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WOTR- Watershed Organisation Trust

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WOTR- Watershed Organisation Trust

We work with rural communities to ensure their food, water, and livelihoods on a sustainable basis by engaging in practice, research & advocacy.

We grew out of the highly acclaimed Indo-German Watershed Development Project (IGWDP) that was started in 1989 by Father Hermann Bacher who is known as the Father of Watershed Development movement in Maharashtra, India. Father Hermann Bacher and Crispino Lobo founded Watershed Organisation Trust on 20th December 1993 with a vision of supporting and motivating individuals and communities to undertake integrated ecosystems development for enhanced well-being in India. Over the years, we have diversified our thematic from Watershed Development to Sustainable Agriculture, Integrated Water Resource Management, Sustainable Livelihoods, Gender Mainstreaming and Women Empowerment, Health and Nutrition, Capacity Building and Skill Acquisition, Alternative Energy and Knowledge Management. Headquartered in Pune, we currently work in over 3,939 villages from across 7 states of India (Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telangana). In our 23 years since inception, we have successfully facilitated 230 NGOs and government Project Implementation Agencies (PIAs)and provided handholding support to international projects in Somaliland, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi. We have been involved in 2617 watershed development, natural resource management, and climate change adaptation projects. Our involvement in over 11,801 women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs), micro-finance, training and other initiatives have benefitted over 149,453 women. Over 276,170 people from 27 states in India and 63 countries have participated in our training and capacity building programs.

30/09/2026

| How Darewadi Rebuilt Its Land and Its Livelihoods

Eighty percent of Darewadi's land was degraded. Water tankers would come for six months every year. Families left in search of work.

That was the story of Darewadi, a small village in the rain-shadow belt of Ahilyanagar (Maharashtra), in the early 1990s.

Today, the story is completely different. Not because of one intervention, but several working together

At the landscape level, the community built continuous contour trenches, check dams, and tree plantations along the hillslopes. This aimed at slowing runoff, recharging groundwater, and trapping topsoil. This is what we know as Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA): restoring the land itself as infrastructure.

At the farm level, they changed how they farmed. This included banning open grazing and deforestation, moving away from water-guzzling sugarcane, adopting crop rotation and organic soil care. This is what we know as agroecology: rebuilding what happens on the ground, season after season.

The results speak for themselves.

🔺150+ wells supporting irrigation

🔺2,771 acres cultivated across the year

🔺865 acres of forest land is now under tree cover

🔺18 women’s Self-Help Groups currently functioning

🔺25-40ft water available below ground level

🔺~2,300 litres of milk produced everyday

🔺Rs 5-8 lakh earned annually by many families

🔺600-900% increase in annual household income

Darewadi shows what's possible when landscape restoration and farm-level change move together and not as separate projects, but as one strategy.

Read the full piece by W-CReS Researcher, Prachi Nautiyal, here: https://wotr.org/the-synergy-of-survival-how-eba-and-agroecology-drive-sustainable-agribusiness/

29/09/2026

Harnessing A Seasonal Stream for Year-Round Farming

A seasonal stream flows past farms in Sariagada village of Rayagada district, Odisha. But in the past, there was no infrastructure for it to irrigate and nurture those farms beyond the monsoon.

Rabi cultivation was nearly impossible, crop production remained uncertain, and some families relied on at least one member migrating for wage employment after the monsoon.

Under a project aimed at enhancing water potential for farmers from indigenous communities, WOTR, with the support of Bayer Foundation, worked with the community to harness the stream through a check dam irrigation system.

Completed in June 2025, the check dam now supports irrigation across approximately 10.8 acres, benefiting seven tribal farming families. Farmers contributed labour and local resources towards construction. Water-sharing practices and community-led operation and maintenance are helping sustain the system.

Today:

• 4.4 hectares are under Kharif paddy

• Around 2.9 acres are being cultivated in Rabi, which was almost impossible earlier

• Farmers are diversifying into brinjal, onion, ridge gourd, tomato, chilli, beans, banana and turmeric

• Families are planning to expand Rabi and vegetable cultivation further

What was once a short-lived seasonal water source is now supporting more consistent cultivation across seasons, greater crop diversity and more reliable agricultural livelihoods.

28/09/2026

“Zameen Bilkul Sukhi Pad Jaati Thi” - Until Water Availability Changed The Winter Fate of 9 Acres.

