While surfing, I got a fantastic skit showing importance of water for everybody. I felt the character of each here. Words used here are quite magical. Just read and feel your responsbilities....

Everybody’s Water

Scene 1

This scene is largely expressed through exaggerated movements and expressions. There is no need for speech in this scene, except where it is mentioned.

Woman wakes up to brush her teeth, walks up to the wash basin, looks at herself in the mirror, yawns and starts brushing her teeth. Soon she turns the tap, only to realize that there’s no water coming out of the tap.

Boy goes to the latrine in the morning, and then starts squatting, and tries to turn on the tap, but then realizes there is no water.

Farmer goes to water his crops in the field, but there is no water in the well, or in the tank. It has disappeared!

Woman goes to the hand pump to fill water, and there is no water!

Young man opens a fridge, looks around and exclaims “There’s no water in the fridge dude. Oh my god, where’s the water? I think I’ll just go buy me some water. Where’s my wallet? Oh never mind, I think this 15 rupees should be enough."

Shopkeeper: "I have already said that all the water has already been sold out from this shop, and all the shops in this neighborhood. Please stop irritating me. Now, somebody, get me a glass of water will you?"

Street vendor: "Sau ka ek, Sau ka ek, Sau ka ek gilas paani. Bilkul Thanda Paani"

Man wakes up in the morning, to go for a swim in the river nearby. All the water in the river has disappeared. “Where has the river gone?” he shouts.

Scene 2

TV Journalist( stressed, dramatic, worried and concerned)- “Breaking news, live and exclusive on BodyTV, all the water has disappeared from our planet as of yesterday, and we have reports coming in from all places and countries, people have reported stating that there is no water to drink, rivers have disappeared, wells have gone dry, not a single drop of water from any tap. In fact, even the clouds have dried up. All the trees and plants are drying up, animals have been seen running around desperately looking for water, people are helplessly waiting. Now over to our correspondent, Nobody who is reporting live to give you more details.

Nobody: "All water bodies have filed a case on everybody! And if Everybody wants to solve this problem, then they must be present at the court hearing today at 4 PM.

The water bodies seem to be very angry and have decided to stop supply to everybody on the planet. They have complained of everybody wasting water unnecessarily, polluting water, wasting rainwater, damaging aquatic life, and also affecting fertility of the land, and many such complaints.

Everybody has been blaming Somebody else for these problems. The solution is now in Everybody’s hands. This is Nobody reporting from BodyTV. Stay with us for more details."

Scene 3

General Body Meeting of Water Bodies

Ocean (old, serious)- "I am happy to see all of you here for this long overdue meeting. For centuries now, we have been misused by everybody. It was about time for us to have stopped all supplies. If this continues, we will all be finished, and then both water bodies and everybody will suffer."

Claps

Rainfall (angry)- "If only they had saved some of me, nobody would suffer. I have been falling and falling down on their stupid heads every year for months together. I know I can go overboard sometimes, and keep falling for days together, and sometimes I’m so tired that I don’t fall for years. But Ocean Sir, yes, I agree with you. It is finally time to stop falling and flowing, and time to take some action. I am glad this day has come."

Lake (sad and fragile)- "I was so happy once upon a time. So many shades of green and blue, so happy with all my fish swimming about, and the plants keeping me company. We used to have so much fun together. These days, Sir, I have no words to say, my colours are changing from green to black, filled with ugly smelly chemicals. All the fish are dying and even the plants are finding it tough to live. I have managed to come for this meeting to share my state with you."

Groundwater (in a resigned tone)- "Everybody wants to chase me out. Everybody wants to drink me up. I try to hide in little corners but every time I hide, a new bore-well comes and drinks me up.

Everybody wants to dig, dig, dig, dig, digging here, digging there, and digging everywhere. I’m getting tired of this hide and seek, because I lose all the time. "

Sea (calm)- "See, everybody needs us, don’t you get it? We just have to understand each other. Lets not cry and be angry. I know so many people who have sung songs to me, written poems about me, come to my shores every time the sun sets. They flatter me. And, lets not complain. They need us and have to take care of us. Its good we are united now. Lets be confident and tell them how we feel, and solve this."

