ITC Report & Accounts 2007

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natural resource management

During 2006-07, 2,247 hectares were brought under Social Forestry plantations, taking the cumulative total to 9,069 hectares. The Social Forestry project today covers 23 mandals, 380 villages and 10,510 poor households.

It is worth noting that the collaboration with the programmes of the Government of Andhra Pradesh continues to grow in strength. A total of 830 hectares was promoted through collaboration with Indira Kranthi Padham and the Comprehensive Land Development programmes of the Government.

The households covered under the Social Forestry Programme continue to reap the benefits derived from cut plantations. Todate, 876 households have harvested their plantations earning a total of Rs 4 crores. Significantly, most beneficiaries have ensured that the contribution to the Village Development Fund continues apace, which had grown to Rs 46 lakhs by the close of the financial year. The farmers’ own incomes have been invested wisely into productive assets to ensure a long-term virtuous cycle of development.

ITC’s social and farm forestry programmes have todate greened nearly 65,000 hectares of land.

soil & moisture conservation

This programme was designed to assist farmers in identified moisture-stressed districts through soil and moisture conservation works. A total of 538 large and small water harvesting structures were created by the end of 2006-07, taking the total number of structures created so far to 1,531. The total area covered under the watershed programme is 26,704 hectares, covering 21,399 farmers in 23 districts and 460 villages.

This period saw the construction of some of the largest water-harvesting structures created under Mission Sunehra Kal. A stop dam in Narshingkheda village of Sehore district (Madhya Pradesh) has a height of 13 feet, with a command area of 443 acres belonging to 116 farmers in 4 villages.

As a measure of their commitment, the direct beneficiaries contributed as much as Rs 90 lakhs towards these efforts. In addition, the poorer households contributed in terms of labour (shramdan) or agricultural produce.

A new milestone was achieved during the year with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Rajasthan for an integrated watershed development project in Bhilwara district. The collaboration will cover 5,000 hectares of land over a period of five years under a pioneering public-private partnership programme. ITC’s commitment to building capacities of the primary stakeholders was evident in the number of technical trainings organised on a range of soil and water conservation techniques. Beneficiaries were also taken on exposure trips to acclaimed projects like Tarun Bharat Sangh, Alwar, Ralegaon Siddhi and Sadguru Foundation project areas.

Impact assessments of the Water Harvesting structures were conducted in terms of change in acreage and cropping pattern in the rabi season of 2006-07 compared to the previous rabi season. The increase in average area under rabi is noteworthy, signifying a shift towards a double-cropping regime in these areas. Significant shifts were also observed amongst the farmers towards water intensive crops. The major impact was in the improvement in well-yields as a result of effective ground water recharge.