In Shivnagar taluka, where wells often run dry by December, the landscape is now dotted with square ponds lined with black plastic. Farmers say these small reservoirs have let them grow a second crop for the first time in a decade.
More than 900 farm ponds have been dug over three years with a mix of government subsidy, bank loans and the farmers' own money. Each pond collects rainwater and run-off during the monsoon and stores it for irrigation in the dry months.
"Earlier we sowed one crop and prayed," said Dnyaneshwar Patil, who farms four acres near the village of Deoli Khurd. "Now I grow onions and fodder after the rains, and I do not have to sell my cattle in summer."
What changed
- Farmers with ponds grew a rabi crop on about 60 per cent of their land last year.
- Requests for drinking water tankers in the taluka fell by half compared with three years ago.
- Many farmers switched to drip irrigation so the stored water lasts longer.
Agricultural officers caution that ponds work best when they are paired with careful crop choices and community rules on groundwater. "A pond is a bank account for water," said a taluka agriculture officer. "If everyone draws on it at once without planning, it empties."
The taluka plans to map every pond on a public dashboard and train village committees to measure how much water each one holds at the start of winter.
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