Dr.Banarsi Lal and Dr.Shahid Ahamad
Land and water are the two basic resources which are under intense pressure from increased population and degradation has already set in at many fragile watershed ecosystems. These two natural resources management greatly affect the social and economic structure of our villages and whole nation. It is expected that we need to produce about 64 per cent more of present level of agricultural production to feed the estimated 800 million population upto2020.The problems in management of these resources are continuous soil erosion and runoff inflicting permanent damage to the land and water systems. Soil erosion, the displacement of soil particles from soil surfaces is a serious problem in our country. This process ultimately loses the productivity of soil as a whole causing some other problems like environmental issues. But soil erosion enriches valley bottoms and forms the rich plains. Although erosion is considered as a natural process but it is also caused by human beings. The activities like deforestation, farming of slopes, road construction, overgrazing etc. increase soil erosion. Soil erosion can be a slow process but it can be very fast causing serious loss of topsoil. Many nutrients and organic matter of soil is lost by soil erosion. The loss of topsoil certainly affects the production of crops. It affects the surface water quality and the drainage system of soil is also disturbed.
Total geographical area in India is 329 million hectares, out of which 68 million hectares is critically degraded and another 107 million hectares is severely eroded. A total of 175 million hectares is subjected to serious erosion problems such as wind, water, water logging, soil alkalinity, and salinity etc. It is expected that about 61 per cent of soil is displaced from one place to another. In steep land farming areas such as Western Ghats, topsoil losses are very high. An unscientific way of farming in sloppy lands may cause large scale soil loss by erosion. High intensity of monsoon rainfall on steep slopes contributes to high erosion rates. Soil conservation programmes have been disseminated by the Government and also Non-Governmental agencies in our country. Major objective of soil conservation is to keep everything in the soil in its place. It manages the soil erosion and process of sedimentation. In the past most of the cases slowed down and trapped soil loss and runoff by the use of mechanical barriers. The focus was on the physical problems of the soil such as soil texture, slope, soil depth etc. than the needs of social, cultural and economic circumstances of the land users. It has been observed that the people are having less knowledge for improving the agronomic and biological measures to reduce soil loss and to increase the soil productivity. Land husbandry is a philosophy for the natural resources management. Like animal husbandry or crop husbandry, land husbandry is equally important as a concept of management of land resources. Better land husbandry represents a shift in emphasis away from soil conservation for its sake to a more holistic approach.
It has been perceived that traditional soil conservation is not enough for sustainable production. Soil fertility needs to be restored in order to allow a satisfactory and early return on the capital and labour invested. So there is need of improved sustainable production through different land management practices. Land husbandry considers management of soil, water and vegetation as an integrated approach. For example, frequent failures to several water management schemes are attributed to the non-consideration of the interrelationships between soil, water and biomass. A new strategy needs to be developed taking into account the needs of those in direct charge of the land. By improving the overall soil conditions for plant growth, better conservation of water and soil can be achieved. Better land husbandry is more relevant when the land is under active crop production. These apply to land use, crop management, tillage methods, integrated nutrient management etc .Land husbandry relies strongly on agronomic and biological methods in combination with a realistic soil management .The intensity of the soil conservation treatments depends primarily on the steepness of the slope. The establishment or maintenance is very important. The physical characteristics of erodable soils can be improved with mulching materials. There are certain concepts in land conservation. These are (a)Loss of productivity is equally important than the loss of soil.(b)Land degradation should be prevented before it arises, instead  of attempting to cure it afterwards.(c)Crop yields are reduced due to shortage of water than by soil erosion. So the emphasis should be given on water conservation than soil conservation. (d)Runoff can be prevented by increasing infiltration. (e)Soil and water conservation should be promoted as an integral part of a productive farming.(f)In order to increase the fertility of soil, organic matter should be added in soil.(g)Soil conservation activities should be bottom up rather than top down in approach. People participation is must in the soil conservation activities. (h)Indigenous technical knowledge of the farmers in soil conservation should also be encouraged. Farmers can adopt the technologies which are available on subsidies basis. It has been observed that when the implementing agencies withdraw from scene, these technologies are not sustained or likely to fail in long run.
In rain fed farming it has been observed that crop yields are reduced due to shortage of water than by loss of soil. Therefore, more attention should be paid on rainwater harvesting. In India mostly the rainfall occurs in 3-4 months. So, water conservation is very important in these months. The water stored in these 3-4 months can be utilized throughout the year. Soil and water conservation are always considered together. Reduction in surface run-off by changes in land management or by structures helps to conserve water. Many water conservation activities conserve soil also. Contour bunds can be used to conserve the soil and water by increasing infiltration and percolation. Water and land are linked together and this linkage may cause water problems in a watershed. Water is an integral part of land use. Also land use influences water characteristics by water partitioning at the soil surface and in the subsoil and by the role of water as a carrier of solutes and sediments.