Water Taps (casual) - "Yes, Yes, Come on waters, lets face it. If people didn’t have water, would we be happy? If nobody drank us, what use what would we be? There will be no plants, no animals  - we will be so lonely! We need everybody just as much as everybody needs us."

Puddles (happy, chirpy)

Let’s go flowing

Let’s go rowing

Let’s keep going

Let’s keep growing.

Let’s come together

And not fight forever

Let’s give a little 

Take a little

Let’s give a little and 

Take a little.

Claps

Scene 4

At the court room

Chaos in the room, people are moaning and groaning, looking worried and some are crying.

Judge: "Order! Order! Order!

Today in my court, the case of Water Body Versus Everybody will be heard. We hope that we come to a balanced and sound judgment. This was expected, given the current situation in the planet. Let us not panic, let’s try and resolve this problem. Both parties will be given a chance to present their case."

Everybody can be played by more than one character. They should however, symbolize one body, one voice. Water bodies can be scattered across stage. Props may be used in this scene to represent the water bodies, left to the child’s imagination. The character sketch of each character comes out clearly in the tone of expression.

Water

Water, Water everywhere, not a drop to drink

Water, Water everywhere, EVERYBODY needs to think

With Water, Water, nowhere, you may stink and sink,

Water, water nowhere, you are at the brink

My lord, we have had to stop supplies to Everybody. There is not enough to supply to Everybody.  

Anybody: But I get water in my taps everyday, just today it stopped, suddenly?

Water: Yes, we know that. I’m sorry you had to face problems, but you faced it today. Do you know for how long we have been facing problems?

Everybody: Objection me Lord! Water Body may have faced problems, but it is not our fault. We should not suffer. It is somebody’s fault.

Somebody: Objection me Lord! Everybody always says its Somebody’s fault. I’m sorry but this time its everybody’s fault. So everybody has to answer.

Judge: Hmmm! Everybody, what do you have to say about this? Do you have any thing to say in your defense?

Everybody: Yes my Lord. We want to know why and how we are responsible for this problem.

Water: I would like to call upon Water Taps as my first witness.

Water Tap: I am so tired of my life. Everyday, for every single thing, people just say, “ Just turn the tap on”.  I cannot understand Everybody’s problems. Some say they have no water and the rest have it, but don’t know how to use what they have.

They keep brushing, and I just going down the drain. They want to have shower baths - closing their eyes busy putting shampoo. Some even use shower for half an hour to have a bath, simply standing under the water. And some have extra ordinarily long baths! Some children just flush water down the drain, it’s a game they say!

Water: So you see my Lord, in all these ways, we are being wasted. We get mixed up with waste and feel more wasted. After so many years and years of waste, and hundreds and millions of people doing this, how can we keep saving some for everybody. We had to stop.

Everybody is silent, and looking down.

Puddles, lakes and rivers

Oooh, oooh, oooh

What a pity, what a shame.

Blah, blah, blah..

There is no one else to blame.

(almost like a rap)

Everybody points a finger at somebody,

But somebody says it’s gotta be nobody, 

Now, will anybody want to believe nobody…

Nobody wants to think that they are everbody..

Hahahhahahhahaaaahahhahat

Confusion, suspicion, delusion, illusion

It’s time for everybody to start a revision.

Judge: What do you have to say, Everybody!?

Everybody: Hmmm. What can I say, everyone needs to speak up I think.  Some of us do not realize what we have, but not everyone is like that. Why do you think we have come to court to discuss this. We may have been wasting water, but we also know that you are indispensable.

Judge: Looks like water too will become dispensable, like all of us. I have no hope at the rate that it’s going. Anyway, I’m sure water has more to say.

Rainfall: My Lord, years ago when I used to fall, people have been saving me for many reasons. It is only recently that everybody has become dependent on their taps, and have forgotten about me. I only have to fall on the road, and make puddles, flow here, there, everywhere and make a big mess. Even in cities, I could be used to water plants, to wash vehicles, and if purified, even to drink. Why can’t people save some rain when I fall? I fall for them, not for me!

Everybody: We might have become a little ignorant, but we love the rain. You can’t  stop falling. We have just become careless. It didn’t even occur to us that we can save rainwater and it can be reused if filtered. But there are many people doing this already, but I agree it’s not enough.

Judge: We will have to wait and see. Water, any other problems?

