1.2 Coordonnées des personnes-ressources et des institutions impliquées dans l'évaluation et la documentation de la Technologie

Nom du ou des institutions qui ont facilité la documentation/ l'évaluation de la Technologie (si pertinent)

ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) - Népal

Nom du ou des institutions qui ont facilité la documentation/ l'évaluation de la Technologie (si pertinent)

HELVETAS (Swiss Intercooperation)

1.3 Conditions relatives à l'utilisation par WOCAT des données documentées

Quand les données ont-elles été compilées (sur le terrain)?

01/03/2013

Le compilateur et la(les) personne(s) ressource(s) acceptent les conditions relatives à l'utilisation par WOCAT des données documentées:

Oui

1.5 Référence au(x) questionnaire(s) sur les Approches de GDT

2.1 Courte description de la Technologie

Définition de la Technologie:

Riverbed farming can be used to increase household income and to improve the food security of landless and land-poor households in the Terai area of Nepal.

2.2 Description détaillée de la Technologie

Description:

It is estimated that about 8,000 hectares of riverbed land would be suitable for agricultural cultivation in the Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts in the Western Terai areas of Nepal. After the river water recedes in the post-monsoon season, vegetables are planted in ditches dug into the seasonal sand banks; the crops are harvested before the onset of the next monsoon. In 2006, Elam Plus of HELVETAS Swiss Inter-cooperation Nepal, assessed local practices of riverbed farming and piloted an improved approach with 670 farmers, mostly from the indigenous Tharu community. During the first year they cultivated 43 hectares. Since the initial results indicated that riverbed farming could increase the target population’s income significantly, the programme was expanded from the initial two districts (Kailali and Kanchanpur) to two new districts (Banke, and Bardiya). The number of households was increased to 2000 in 2008 and 3165 in 2012 after the initiative won a Global Development Market Place award from the World Bank.

Establishment / maintenance activities and inputs: Requirements for riverbed farming:
• On average, the water table should not be lower than 1 m; when the water table is lower than this, too much labour is required.
• Plots are allocated perpendicular to the river flow in order to give each farmer access to a variety of land types (and moisture levels) suitable for different crops.
• Ditches are up to 1 m deep and 1 m wide. The length depends on how much land is available.
• A row-to-row spacing of 2–3 m (between the ditches) and plant-to-plant spacing of 0.5–1 m is required depending on the crop.
• The ditches are dug in an east-west orientation to maximize the amount of sunshine they receive and to minimise the collection of sand carried by the prevailing winds.
• Riverbed farmers can build shelters close to their plots so that they can be close at hand to fend off thieves and wild animals.

2.3 Photos de la Technologie

2.5 Pays/ région/ lieux où la Technologie a été appliquée et qui sont couverts par cette évaluation

2.7 Introduction de la Technologie

Spécifiez comment la Technologie a été introduite: :

• par le biais de projets/ d'interventions extérieures

3.1 Principal(aux) objectif(s) de la Technologie

• créer un impact économique positif
• créer un impact social positif

3.2 Type(s) actuel(s) d'utilisation des terres, là où la Technologie est appliquée

Commentaires:

Major land use problems (compiler’s opinion): Rivers in the Terai region change their course frequently and when they do, the adjacent lands are flooded. The riverbeds are flooded annually, while the riverbanks are only flooded during extreme events. The annually flooded riverbeds are seasonally dry (from September to May) and are a generally unused land resource. Landless and land- poor farmers can use this land to cultivate seasonal vegetables that are adapted to the environmental conditions prevalent on riverbeds.

3.3 Informations complémentaires sur l'utilisation des terres

Nombre de période de croissance par an: :

• 1

Précisez:

Longest growing period from month to month: November to May

3.4 Groupe de GDT auquel appartient la Technologie

• Amélioration de la couverture végétale/ du sol

• use different type of land for cultivation

3.5 Diffusion de la Technologie

Spécifiez la diffusion de la Technologie:

• répartie uniformément sur une zone

Commentaires:

Total area covered by the SLM Technology is 4 km2.

