Two Days Training Program

Two days Training Program

Conserving Natural Resources for Sustainable Development in Dry Areas

Under Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management –Country Partnership Programme

Held at ARID FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, New Pali Road, Jodhpur-342005 29-30 September 2011 Proceedings of the training on ' Conserving Natural Resources for Sustainable Development in Dry Areas' held on 29-30 September 2011 at Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur

In the process of capacity buildings under 'Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management- Country Partnership Programme' Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur organizes a training on ‘Conserving natural resources for sustainable development in dry areas’ with special emphasis on dry lands on 29-30 September 2011, for those who are involved in conserving our natural resources like forest officials, scientists, block development officers, progressive farmers, NGOs. This training programme accommodated lectures and field visits.

Sh A.K. Singh, Chief Conservation of Forest Jodhpur inaugurated the training session by lighting the lamp and garlanding the Goddess Saraswati. At the onset of the training Dr. G. Singh, Head, Forest Ecology division welcomed the guest and the trainees and gave a brief about the SLEM programme and the training details. It was followed by general introduction and address to the participants by Director AFRI, Dr. T. S. Rathore. In last the introduction session was addressed by the Chief Conservator of Forest, Jodhpur highlighted the problem of the dry region (arid region) and the importance of this training in benefits of dry lands.

A total of 30 trainees participated in this training covering different organization (Table 1), which includes:

 Jal Bhagirathi Foundation, Jodhpur  Cental Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur  Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan (MPOWER), Jodhpur  Agriculture Research Station, Mandore, Jodhpur  Jila Parisad, Jodhpur  Jila Parisad, Jaisalmer  Jila Parisal, Bikaner  State Forest Department, Rajasthan and Gujarat  Progressive Farmer  Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur

In the technical sessions on 29th September 2011, Dr. G. Singh, AFRI in his lecture "How to assess biodiversity and carbon stock? Based on a case study" described the needs of base line data collection and its importance for any projects. In this methodology like laying out of the plots and data collections were highlighted on biological diversity and carbon stock assessment in soils as well as in plant systems.

Dr. D. C. Joshi, Principal Scientist (Ret) from Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur focused on various characteristics of soil found in Rajasthan and the adjoining areas and their importance in management to improve productivity of dry lands. Soil quality representing composition, physical, chemical and biological properties including available water storage capacity, available nutrient content, nutrient retention, effective soil depth for root penetration, salinity/sodicity and physical characteristics like aeration, infiltration, compaction and crusting were discussed. He described the reasons of soil degradation and ways to control and manage the same in benefits of local people.

Dr. M.L. Gaur, Principal & Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, (Anand Agri. University) Godhra, Gujarat, delivered a talk on 'Watershed concept, delineation and its utilization in dry areas'. In his lecture Dr Gaur he covered India's water resources and futuristic needs/ challenges, watershed development, integrated watershed management, comprehensive realistic picture of prevailing watershed conceptualizations. He discussed general steps required for watershed planning, development, management, water conservation & rainwater harvesting structures for dry lands.

Dr. T. S. Rathore, Director, AFRI, Jodhpur described various techniques for raising quality planting material and plantation technology. In his deliberation Dr. Rathore highlighted general growing stock, annual increments and forest productivity with particular reference to productivity in forests and plantation in Rajasthan. In his lecture Dr. Rathore covered general methodology for plant propagation (both cuttings and micro-propagation), technology on composting, root trainers, seed technology and plantation of different species including temperate species like Santalum album, Casuarinas, Orchids etc.

On 30th September 2011, the participants were taken to different laboratories including tissue caulture, forest protection, soil and water management, seed technology and Silvicultural operations and the interpretation Centre of AFRI. It was followed by a group photograph. In the technical session, Sh. N. Bala presented his lecture on "How to conserve our soil and water resource and its benefits for local inhabitants". He focused on needs, losses, utility pattern and demand of water and described the various ways to control and manage the soil and water to increase the productivity of dry areas.

Dr. R.K. Goel, Senior Scientist from CAZRI, Jodhpur briefed the participants on 'How to conserve our soil and water resource and its benefits for local inhabitants and Water management for drinking and irrigation in dry lands'. He highlighted the importance of rainwater and its harvesting in benefits of increased land productivity and drinking water supply. As in absence of adequate surface and groundwater resources, rainwater plays an important role in the survival and livelihood of arid zone dwellers. Rainwater is a reliable source of water for domestic and other purposes. Rainwater harvesting is a necessity in areas lacking any kind of conventional, centralized government supply system, and also in areas where good quality fresh surface water or groundwater is not available. If rainwater harvesting and its subsequent storage are designed carefully, it is possible for a family to live for years in areas with rainfall as little as 100 mm per year. Field visit was organized for village Salavas, Jodhpur where nursery technology and rainwater harvesting demonstration work has been carried out under demo village. Sh N. Bala, Dr. Bilas Singh, Sh. G. R. Choudhary and Sh.Anil Sharma accompanied the participants during the field and nusery visit.

In last, valedictory function was organized, which was chaired by Sh M. L. Meena CCF, (Wild life), Jodhpur. Feedbacks of the participants were taken in the form of deliberations on the training course material, additional requirement etc. Certificates were distributed to the trainees by Sh. M.L. Meena, CCF Jodhpur and Director, AFRI, Dr. T.S. Rathore.

