Soil cement pond of length= 7m, width= 5m and depth= 2m respectively (Kabita Nhemhafuki, ICIMOD)
In Nepal's mid-hills mountain farmers face problems during dry seasons to irrigate their fields, as they entirely depend on rain- water. Soil cement water collection pond are ideal to tackle this challenge, as they can capture excess rainfall during monsoon, which is later available during prolonged seasonal water shortage.
The Resilient Mountain Village (RMV) project of ICIMOD together with its local partner, CEAPRED tested and demonstrated soil cement ponds with a capacity of 24000 liters. The conservation ponds were used for irrigating high value off-season horticultural crops (vegetables, fruit, and spices). These crops were irrigated with drip irrigation and micro sprinklers. The ponds were fed from rainwater, upland springs and taps, and household wastewater from kitchen free from soap and detergent. They were established during the dry season during 3 months. They were prepared by selecting a suitable site with a sufficient catchment; mapping out the area and depth of the pond; digging out the soil; removing protruding stones and roots; and compacting and smoothing the sides and bottom of the pond. Then gravel and pebbles were used for the base and the floor and side walls were leveled off. Initial mixture of soil, sand and cement (3:3:1) was applied to roughly plaster all the side walls and gravel was mixed in the mixture while plastering the floor. The following day, the roughly plastered pond was watered and was covered with wet jute sack to keep it moist. This was continued for 3-4 days. Then again a second mixture of soil, sand and cement (2:2:1) was applied to smoothly plaster the floor and side walls. The pond was watered for the next 3-4 days and was covered with wet jute sacks. Around 4-5 days after the second plaster, the pond was filled with water. For safety, pond was enclosed with a gabion wire/ bamboo fence (or using any locally available material). The total establishment cost for a soil cement pond with 24000 liters capacity was USD 311.
The main maintenance activity was to maintain the gabion wire/bamboo fence to prevent livestock and people from entering the pond, and to remove the sediment that accumulates in the pond. The sediment has to be removed once a year carefully by hand and if cracks occur, it should be sealed with a mixture of soil, sand and cement (3:3:1). The total annual maintenance cost for 24000 liters soil cement tank was USD 68.
This technology has somehow helped small-land holding farmers to irrigate their rain-fed land during dry months which has increased the crop production and their income as well.
Land user's particularly liked that their production increased and that they were able to grow up to three crops per year. Trough this the farmers were able to diversify their crops, and they were less vulnerable to the dry season. In addition, soil cement water ponds are more efficient than plastic-lined conservation ponds which are easily damaged by rats. Although cost effective, the fixed price for this technology is quite high, particularly for smallholder farmers. To lessen this financial burden, local governments can provide subsidies to women and marginalized groups interested in this technology. Self-help groups with a revolving grants system would help expand the use of these ponds and ensure sustained use across Nepal.
Location: Namobuddha Municipality, Kavrepalanchowk District, Nepal, Province no: 3, Nepal
No. of Technology sites analysed: 2-10 sites
Spread of the Technology: applied at specific points/ concentrated on a small area
In a permanently protected area?: Nee
Date of implementation: less than 10 years ago (recently)
Type of introduction
| Specify input | Unit | Quantity | Costs per Unit (USD) | Total costs per input (USD) | % of costs borne by land users |
| Labour | |||||
| Dig out pond | persons/unit | 7.0 | 5.68 | 39.76 | 100.0 |
| Stone soiling | persons/unit | 1.0 | 8.74 | 8.74 | |
| Cementing | persons/unit | 10.0 | 8.74 | 87.4 | |
| Wiring | persons/unit | 2.0 | 8.74 | 17.48 | |
| Equipment | |||||
| Spade | piece | 3.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 100.0 |
| Measuring tape | piece | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 100.0 |
| Shovel | piece | 3.0 | 7.0 | 21.0 | 100.0 |
| Hammer | piece | 3.0 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 100.0 |
| Cement mixing iron pan | piece | 2.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 100.0 |
| Trowel | piece | 3.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 100.0 |
| Construction material | |||||
| Sand | bags | 24.0 | 0.87 | 20.88 | |
| Cement | bags | 6.0 | 7.43 | 44.58 | |
| Water proofing liquid | bottle | 1.0 | 2.62 | 2.62 | |
| Gabion wire sheets | sq.ft | 120.0 | 0.31 | 37.2 | |
| Total costs for establishment of the Technology | 311.66 | ||||
| Total costs for establishment of the Technology in USD | 311.66 | ||||
| Specify input | Unit | Quantity | Costs per Unit (USD) | Total costs per input (USD) | % of costs borne by land users |
| Labour | |||||
| Clean and maintaining the pond | persons/unit | 3.0 | 5.68 | 17.04 | 100.0 |
