilly terrain, was heavily dependent on rainfall. Frequent crop failures at sowing and transplantation kept productivity and incomes unstable. With limited irrigation infrastructure and low awareness of water conservation, most farmers relied on a single crop and had few livelihood options.

Since April 2025, Harsha Trust has implemented the High Impact Mega Watershed Project 2.0 across 29 Gram Panchayats, with support from BRLF-ABF. Under the Ajivika Dabari (farm pond) campaign led jointly by MGNREGA and SPMU-PRADAN, the team ran village meetings, PRA exercises, and site inspections using the CLART application, identifying 341 potential beneficiaries. Of 160 proposals submitted, 139 farm ponds were approved, with CRPs and Mates trained in site selection, pond design, and construction quality.

CRP and Mate farm pond orientation
An orientation and training session for CRPs and Mates on farm pond construction.

130 Ajivika ponds, each 20m × 20m × 3m, have now been built across the block, creating a total storage capacity of about 156,000 cubic metres — roughly 312,000 cubic metres a year when filled twice through rainfall. This water is expected to provide protective irrigation to nearly 300–320 hectares of farmland, reducing dependence on rainfall and opening the door to fish farming, bund plantation, and integrated farming systems.

Outcomes at a glance
Farm ponds built
130 across 29 Gram Panchayats
Pond size
20m × 20m × 3m each
Storage capacity
~156,000 cubic metres
Irrigation reach
~300–320 hectares
New livelihoods
fish farming, bund crops, IFS
Completed Ajivika Dabari pond
A completed Ajivika Dabari, filled and ready to support irrigation.

As the ponds fill through the monsoon, Duldula’s farmers are expected to see steadier yields, more stable incomes, and new livelihood options built around water.

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