Abstract

Total change in production and productivity are the two important dimensions of benefits of watershed development programmes along with the conservation of land and water resources. To segregate out the impact of various watershed-based interventions on crop productivity, a study was carried out in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state of India. Data were collected from 240 farmers’ selected from eight watersheds and eight control villages in the region using a multi-stage random sampling technique. Analysis of data indicated that implementation of watershed development programmes led to significant differences in productivity of major crops between watershed and non-watershed villages. Decomposition analysis of productivity difference between them indicated that the contribution of technological component was positive and higher than the contribution of input differentials. This calls for a wider coverage of watershed development programmes in order to bring all the areas under land treatment activities for improving the productivity level.

Key words: Bundelkhand region, decomposition analysis, production function, watershed programmes.