Water in a Bottle: And Everybody, I must bring to your notice, that your children, have no idea how they waste me. I don’t take so much space, I store water for you whenever you are thirsty, and you just need to take the cap and drink up. So many times, only few sips are taken and then we are thrown away. If only everybody could drink as much as they want and recharge the ground with some extra water. Would help my counterparts a great deal!?

Everybody:  You know, we don’t think about these things. They are too insignificant for us. There is no time, we are caught up about our own business, we don’t have the energy to think about Water. But of course, it has reached a stage where we will have to rethink the way we live our lives. Surely, pouring you out into the ground is not too much to ask for.

Judge: Good, write that down.

Land: I know I’m not water my Lord, but I also want to say that I am involved in this because all the water which is being used is being stored by me. And if everybody is using too much water, and wasting it, then I will not have water to give any more. I can recycle water a little bit, but everybody needs to know that I can’t do this fast, and it takes a long time. So I request everybody to plant more trees, and water them, and use water wisely, so I can keep providing more and more people with water.

Everybody: Hmmm.. this is  a worrying concern even for us. We don’t want the trees to die. Our forests are also slowly disappearing, there are small efforts by some bodies who are trying to afforest you. So it’s just the matter of time. We will take note of that, My Lord.

Groundwater: No we have not finished. You don’t forget to recharge your phones, do you?! You don’t forget to fill your stomachs, do you? You don’t forget to dig, when you need water, do you? 

I may be underground, and you may never ever see me, though that’s where your water comes from! It’s pure magic for you all. Remember, if I dry up, there will be no more magic, you will all dry up like me. I need to be recharged, rainfall is not enough. So empathise, sympathy is not enough. If you want water when yoy dig, recharge me, pur some water on me. It is for your benefit I am saying this.  Whenever it rains, make sure it doesn’t go for a waste. You can try and give some of that delicious rain water to me, and I will use it to recharge myself.

Also if you’re throwing away spare or waste water in the sink, try throwing some water in the ground, and I mean soil. Not cement or concrete. My good friend, Land here will store it up and give it to me, and then you can take it back whenever you need it. This way, I have more water, and you have more water!

(all characters gather on stage)

Everybody: Thank you for the music! For so long we have been selfish. Today we have realized that our money is useless if there is no water. Just for one day, we have seen how much we need water, and how we cannot do the smallest things without you. Just give us another chance, we will look after you like you have looked after us.

Judge: It’s completely up to you water, because as far as I can see most of your points you have made cannot be defended by Everybody. I have to let you have the final say.

Water: Thank you, My Lord. It is evident that Everybody is guilty. We are grateful that you have listened to us. But we really hope that this situation doesn’t arise again. We would like to flow clean, free and happily. We want to see green, clean and pure planet. Let’s hope that things get better. Everybody, we will be bored without you all, and we want to be there for you all. Just treat us well and treat us kind.

Everybody: You have my word for it, WaterBodies. Thanks for trusting us.

To the audience

Everybody pull up your socks

Or be prepared for many shocks

Let’s not waste and let’s take care 

Without water, we’re nowhere

To the water bodies

To brush, to wash, to cook and clean,

To grow, to breathe, we need to lean,

On you and all your many streams

This cannot be only a dream!

We’ll drink a little, save a little, 

Use a little, reuse a little.

We’ll think before we use our taps,

We’ll plan for people across the maps.

Water, water, please don’t go,

Without you, we cannot sow,

We hope you trust us one last time,

This song is not only a rhyme.

End

HOW TO BOUNCE BACK FROM FAILURE

“It's fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure,” Bill Gates said. We always shower praise on those who have triumphed. Very rarely do we examine all the times the successful people have failed, and analyze how they turned their “luck” around. In this tip, you will understand how to turn failure into success and bounce back with more fervour.

1. A SUCCESSFUL MINDSET: If you’re striving to achieve anything then failure is inevitable. “Whenever you’re trying a new experiment, whether it’s a new job, a new product, a new hobby, a new boyfriend or girlfriend–whatever it is–you need to give some thought to what is your strategy and which are the possible ways to achieve it. Do you have any plan B or plan C if plan A fails? What will you do if nothing works out...and how to minimise the losses as well as taking advantage of the opportunities that you have. Assessing your opportunities and threats to success is very important. When a newly wedded girl comes to stay with her In laws, she might need to have a number of ways in her kitty to make her place in the new household rather than just stick to a few traditional ones. If one technique doesn't work, try something else. Disaster strikes when creativity is not given a place and failure was not factored in. Feeling helpless doesn't add upto success. Optimism is what people need to bounce back with.

