The project will also focus on water management for crops and human use through soil and moisture conservation measures
Ambuja Foundation has partnered with NABARD to implement the Bari Watershed Development Project in the Ropar district of Punjab. With the success of a pilot capacity-building program in 2020, the partnership continued with a watershed initiative.
Bari in Ropar faces water scarcity being a sub-mountain region that receives about 80 per cent of total rainfall. Other problems include climatic conditions, soil erosion, and land degradation resulting in low income from agriculture and animal husbandry. Under this project, as the implementation partner, Ambuja Foundation will focus on soil conservation and improving soil quality, water management, conserving biodiversity, climate proofing activities, women empowerment, and livelihood along with capacity building in the area.
The project will also focus on water management for crops and human use through soil and moisture conservation measures. With its integrated approach, the Ambuja team will support in building staggered contour trenches, farm ponds, percolation tanks, waste weir, check dams, gabion structures, and gully plug along with driving plantation drives and recharging pits.
Under climate-proofing activities, the foundation will target 85 households and encourage them to install sprinkler and drip irrigation systems, consider crop diversification, kitchen gardening, and fruit cultivation to increase income, manage crop residue, and set up light traps. Ambuja Foundation will also organize training sessions for women to learn better dairy farming practices and livestock rearing to create alternate income.