3.6 Mesures de GDT constituant la Technologie

3.7 Principaux types de dégradation des terres traités par la Technologie

Commentaires:

Main causes of degradation: floods

3.8 Prévention, réduction de la dégradation ou réhabilitation des terres dégradées

Spécifiez l'objectif de la Technologie au regard de la dégradation des terres:

• réduire la dégradation des terres

4.1 Dessin technique de la Technologie

4.2 Spécification/ explications techniques du dessin technique

Plots for riverbed farming are allocated perpendicular to the river flow and the ditches are dug in an east-west orientation.

Technical knowledge required for land users: moderate

Main technical functions: increase / maintain water stored in soil, Support Income Generation

Secondary technical functions: improvement of ground cover, increase in organic matter, Stabilizes the soil

4.3 Informations générales sur le calcul des intrants et des coûts

Spécifiez la manière dont les coûts et les intrants ont été calculés:

• par superficie de la Technologie

Indiquez la monnaie utilisée pour le calcul des coûts:

• dollars US

4.4 Activités de mise en place/ d'établissement

	Activité	Type de mesures	Calendrier
1.	Dig ditches in an east-west direction about 2 to 3 m apart. The ditches can be up to 1 m deep and 1 m wide; the length will depend on the shape of the land.	Structurel
2.	Apply fertilizer: farmyard manure/compost about 12 tonnes; urea about 100 kg; di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) about 120 kg; and potash about 30 kg per ha.	Structurel
3.	Plant seeds/seedlings using the appropriate row-to-row (RXR) and plant-to-plant (PXP) distance for at least one crop. A row-to-row distance of 3 m is required for bottle gourd, pumpkin, and water melon and 2 m for bitter gourd and cucumber; a plant-to-plant distance of 0.5 m is needed for cucumber and bitter gourd and 1 m for water melon, bottle gourd, and pumpkin.	Structurel

4.5 Coûts et intrants nécessaires à la mise en place

	Spécifiez les intrants	Unité	Quantité	Coûts par unité	Coût total par intrant	% des coût supporté par les exploitants des terres
Main d'œuvre	Dig ditches and applying fertilizer and manure	ha	1,0	232,0	232,0	100,0
Equipements	Sprayer, watering cans,spade	ha	1,0	42,0	42,0
Engrais et biocides	Seeds, chemical fertilizer	ha	1,0	267,0	267,0
Matériaux de construction	Plastic bags,mulching material	ha	1,0	21,0	21,0
Coût total de mise en place de la Technologie					562,0

4.6 Activités d'entretien/ récurrentes

	Activité	Type de mesures	Calendrier/ fréquence
1.	Water new plots every 2 to 3 days; as the seedlings mature, water weekly or as needed depending on the weather and the soilconditions.	Structurel
2.	Replace seedlings that have died and replant seeds in places where they have not germinated	Structurel
3.	Top dress with nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium	Structurel
4.	Mulch with straw and grass	Structurel
5.	Weed and protect plants as needed	Structurel
6.	Protect the riverbed areas throughout the growing season as they are prone to attacks by thieves and wild animals, mainly jackals and monkeys. However, note that the reported losses to date have been very minimal.	Structurel

4.7 Coûts et intrants nécessaires aux activités d'entretien/ récurrentes (par an)

	Spécifiez les intrants	Unité	Quantité	Coûts par unité	Coût total par intrant	% des coût supporté par les exploitants des terres
Main d'œuvre	Maintaining plots	ha	1,0	42,0	42,0	100,0
Equipements	Sprayer, watering cans,spade	ha	1,0	28,0	28,0	25,0
Engrais et biocides	Seeds, chemical fertilizer	ha	1,0	84,0	84,0	25,0
Matériaux de construction	Plastic bags, mulching material	ha	1,0	11,0	11,0	50,0
Coût total d'entretien de la Technologie					165,0

4.8 Facteurs les plus importants affectant les coûts

Décrivez les facteurs les plus importants affectant les coûts :

All costs and amounts are rough estimates by the technicians and authors.

5.1 Climat

5.2 Topographie

5.3 Sols

Si disponible, joignez une description complète du sol ou précisez les informations disponibles, par ex., type de sol, pH/ acidité du sol, capacité d'échange cationique, azote, salinité, etc.