2. LEARN AND IMPROVE WITH EACH FAILURE: Failure is just an opportunity to learn and improve. It’s a teaching moment that should be analyzed with a practical, clear mind. It helps to see mistakes as stepping stones to learning and improving and using it as an opportunity to bounce back. Every person should behave like a scientist with a mind open to exploring, assessing, making mistakes and changing. Mistakes must be embraced as being part of the process of success. If we don’t make mistakes it means that we’re not trying, and if we’re not trying then we’re not learning and getting better. Your self-worth should not rest on perfectionism, but rather value your ability to accept and learn from your mistakes. Not everyone is willing to admit when they’re wrong, which can hamper progress and relationships. When Meena and Arun started dating each other, they didn't know each other well and tried to impress each other in ways that was not working out well for both of them. It was very frustrating for them to see that their relationship was not working out. In counselling, they realised that they were not asking what each can do to impress the other. Meena told Arun that she would like to be taken out to plays and theatre by her future partner and Arun told Meena that he would like to take weekend trips to nearby destinations to get to know his partner well. When they both started doing what the other appreciated, they got to know each other better and relationship started blooming. Thus Arun and Meena assessed the situation, were open to discussion and found an amicable solution instead of thinking of their previous efforts as failure and giving up. 

3. LOVE YOUR CRITICS: How do you feel when your work gets criticised repeatedly by your boss, manager or your husband. It mighty be hurtful and demeaning to hear critical feedback, but if many people are saying the same things about your work or behaviour, then maybe it's time to give it a serious thought. When Saira was often told that she wasn't cooperative enough in team activities and tends to slacken and pass on work to other members, her mind started working. She had got the same comments in her previous organisations. She started seeing a grain of truth in this feedback and took steps to rectify complaints that stood out common in all the feedbacks and reworked her way back to become a sought after team member. Her next years' appraisal was better and got her an increment. Saira triumphed, because she knew how to learn from criticism.

4. ACCEPT FAILURE AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF LIFE: Shivani was heartbroken when her 15 year old perfect son started doing badly in exams. Her world fell apart when she came to know that he had secured 73% in 10th grade. She felt that she had failed as a parent and her son as she had not devoted enough time to her son as she was a working mother. In counselling, she was asked if she knew any parent who had never failed their kids and were always there for them. Shivani couldn't come up with any names of such mothers who had been perfect to the core. Yes, that's how real mothers are...you will fail sometimes and you will win sometimes. Every moment you are real with your child, you are succeeding as a mother. Accepting failure as a part of life and knowing that you gave it your best shot is good enough. There's magic in feeling genuine regret rather than overkilling guilt and shame. Own your failure openly, publicly, and you'll reap a harvest of forgiveness, trust, respect, and connection—the things you thought you'd get by succeeding. Ironic, isn't it?

5. GO WITH YOUR GUT: When you see a red flag, pay attention. How many times in life have you kicked yourself for not listening to that little voice in your head that says, “Something is wrong here”?. Preetam gave an interview with an organisation, going by their market reputation. Yet during the interview, he picked up feelings of dissonance within the company. After joining them, he realised that his gut was right..the company was going through major shuffle and policy changes, which were not working out for Preetam.

6. BE A PROBLEM SOLVER AND STAY CALM: In a crisis, people tend to get anxious. Maintaining a sense of Zen will not only allow you to think more clearly but will also set the tone for those around you. Kapil used to get tensed over small details. He realised that in the larger scheme of things they were really not that important. He focussed his energies on things that were more important for him to reach his monthly targets. This started calming him down.

7. FIND A SOLUTION: You need to figure out how to address and remedy the situation. Start by considering your end game — what’s the ultimate outcome you’d like to see? — and work backwards from there. Daya wanted to be a good father to his children. He wanted them to remember him as a gentle and loving father. He started working backwards and his daily actions and behaviours showed to his children that Daya was a loving father. He played with them, took them for cricket coaching, went swimming, shared personal success and failures and most of all listened to them when they had to say something.

8. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUR MISTAKES AND FAILURES: If you screwed up, don’t make excuses — just apologise genuinely for any errors on your part. Remember, that no one is perfect and it's human to err. Prema was a caring mother. She had many dreams about her daughter and wanted her to do well in studies and be a well behaved child of the family. But when her daughter started showing disinterest in studies and marks started falling, Prema used to beat up her daughter in her anxiety to do well. In counselling Prema understood that her intentions were good, but the way she communicated were not helping the situation as Prema's daughter hated her mother and maintained distance. Prema owned up her mistakes and apologised for her errors to her daughter. She also took remedial action to be accepting of her daughter and gave her the space to make her own mistakes and learn from them. 

9. BECOME PROACTIVE: Don’t let a small mistake linger and turn into a bigger one. That’s not to say you should simply be reactive, but i f you know you did something wrong, deal with it right away. Say, for example, you stuck your foot in your mouth during an important business meeting and inadvertently offended your boss or a client. Acknowledge the gaffe, apologize and try to move on without beating yourself up. Remember that, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

10. DEFINE YOUR OWN SUCCESS AND FAILURES: Its important to have your own definition of both rather than how the world sees and defines success and failure. Find answers to questions like: How would you be behaving when you have succeeded, what must happen to feel successful, how will your life change when you are successful? Every person has a very different view and definition for success and making it your own definition can spell failure. Don't let the world tell you whether you have failed or succeeded. It's also excellent for self esteem and works as a protective shield from potential damage. 

So, next time there’s that misstep, mistake or misunderstanding, remember to take a deep breath and be your own best publicist by remaining calm, seeking the solution and seeing the challenge as an opportunity to lead and learn.

I Can............

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Nearly three-quarters of India’s families depend on rural incomes.
• The majority of India’s poor (some 770 million people or about 70 percent) are found in rural areas.
• India’s food security depends on producing cereal crops, as well as increasing its production of fruits, vegetables and milk to meet the demands of a growing population with rising incomes.

While agriculture’s share in India’s economy has progressively declined to less than 15% due to the high growth rates of the industrial and services sectors, the sector’s importance in India’s economic and social fabric goes well beyond this indicator. First, nearly three-quarters of India’s families depend on rural incomes. Second, the majority of India’s poor (some 770 million people or about 70 percent) are found in rural areas. And third, India’s food security depends on producing cereal crops, as well as increasing its production of fruits, vegetables and milk to meet the demands of a growing population with rising incomes. To do so, a productive, competitive, diversified and sustainable agricultural sector will need to emerge at an accelerated pace.

India is a global agricultural powerhouse. It is the world’s largest producer of milk, pulses, and spices, and has the world’s largest cattle herd (buffaloes), as well as the largest area under wheat, rice and cotton. It is the second largest producer of rice, wheat, cotton, sugarcane, farmed fish, sheep & goat meat, fruit, vegetables and tea. The country has some 195 m ha under cultivation of which some 63 percent are rainfed (roughly 125m ha) while 37 percent are irrigated (70m ha). In addition, forests cover some 65m ha of India’s land.

Challenges

Three agriculture sector challenges will be important to India’s overall development and the improved welfare of its rural poor:

1. Raising agricultural productivity per unit of land: Raising productivity per unit of land will need to be the main engine of agricultural growth as virtually all cultivable land is farmed. Water resources are also limited and water for irrigation must contend with increasing industrial and urban needs. All measures to increase productivity will need exploiting, amongst them: increasing yields, diversification to higher value crops, and developing value chains to reduce marketing costs.

2. Reducing rural poverty through a socially inclusive strategy that comprises both agriculture as well as non-farm employment: Rural development must also benefit the poor, landless, women, scheduled castes and tribes. Moreover, there are strong regional disparities: the majority of India’s poor are in rain-fed areas or in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic plains. Reaching such groups has not been easy. While progress has been made - the rural population classified as poor fell from nearly 40% in the early 1990s to below 30% by the mid-2000s (about a 1% fall per year) – there is a clear need for a faster reduction. Hence, poverty alleviation is a central pillar of the rural development efforts of the Government and the World Bank.