| Maintain and repair wire fence | persons/unit | 2.0 | 7.0 | 14.0 | 100.0 |
| Construction material | |||||
| Gabion wire | sq.ft | 120.0 | 0.31 | 37.2 | 100.0 |
| Total costs for maintenance of the Technology | 68.24 | ||||
| Total costs for maintenance of the Technology in USD | 68.24 | ||||
Health facilities: There are nine health facilities centre in Namobuddha municipality, Kavre. The main health facilities are Methinkot Hospital, which is a 15-bed district level government hospital, and Dapcha Health Center, which is run by Kathmandu. Education: There are eight academic institutes for higher studies ( higher secondary schools and colleges). The main academic institutes are: Dapcha Krishna Multiple Campus (community), Dapcha; Janahit Secondary School (public), Khanalthok Janak Multiple Campus (community), Methinkot Janak Secondary School (public), Methinkot Kanpur Campus(community), Kanpur and Kanpur Secondary School (public), Kanpur. Employment ( off-farm): Due to loss of farmlands and increasing urbanization, many people are switching from agriculture to non-farm occupations such as working in brick kilns. The opening of the BP Highway has led to the establishment of many hotels and restaurants and the development of local market places such as Bhakundebesi. Most local businesspersons are small entrepreneurs with limited investment capacity. Market: Bhakundebesi is the emerging marketplace due to its strategic location in the middle of the municipality astrid the BP Highway. Most local business activities in the municipality take place in Bhakundebesi bazaar. It is a major place for local people to purchase consumer goods. Energy Cooking fuel: In 2011, 88% of households mainly used firewood for cooking, followed by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (4.92%). In Puranogaun Dapcha, almost all households (99.8%) relied on firewood for cooking. LPG was relatively popular in Dapcha Chatrebhanjh (10.3%) and Khanalthok (11.5%). Less than 6% of households used biogas for cooking, with its use relatively high in Mathurapati Fulbari (19.3%) and Methinkot (15.9%) (CBS, 2011). Lighting : 93% of households used electricity for lighting while 5% depended on kerosene. Dependency on kerosene was relatively high in Khanalthok (8.1%) and Methinkot (7.4%). There was little solar lighting except for in Khanalthok where 3% of households relied on it (CBS, 2011). Roads and Transportation: Namobuddha Municipality is easily accessible by motorable road from neighboring areas via the BP Highway, which splits the municipality into almost two equal halves . The highway, which runs from Banepa to Bardibas in the Terai, is the shortest route from the Kathmandu Valley to the eastern hills and Terai. The limited width of the road and its sharp bends mean that public transportation along the BP Highway is mostly by small buses and jeeps. Drinking water and Sanitation: In 2011, about 60% of households had access to taps or piped water with accessibility varying across the municipality. While about 80% of PuranogauDapcha households had taps or piped water, only 37.5% of households in Simalchour Syampati enjoyed such services. Other sources of drinking water were covered wells (12.3%), uncovered wells (20.2%) and water spouts (6.3%). Methinkot (40.8%) and Simalchour Syampati (31.4%) residents were most reliant on uncovered wells. Covered wells served sizeable household populations in Dapcha Chatrebhanjh (35.3%) and Simalchour Syampati (23%) (CBS, 2011). Toilet facilities: In 2011, about 63% of households had accessto toilet facilities, with about 40% overall having flushtoilets. The least toilet coverage was in Kanpur Kalapaniand Simalchour Syampati VDCs where 63% and 58% ofhouseholds respectively did not have their own toilets. Almost all households in Puranogaun Dapcha had their own toilets, mostly flush toilets (CBS, 2011). Waste Management: – Namobuddha is in the early phase of urbanization with no systematic waste management.The Municipality Office is searching for a landfill site.
Before they used to plant only one crop per year but now due to adoption of this technology, crop production has increased as they plant three crops per year.
Crop quality has become good due to availability of more water for irrigation and integration of this technology with bio-pesticide jholmol and mulching.
Due to availability of water for irrigation, farmers have turned many fallow land into agricultural land.
Water needed for irrigation has increased as all the waste water from households, rainwater and taps waters are stored in this tank for irrigation in dry seasons.
Irrigation water availability has increased crop production in turn farmer income has increased by selling those crops in market.
Farmers are becoming more self sufficient due to high production of crops.
Due to informal network of farmers with pond has strengthened community institutions.
Farmers share their knowledge and experiences with each other and discuss on how they can overcome the challenges they have been facing recently.
Due to availability of more irrigation water.
Most of the fallow land are turned into crop land.
Due to trapped runoff