In many parts of rural Chhattisgarh, once the Kharif rains stop, farming stops too. For families dependent almost entirely on rainfall, a single paddy crop is followed by months of uncertainty and daily wage labour.

Pipariya, a village in Podi Uparoda block of Korba district, Chhattisgarh, is home to smallholder farmers with limited irrigation options. For Shankar Singh, Furman Singh, Jagmohan, Asman and Ramlal, who together cultivated around 9 acres, the challenge was not the land’s potential, but the lack of water to use it beyond the monsoon.

In 2025, under the Neeranjali project, supported by HDB Financial Services and implemented by WOTR, the Village Development Committee identified the farmers and facilitated the construction of a dug well. The project supported the construction, while the farmers collectively contributed Rs 15,000 towards excavation, strengthening their ownership of the well.

Completed by September 2025, the well first supplemented irrigation for Kharif paddy. But once the rain ended, the impact, so new to everyone, felt almost magical.

The water in the well still glistened in the October sun. The four farmers had no reason to leave their fields barren. They began a second cropping cycle, starting with yellow peas (barley) and linseed (alsi). Soon, rows of watermelon, bottle gourd, ladyfinger, sponge gourd, bitter gourd, long melon, beans and tomatoes filled their fields during Rabi.

When asked why they chose vegetables instead of wheat, their answer was simple:

“Sabji se turant paisa nikal lete hain aur bazar mein turant bik bhi jata hai.”

Vegetables brought quicker returns, helped ease financial pressure, and also gave the families healthy produce for household consumption. With the use of bio inputs, farmers also observed healthier plant growth, better flowering and improved yields.

The dug well now supports cultivation across all 9 acres, enabling farming beyond a single monsoon crop. Following the intervention, the farmers earned around Rs 55,000 collectively during the Rabi season, while their dependence on daily wage labour has begun to reduce.

“Pehle sab kuch barish par tha, ab paani apne paas hai.”

Earlier everything depended on rain; now water is with us.

In Pipariya, one dug well did more than provide irrigation. It made another season of cultivation, income and opportunity possible.

Read more about how a single water source can provide a plethora of income diversification options: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/farm-pond-livelihood-diversification-uqgnc/

27/09/2026

Bringing Safer, Brighter Evenings to Villages Without Streetlights

In 20 villages of Kabirdham district, Chhattisgarh. The sunset was more than a natural event, it marked a boundary. As daylight faded, daily life shrank.

Streets disappeared into the shadows, women avoided visiting drinking water points in the evening and children were called indoors early. Public spaces existed, but only in daylight. The absence of street lighting did not just reduce visibility; it restricted mobility, safety, and social interaction.

Recognising this challenge, a solar street lighting initiative was introduced across these villages, with the support of HDFC Bank Parivartan and implementation by WOTR.

Aided by the bottom-up planning by the community, a total of 150 solar streetlights were installed where they could make the greatest difference.

As one villager shared, “Pehle andhera hote hi gaon sant ho jaata tha. Ab roshni se lagta hai ki gaon jagmaga gya hai.”

Read our latest blog to see how 20 villages got much of its life back once there was light: https://wotr.org/bringing-brighter-evenings-to-villages-without-streetlights/

25/09/2026

| Small Ruminants, Huge Impact: How A Few Goats Helped Zeviyar Leave Wage Labour Behind

For Zeviyar Lomga, a small farmer from Deroa village in Goilkera block, Jharkhand, making ends meet meant depending on rain-fed farming and migrating for daily wage labour.

With little land and no stable source of income, he was always looking for a way to build a more secure livelihood for his family of four.

The opportunity came through a Gram Sabha meeting.

Under the EcoSynergy Initiative, supported by Ashraya Hastha Trust, WOTR introduced villagers to the Government of Jharkhand’s CM Livestock Development Scheme (Mukhyasamtri Pashudhan Vikas Yojana), which supports vulnerable families and small farmers to take up livestock rearing.

Nominated by his fellow farmers, Zeviyar was selected for the scheme by the Gram Sabha. He received four female goats and one male goat with a 90% government subsidy, along with insurance, medicines and ear tags.

WOTR provided goat-rearing training to Zeviyar and 73 other farmers. A Pashu Sakhi was also trained to provide basic animal healthcare within the village, while veterinary support helped farmers access timely vaccination and disease-prevention services.