3. Ensuring that agricultural growth responds to food security needs: The sharp rise in food-grain production during India’s Green Revolution of the 1970s enabled the country to achieve self-sufficiency in food-grains and stave off the threat of famine. Agricultural intensification in the 1970s to 1980s saw an increased demand for rural labor that raised rural wages and, together with declining food prices, reduced rural poverty. However agricultural growth in the 1990s and 2000s slowed down, averaging about 3.5% per annum, and cereal yields have increased by only 1.4% per annum in the 2000s. The slow-down in agricultural growth has become a major cause for concern. India’s rice yields are one-third of China’s and about half of those in Vietnam and Indonesia. The same is true for most other agricultural commodities.

Policy makers will thus need to initiate and/or conclude policy actions and public programs to shift the sector away from the existing policy and institutional regime that appears to be no longer viable and build a solid foundation for a much more productive, internationally competitive, and diversified agricultural sector.

Priority Areas for Support

1. Enhancing agricultural productivity, competitiveness, and rural growth

Promoting new technologies and reforming agricultural research and extension: Major reform and strengthening of India’s agricultural research and extension systems is one of the most important needs for agricultural growth. These services have declined over time due to chronic underfunding of infrastructure and operations, no replacement of aging researchers or broad access to state-of-the-art technologies. Research now has little to provide beyond the time-worn packages of the past. Public extension services are struggling and offer little new knowledge to farmers. There is too little connection between research and extension, or between these services and the private sector.

Improving Water Resources and Irrigation/Drainage Management: Agriculture is India’s largest user of water. However, increasing competition for water between industry, domestic use and agriculture has highlighted the need to plan and manage water on a river basin and multi-sectoral basis. As urban and other demands multiply, less water is likely to be available for irrigation. Ways to radically enhance the productivity of irrigation (“more crop per drop”) need to be found. Piped conveyance, better on-farm management of water, and use of more efficient delivery mechanisms such as drip irrigation are among the actions that could be taken. There is also a need to manage as opposed to exploit the use of groundwater. Incentives to pump less water such as levying electricity charges or community monitoring of use have not yet succeeded beyond sporadic initiatives. Other key priorities include: (i) modernizing Irrigation and Drainage Departments to integrate the participation of farmers and other agencies in managing irrigation water; (ii) improving cost recovery; (iii) rationalizing public expenditures, with priority to completing schemes with the highest returns; and (iv) allocating sufficient resources for operations and maintenance for the sustainability of investments.

Facilitating agricultural diversification to higher-value commodities: Encouraging farmers todiversify to higher value commodities will be a significant factor for higher agricultural growth, particularly in rain-fed areas where poverty is high. Moreover, considerable potential exists for expanding agro-processing and building competitive value chains from producers to urban centers and export markets. While diversification initiatives should be left to farmers and entrepreneurs, the Government can, first and foremost, liberalize constraints to marketing, transport, export and processing. It can also play a small regulatory role, taking due care that this does not become an impediment.

Promoting high growth commodities: Some agricultural sub-sectors have particularly high potential for expansion, notably dairy. The livestock sector, primarily due to dairy, contributes over a quarter of agricultural GDP and is a source of income for 70% of India’s rural families, mostly those who are poor and headed by women. Growth in milk production, at about 4% per annum, has been brisk, but future domestic demand is expected to grow by at least 5% per annum. Milk production is constrained, however, by the poor genetic quality of cows, inadequate nutrients, inaccessible veterinary care, and other factors. A targeted program to tackle these constraints could boost production and have good impact on poverty.

Developing markets, agricultural credit and public expenditures: India’s legacy of extensive government involvement in agricultural marketing has created restrictions in internal and external trade, resulting in cumbersome and high-cost marketing and transport options for agricultural commodities. Even so, private sector investment in marketing, value chains and agro-processing is growing, but much slower than potential. While some restrictions are being lifted, considerably more needs to be done to enable diversification and minimize consumer prices. Improving access to rural finance for farmers is another need as it remains difficult for farmers to get credit. Moreover, subsidies on power, fertilizers and irrigation have progressively come to dominate Government expenditures on the sector, and are now four times larger than investment expenditures, crowding out top priorities such as agricultural research and extension.

