World Bank agreed to lend $60 million for the Karnataka Watershed Development Project II (KWDP II), which aims to improve watershed planning and management in project areas.
An agreement to this effect was signed between the World Bank and the state government.
To be implemented across seven districts of Karnataka, the project will improve government watershed operations in 930 micro-watersheds covering 465,000 hectare in these districts.
Recently, the state government successfully implemented the KWDP I which helped improve lives of 230,000 farmers by increasing crop yields by about 25 per cent and raising household incomes of small and marginal farmers by 40 per cent. This project was also supported by the multilateral lending agency.
The project aims to introduce new tools and approaches for integrated watershed planning, incorporating more information about water resources into the planning process. Consequently, the performance and results of the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) would improve.
It will also facilitate better convergence of IWMP with other government programmes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and help farmers increase agricultural productivity.
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