Zeviyar had no proper shed for the goats, so he built a mud shed himself. He arranged green fodder and clean water and, with guidance from veterinary staff, stayed consistent with feeding, vaccination and animal care.

Within six months, his four female goats had given birth to six kids.

Today, his herd has grown to more than 15 goats. Every 3-4 months, he sells 2-3 male goats, earning a net income of Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000. He also uses the manure as organic fertiliser on his farm.

Most importantly, he no longer needs to migrate outside the village for wage labour.

“Earlier, I thought poor people had no support. The Gram Sabha selected me, the Government provided goats with a 90% subsidy, and today those goats have become my ATM,” says Zeviyar.

Inspired by his journey, ten others from the village applied for the scheme and have recently received goats through the Block Animal Husbandry Office.

With the support of community institutions, government schemes, local animal-health services and sustained effort, a livelihood opportunity has become a pathway to greater self-reliance, for Zeviyar and, increasingly, for others in his community.

How much of rural livelihood adoption comes down to seeing it work first, rather than being told it will? Tell us in the comments.

24/09/2026

| Three Families. One Reconstructed Well. A Second Season of Farming.

For Havji Rama Amaliya, Narayan Havji and Jeeva Havji, nearly 6.2 acres of land meant little when their only well could reliably irrigate just 3-4 bigha (1.25 to 2.5 acres).

The well was nearly 13 years old, and years of use had taken their toll. Its unlined mud walls had started crumbling, while silt accumulation reduced its already-limited storage. Water availability declined especially during the Rabi(winter) season, as the monsoon rains receded. And by 2024, there was barely enough water to get through even one cropping season.

The families approached their Village Development Committee for a solution.

Under the Focused Rural Development Program, implemented by WOTR with support from HDFC Bank Parivartan, the well was rejuvenated. Its depth increased from approximately 20 to 30 feet, and its crumbling mud walls were replaced with a durable concrete lining.

The difference was visible within a single season.

Well rejuvenation was completed in FY 2024-25. Its impact showed up almost immediately: the well held water through the 2024-25 Rabi season that it simply couldn't have held before. Families responded by expanding and the land under irrigation grew from around 5 bigha in that Rabi season to 8 bigha by the 2025-26 Kharif season, nearly doubling the area the well could support.

And the yields increased:

🔹 Wheat: 3 → 5 quintals

🔹 Gram: 1 → 2.5 quintals

🔹 Maize: 2 → 3 quintals

🔹 Soybean: 1.5 → 3 quintals

🔹 Rice: 2 → 5 quintals

The result wasn't just more crops. It was more income.

Household earnings rose by 20-25%, from an earlier annual income of around Rs 70,000.

A well that once struggled to support one season now helps three families farm across two seasons.

23/09/2026

What happens to a dryland when everything around it changes?

Maharashtra’s drylands tell a story that goes far beyond rainfall. Over the decades, climate variability, changing land use and agriculture, water availability, markets, policies and livelihoods have interacted in complex ways, reshaping both landscapes and the lives that depend on them.

On 10 September 2026, the WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS) convened researchers, practitioners, government representatives and other stakeholders for a Regional Consultation on the Drylands of Maharashtra - the first in a series of consultations exploring dryland transitions across different regions of India.

Rather than examining these factors in isolation, the consultation explored how they interact, reinforce or counter one another, and shape the trajectory of dryland systems over time.

Conversations moved across landscapes, livelihoods, water, agriculture, climate and policy, bringing together different pieces of a complex story. They began to reveal the diverse ways in which aridity is experienced across Maharashtra, the multiple forces influencing these landscapes, and the role of policies, programmes and interventions in shaping change.

One thing became clear: aridity is lived very differently across the state, and the interventions have had varied outcomes.

The harder questions remain: What has worked? What has not? What can we learn from past experiences? And where could future efforts be better aligned?

We don't have complete answers yet. That's the point of starting here, on the ground, with the people who've watched these landscapes change.

The Maharashtra dialogue is the first step in a wider consultation series aimed at building a deeper, ground-level understanding of dryland transitions and towards identifying pathways for more resilient landscapes and livelihoods.

The next consultation is coming soon. If you work on drylands, we'd like to hear from you.