2. Poverty alleviation and community actions

While agricultural growth will, in itself, provide the base for increasing incomes, for the 170 million or so rural persons that are below the poverty line, additional measures are required to make this growth inclusive. For instance, a rural livelihoods program that empowers communities to become self-reliant has been found to be particularly effective and well-suited for scaling-up. This program promotes the formation of self-help groups, increases community savings, and promotes local initiatives to increase incomes and employment. By federating to become larger entities, these institutions of the poor gain the strength to negotiate better prices and market access for their products, and also gain the political power over local governments to provide them with better technical and social services. These self-help groups are particularly effective at reaching women and impoverished families.

3. Sustaining the environment and future agricultural productivity

In parts of India, the over-pumping of water for agricultural use is leading to falling groundwater levels. Conversely, water-logging is leading to the build-up of salts in the soils of some irrigated areas. In rain-fed areas on the other hand, where the majority of the rural population live, agricultural practices need adapting to reduce soil erosion and increase the absorption of rainfall. Overexploited and degrading forest land need mitigation measures. There are proven solutions to nearly all of these problems. The most comprehensive is through watershed management programs, where communities engage in land planning and adopt agricultural practices that protect soils, increase water absorption and raise productivity through higher yields and crop diversification. At issue, however, is how to scale up such initiatives to cover larger areas of the country. Climate change must also be considered. More extreme events – droughts, floods, erratic rains – are expected and would have greatest impact in rain-fed areas. The watershed program, allied with initiatives from agricultural research and extension, may be the most suited agricultural program for promoting new varieties of crops and improved farm practices. But other thrusts, such as the livelihoods program and development of off-farm employment may also be key.

World Bank Support

With some $5.5 billion in net commitments from both IDA and IBRD, and 24 ongoing projects, the World Bank’s agriculture and rural development program in India is by far the Bank’s largest such program worldwide in absolute dollar terms. This figure is even higher when investments in rural development such as rural roads, rural finance and human development are included. Nonetheless, this amount is relatively small when compared with the Government’s - both central and state - funding of public programs in support of agriculture. Most of the Bank’s agriculture and rural development assistance is geared towards state-level support, but some also takes place at the national level.

The Bank’s Agricultural and Rural Development portfolio is clustered across three broad themes with each project, generally, showing a significant integration of these themes.

Agriculture, watershed and natural resources management

Water & irrigated agriculture

Rural livelihood development

Over the past five to ten years, the Bank has been supporting:

 R&D in Agricultural Technology through two national level projects with pan-India implementation (the National Agriculture Technology Project and the National Agriculture Innovation Project) coordinated by the Government of India’s Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).

 Dissemination of Agricultural Technology: New approaches towards the dissemination of agricultural technology such as the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) model have contributed to diversification of agricultural production in Assam and Uttar Pradesh. This extension approach is now being scaled-up across India.

Better delivery of irrigation water: World Bank support for the better delivery of irrigation water ranges from projects covering large irrigation infrastructure to local tanks and ponds. Projects also support the strengthening of water institutions in several states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh) improved groundwater management practices (for instance, in the upcoming Rajasthan Agriculture Competitiveness Project).

Sustainable agricultural practices through watershed and rainfed agriculture development (Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand), soil reclamation efforts (Uttar Pradesh) and, more recently, improved groundwater management practices (for instance, in the upcoming Rajasthan Agriculture Competitiveness Project).

Improved access to rural credit and greater gender involvement in rural economic activities through rural livelihood initiatives undertaken by a number of states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu) and soon to be scaled up by GOI with Bank support through a National Rural Livelihood Mission.

Agricultural insurance by advising GOI on how to improve the actuarial design and implementation of the insurance program (e.g. rating methodology and product design, index insurance, use of mobile and remote sensing technology to measure yields, etc.).

Improved farmer access to agriculture markets through policy reforms and investments under the Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project which aims to reform regulated wholesale markets and provide farmers with alternative market opportunities.

The land policy agenda through analytical work as well as non-lending technical assistance in support of GOI’s National Land Records Modernization Program.

Better rural connectivity through IDA support to the Prime Minister’s National Rural Roads Program (PMGSY), and by connecting rural poor and smallholder farmers through collective action to public services through Self-Help Groups (and SHG federations), Water User Associations and Farmer Producer Organizations. Recently the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved the National Rural Livelihood Mission, which supports SHG approaches through a pan-India approach.