Soil fertility is medium

Soil drainage / infiltration is good

Soil water storage capacity is low

5.4 Disponibilité et qualité de l'eau

Commentaires et précisions supplémentaires sur la qualité et la quantité d'eau:

Ground water table: 30-50 m

5.5 Biodiversité

5.6 Caractéristiques des exploitants des terres appliquant la Technologie

Indiquez toute autre caractéristique pertinente des exploitants des terres:

Population density: 200-500 persons/km2

5.7 Superficie moyenne des terres détenues ou louées par les exploitants appliquant la Technologie

5.8 Propriété foncière, droits d’utilisation des terres et de l'eau

• landless

5.9 Accès aux services et aux infrastructures

6.1 Impacts sur site que la Technologie a montrés

Impacts socio-économiques

Revenus et coûts

Autres impacts socio-économiques

Impacts socioculturels

Impacts écologiques

Cycle de l'eau/ ruissellement

Sols

Réduction des risques de catastrophe et des risques climatiques

6.2 Impacts hors site que la Technologie a montrés

6.3 Exposition et sensibilité de la Technologie aux changements progressifs et aux évènements extrêmes/catastrophes liés au climat (telles que perçues par les exploitants des terres)

Changements climatiques progressifs

Changements climatiques progressifs

	Saison	Type de changements/ extrêmes climatiques	Comment la Technologie fait-elle face à cela?
températures annuelles		augmente	bien

Extrêmes climatiques (catastrophes)

Catastrophes hydrologiques

	Comment la Technologie fait-elle face à cela?
inondation générale (rivière)	pas bien

6.4 Analyse coûts-bénéfices

Quels sont les bénéfices comparativement aux coûts de mise en place (du point de vue des exploitants des terres)?

Quels sont les bénéfices comparativement aux coûts d'entretien récurrents (du point de vue des exploitants des terres)?

6.5 Adoption de la Technologie

Commentaires:

There is a moderate trend towards spontaneous adoption of the Technology

Comments on adoption trend: The majority of riverbed farmers among the first few groups to learn the technique continued riverbed farming after support for the project ended. In the third year, 55 of the original 61 groups were still farming on the riverbed even though they did not receive any agricultural inputs with the exception of support from the local resource persons. The local resource persons have organized themselves into an independent organisation that now provides technical support through the Micro Enterprise Development Fund and through individual channels. Now that Nepali farmers have started to farm the riverbeds in the Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts, the number of Indian farmers who previously farmed these riverbeds has drastically diminished.

6.7 Points forts/ avantages/ possibilités de la Technologie

Points forts/ avantages/ possibilités du point de vue du compilateur ou d'une autre personne ressource clé
Riverbed farming provides a new source of income for landless and land-poor households How can they be sustained / enhanced? Continue to provide technical support through local resource persons. These persons can be supported through district-based instruments such as the Micro Enterprise Development Fund. Local governing bodies such as the district development committees, municipalities, and village development committees, can support riverbed farming with their own funds; can support farmers with the land leasing process, can help to identify primary stakeholders, and can also help by promoting policies that are favourable towards riverbed farming.
Riverbed farming has a very high cost-benefit ratio and a very low investment requirement. How can they be sustained / enhanced? Continue to promote this technology among primary stakeholders.
All services including the supply of quality seeds, tools, and materials are now processed through the local agrovets and agricultural extension is available through local resource persons. These are locally available and of high quality. How can they be sustained / enhanced? Agrovets, local resource persons, and their associations may need further capacity building through different channels such as the Micro Enterprise Development Fund, and/or the District Agricultural Development Office

6.8 Faiblesses/ inconvénients/ risques de la Technologie et moyens de les surmonter

Faiblesses/ inconvénients/ risques du point de vue du compilateur ou d'une autre personne ressource clé	Comment peuvent-ils être surmontés?
Competition from riverbed products originating in India and a glut during the season	Riverbed farmer groups need to improve their understanding of the value chain and their access to markets.
Mineral fertilizer and biopesticides are now used to ensure a good harvest	Promote sustainable soil management practices including the use of farmyard manure, urine collection, and bio-pesticides
Land ownership of riverbed land is often contested	Long term leasehold agreements need to be negotiated with land owners

7.2 Références des publications disponibles

Titre, auteur, année, ISBN:

Riverbed farming manual and local resource person training modules. Kathmandu, Nepal, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation Nepal