Microfinance for Percolating the Advantages of Watershed to Rural Farmers:A Study in Maharashtra

By and large, rain-fed agriculture has been practiced in India, which has contributed significantly to food production. But because of uncertain monsoon and constraints of water for irrigation from both public and private sectors, a high percentage of agricultural population is steeped in poverty in the rain-fed regions. In this context, watershed development becomes an important strategy to initiate plantations of permanent nature.

With the help of both primary and secondary sources of data, this paper attempts to examine the impact of microfinance funded watershed development project, on improving the socio-economic conditions of rural poor.