An integrated approach should be taken to land water and its uses to avoid undesirable effects from human activities. An economic development is always associated with proper management of water resources. Water is an excellent monitoring mechanism and it is the best index of watershed management. Shortage of water is experienced in many sectors. Scarcity of good quality water would be a major challenge in the new millennium. In India water is mainly consumed for agricultural purposes while the water use would increase by 3-4 times for domestic sector and 7-8 times for industrial sector. A part of water demand can be met through better management practices like water conservation and water harvesting. Basically water flow is a top-down process because gravity determines the direction of water flow.  Most of the soil conservation programmes emphasize on land degradation than on the top-down approach in recommending and disseminating practices. Soil conservation programmes that aim to reduce land degradation problems need long-term bottom-up approach. It should be remembered that erosion is a consequence of how land and its vegetation are managed and not itself the cause of soil degradation. Thus, prevention of land degradation is more important than attempting to develop a cure afterwards. For the long-term ecological stability and economic potential of the entire watershed, better land husbandry practices should be planned with people participation.

Kalyani Shankar
The Congress party is facing a crisis of leadership. While the murmurs after the humiliating defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls began soon after, it has not died down as is seen from statements coming from senior leaders like A K Antony or Digvijaya Singh. There are others who express their dismay privately. The party simply cannot brush aside them, as there is weight in what they say.
Eyebrows were raised when the usually quiet Antony revived the much-needed introspection recently by acknowledging “there appears to be slight erosion in people’s faith in secularism of the Congress. This has to be examined. It is vital for the party to regain the faith of the people to move forward.”  Coming from a senior leader like Antony who has been tasked to head the committee to go into the reasons for the party’s failure and suggest way forward, the party has to sit up and debate the issue. Antony himself is a credible Congress leader hailing from the minority community.  Close on its heels another senior leader Digvijay Singh added to the debate saying that the Congress had always fought ideological battles in the country but  “sometimes what happens is that people do the politics of convenience in their lust for power. This damages the Congress.”
The Congress party tried to make the 2014 polls as secular versus communal debate but the BJP too successfully did the same in a different manner, while the Congress failed miserably. The Congressmen are waiting for a proper forum to vent their feelings and only an AICC session or a Chintan Shivir could provide it.
Many Congressmen feel that right now the party is rudderless and directionless because of the continuous drubbing in Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls in recent years. The prospects are dim in the ensuing elections to Haryana and Maharashtra. So they are looking for a miracle to revive and be relevant.
This is not the first time the Congress is facing such a crisis. In 1967 after the big rout came the 1969 split, Bangladesh war and “Garibi Hatao” slogan. The second crisis was the emergence of the Janata Party government in 1977 after the emergency.  The Indira Congress was born soon after. A decade later, in 1989, the Congress was routed once again yielding place to the V.P. Singh led National Front government.  After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination P V Narasimha Rao ran a minority government for five years but lost the elections in 1996. Two years later Sonia Gandhi stepped out of her home to save the Congress and attempted a re- invention of the party choosing a coalition path and brought the party to power for ten years.
Why should there be so much despair in the party? Getting just 44 seats in the recent polls has demoralised the workers. First of all, the Congressmen have realised that the Gandhi family magic alone will not get them votes and they have to think of newer ways. While the contemporary India has been changing vigorously, the Congress’s dynasty-fixation looks not only archaic but also out of tune with the voters.  The Congress is now looking to ‘Priyanka Lao Desh Bachao’ as a last straw.
Secondly, the party has realised that Rahul Gandhi is not the answer as he had proved to be inadequate in leading the party. Digvijay Singh has given a new spin to Rahul’s leadership by stating the young Gandhi does not have the temperament of a ruler. In that case why is he in politics?
Many privately criticise Rahul’s lack of interest in leading the party in Parliament or on the streets. Some strongly feel that unless he changes his style of functioning and become a 24/7 politician he cannot be effective. So they expect him to change himself before changing the party, interact more with the party leaders and workers and choose the right man for the right job instead of continuing with his failed experiments in reforming the party. He might have attempted these with good intentions but the party is not yet ready to absorb them.
Secondly, Antony’s remark on secularism shows the need to have a re-look at the secularism card.  The present stand has even damaged the party as some think that it is leaning towards the minorities at the cost of the majority. What the party needs is an ideological reboot to get things right. There is a crisis of identity and it has to restore credibility on all fronts – organisational, social and political.
The third is an out of box thinking and to look for new ideas like ‘Garibi Hatao’ or ‘Aam aadmi’ instead of coming up with the populist polices like the MGNREGA, as people no longer want patronage politics.
The fourth is that there should be involvement at all levels. The meetings of the party’s highest decision making body, the Congress Working Committee are few and far between. The chief ministers’ conclaves have virtually been abandoned. And the party has failed to revive itself in key states like UP, Bihar, Tamil Nadu or West Bengal, which account for over one third of the Lok Sabha seats. It does not have to look far as the reports of Uma Shankar Dikshit and Antony committee reports are gathering dust at 10 Janpath. In short there is need for reinvention of the Congress like the Labor Party in England did. Even Sonia had managed to re -invent by changing the rules of the game earlier.
But can the Congress reinvent itself once again? Does it have the determination, consistency and single mindedness to do it?  The Congressmen are betting on Sonia Gandhi again and expect her to lead the party from the front as well as figure out what should jell with the public this time. (IPA)