Integrated land management scarcity to surplus

According to available estimates, the total extent of wastelands in the country is as high as around 129 million hectares or about 1/3rd of its total geographical area. Although the country is extremely rich in bio-diversity and possesses vast resources of water, skilled personnel and scientists, its natural resources have continued to degrade over time. A part of the degradation may be explained by the pressure of numbers. Another critical factor has been the lack of involvement of people and their not having a stake in the processes of plan development in the country in the last four decades.

As the pressure on the country's natural resources increases over time, there is a criticality that attaches to the protection and development of the natural resources and the need to increase productivity from these natural resources on a sustainable basis. The country is looking forward to such replicable models of development being implemented at the local level which can achieve these ends.

One such model is Chakriya Vikas Pranali (CVP) developed by the Society of Hill Resource Management School (SHRMS), a voluntary agency work ing in uplands of around 30 villages of Palamau district in Bihar. The Society was founded by Shri P.R. Mishra who well known for his pioneering work in protecting and developing the catchment of the Sukhna Lake in the Sukhomajri area of Haryana. The philosophy behind the CVP is that, should the natural resources at the village level be husbanded carefully with the involvement of the residents of the village who share the benefits equally, it is possible not only to make the villages self reliant but also develop wastelands on a sustainable basis and increase produc tion, the income from which will bring about the future cycle of development. Another unique feature of the CVP is adoption of low cost appropriate technology in tree-based farming system, which is not much dependent on external inputs.