22/09/2026

| Upgrading a Nala to Store More Water and Restore Hope

Imagine a narrow, shallow nala running through a farm. Now imagine a monsoon downpour filling it with more water into it than it can carry.

That was the reality for Vyankat Devidas Patil, a 32-year-old farmer in Khasimpur village, Aurad Block, Bidar, Karnataka.

During heavy rains, the nala would overflow into his four acres, wash away topsoil, seeds and fertiliser, and damage standing crops.
Then the rains would stop. And the same nala that had carried too much water would hold too little to support farming.

The problem: water not being retained for when it was needed.
Vyankat’s borewell typically dried up by December, leaving Rabi cultivation dependent on whatever little water remained in the nala. Chickpea cultivation was unimaginable.

In June 2026, under the Jeevana Dhare project, supported by Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. (TKM) and implemented by WOTR, 200 metres of the nala were deepened and widened, alongside the construction of a check dam.

Together, these created 8.92 million litres of additional water storage capacity. The improved nala can now accommodate more runoff and reduce destructive overflow, while the check dam helps retain water and support groundwater recharge.

The difference became stronger this Kharif season, when an El Niño year brought delayed rainfall and a prolonged dry spell. With his crops needing water and the season’s investment already made, Vyankat was worried.

But this time, the water did not disappear.

It allowed him to provide protective irrigation during the dry spell, helping safeguard his standing crops and the effort invested in them.

“When the rains stopped and I was worried about my crops, the water in the nala helped me provide protective irrigation. It saved the hard work I had put into my crops.”

Now, Vyankat is looking ahead to Rabi with greater confidence, planning to cultivate chickpea rather than waiting to see whether water will remain. Eight farmers in the surrounding area are also benefiting from improved water availability.

Across the Jeevana Dhare project area, 6,065 metres of Nala Deepening and Widening and 14 check dams have been completed till July 2026.

Read another story of how a nala went from being a bane to a boon: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fromthefield-watersheddevelopment-soilandwaterconservation-ugcPost-7497960978144358400-y2gI/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACMXu04BOpOA64RUycY_Jl27tSalTnQ1Rxo

21/09/2026

Stitch by Stitch, Sadhana Builds Her Own Income

For Sadhana Santosh Kshirsagar, earning a living once meant waiting for work.

In Manoli village, Ahilyanagar district, Maharashtra, her family depended on 0.49 acres of rainfed land, where they grew maize mainly for fodder. Sadhana supplemented the household income through agricultural wage labour in nearby villages, earning about Rs 4,000 a month when work was available. Her annual income was roughly Rs 73,000. In summer, farm work thinned out, and so did her earnings.

Then came an opportunity she had never imagined for herself but remembered her mother engaging in: tailoring.

Through her Self-Help Group, Sadhana learned about a one-month tailoring training organised under WOTR’s Sustainable Livelihood Development Project, supported by Axis Bank Foundation. It covered blouse designs, stitching techniques, measurements, cutting and finishing.

Sadhana had never stitched before. But she decided to start from scratch.

After the training, her mother gave her a sewing machine she already owned. This meant she could begin without a loan or major upfront investment. Sadhana practised on clothes for herself and relatives.

Eventually she was confident to show her work at SHG meetings and her first ever customers.

Today, Sadhana receives around 30-40 orders a month. She stitches blouses, dresses and school uniforms, charging around Rs 150 for a simple blouse and Rs 200 for a designer blouse. Her tailoring brings in Rs 5,000-Rs6,000 every month. She uses this income towards her two daughters’ education, household groceries and medical expenses.

But the change is not only in her income.

She says, “Earlier, I depended mainly on farm labour, but now I have my own skill-based livelihood, greater financial independence, and a stronger role in household decision-making.”

Her journey is also influencing others to explore tailoring as a livelihood option themselves.

A one-month training gave Sadhana a skill. A sewing machine gave her a starting point. And today, that skill has become a livelihood, a service for her village, and a source of confidence for a woman who once depended on seasonal work.

Training on tailoring skills was provided to 266 women across six blocks. Following that, 58 women have started earning through tailoring work.

Address

"The Forum", 2nd Floor, S. No. 63/2B, Padmavati Corner, Pune-Satara Road, Parvati
Pune
411009

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

91-20-24226211

Website

http://wotr.org/

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