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IMPACT OF INTEGRATED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME ON SOIL CONSERVATION AT MICRO WATERSHED LEVEL

This study was carried out to assess the impact of Integrated Watershed Management Programme on soil conservation at micro watershed level in Krishnagiri watershed, Tamil Nadu,India with the objective of , (i) To prepare spatial maps of soil conservation practices at micro watershed levels (ii) To assess the criteria used for selecting the location of soil conservation practices and to identify the farmer'perception on soil conservation practices at micro watershed level (iii)To model the soil erosion risk areas using RUSLE and GIS and to compare with the soil conservation practices implemented under IWMP.(iv) To study the impact of soil conservation implemented under IWMP under different scenarios. In RUSLE ,Rain fall erosivity factor was calculated from rain fall data of 30 years. Soil erodibilty factor is arrived from soil sampling and sampling analysis. The slope map was derived using DEM, from which the percentage slope steepness values were determined for each hill slope unit. From the land use/land cover map and the observations made in the field, the input values were chosen for the equations for each hills lope unit to get the cover management factor (C) value. For soil conservation practice factor (P), soil conservation measures implemented under IWMP were used. From modelling , soil erosion risk areas were identified. Different scenarios were developed to examine the effectiveness of various scenarios on reduction in soil erosion.