The training was ended with the vote of thanks by Dr. G. Singh, Head, Forest Ecology Division and Course Coordinator of this programme. Annexture-I: Program schedule Day -1 8.00- 0900 : Break Fast 9:00-9:30hr : Registration of Trainees and Distribution of Training Kit 9:30-9:32hr : Garlanding of Goddess Saraswati and lamp lighting 9:32-9:35hr : Welcome address and about the course by Dr. G. Singh, AFRI 9.35-9.40 hr : General Introduction of Trainees 9:40-9:45hr : Address by Director, AFRI 9:45-9:50hr : Address by Chief Guest, Sh A.K. Singh, CCF, Jodhpur 9:50-10:00hr : Hi-tea 10:00-11:30 hr : Session I 11:30-13:00 hr : Session II 13:00-14:00 hr : Lunch 14:00-15:30 hr : Session III 15:30-17:00 hr : Session IV 20:00-21:00 hr : Dinner Day -2 8.00-09.00 hr : Breakfast 9:00-10:00 hr : Visit of different laboratories of AFRI and the works related to soil and water conservation 10:00-11:30 hr : Session V 11:30-13:00 hr : Session VI 13:00-14:00 hr : Lunch 14:00-17:00 hr : Field Visit of NRM work at village Salavas, Jodhpur 17:00-onwards : Valedictory, feedbacks, distribution of certificates by Sh. M.L. Meena, CCF (Wildlife), Jodhpur & dispersion Table 2. Details of resource persons and topic covered

Session Time Name of Speaker Topic I 10:00-11:30 hr Dr. G. Singh, AFRI How to assess biodiversity and carbon stock? Based on a case study II 11:30-13:00 hr Dr. D. C. Joshi, CAZRI Soils and their optimum utilization in (Ret.) enhancing land productivity III 14:00-15:30 hr Dr. M.L. Gaur, Principal, Watershed concept, delineation and CAE&T, Godhara its utilization in dry areas IV 15:30-17:00 hr Dr. T. S. Rathore Raising quality planting material and Director, AFRI plantation technology V 10:00-11:30 hr Sh. N. Bala, AFRI How to conserve our soil and water resource and its benefits for local inhabitants VI 11:30-13:00 hr Dr. R.K. Goel, CAZRI Water management for drinking and irrigation in dry lands VII 14:00-17:00 hr Sh. N.Bala, Dr. Bilas Field Visit/Demonstration plots of Singh Salawas/Nursery/ Labs of AFRI AF&E division Table 1. List of participants in the training on 'Conserving natural resources for sustainable development in dry areas.

SNo. Name Post Department

1 Dr. S. P. S. Tanwar Senior Scientist CAZRI, RRS, Pali 2 Mr. Vad Prakash Sharma Assistant Engineer Panchayat Samiti, Sam, Jaisalmer 3 Mr. Sukhvinder Singh Assistant Engineer Panchayat Samiti, Sankara, Jaisalmer Assistant Conservator of 4 Mr. B. M. Kalla Forest Jodhpur Assistant Conservator of 5 Mr. Ramesh Kumar Malpani Forest Pali 6 Mr. Dalveer Singh RFO Jodhpur 7 Mr. Mahesh Chauhan Project Officer Jal Bhagirathi Foundation, Jodhpur 8 Mr. S. T. Kotadia RFO Rajkot 9 Mr. J. M. Mengar RFO Rajpipla 10 Mr. S. C. Machhi RFO Varoda Assistant Conservator of 11 Mr. P. I. Patel Forest Gandhinagar Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, 12 Mr. U. V. Singh Technical Officer (Farm) Bikaner 13 Dr. Akath Singh Sr. Scientist (Hot) CAZRI, Jodhpur 14 Mr. Ganesh Ram Prajapat Environmentalist Patel Nagar, Jodhpur 15 Mr. Kamal Kishore Soni ACF Jilaparisad, Jodhpur 16 Dr. B. R. Choudhary Associate Professor Agriculture Research Station, Mandor 17 Dr. I. Singh Associate Professor Agriculture Research Station, Mandor 18 Mr. Narendra Singh APO (CR) Agriculture Research Station, Mandor 19 Mr. Krishna Murari Project Associate MPOWER, Jodhpur 20 Mr. Sanjay Khandelwal A. En., MPOWER MPOWER, Jodhpur 21 Mr. Chimnaram President Jal Bhagirathi Foundation, Jodhpur 22 Mr. Omaram Member Ajeet Nagar, Jodhpur 23 Mr. Narshinh Ram Secretary Potaliya, Pali 24 Dr. N. K. Bohra Research Officer AFRI, Jodhpur 25 Dr. Sangeeta Singh Scientist 'C' AFRI, Jodhpur 26 Miss Disha Meena Research Officer AFRI, Jodhpur 27 Smt. Sangeeta Tripathi Research Officer AFRI, Jodhpur 28 Dr. Bilas Singh Research Officer AFRI, Jodhpur 29 Dr. Shiwani Bhatnagar Scientist 'B' AFRI, Jodhpur 30 Mr. Sundharam Varma Farmer P.O. Danta, Sikar