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include zero tillage, direct seeding, parachute transplanting, bed planting, laser land
leveling and crop residue management (PARC-RWC 2003 ; Ahmad et al. 2007 ).
Resource conservation technologies (RCTs) in Pakistan have improved the field
irrigation efficiency (Gupta et al. 2002 ; Humphreys et al. 2005 ) and saved water.
However, the water-saving impacts of RCTs beyond the field level are not well
documented. It is possible that real water savings are much lower than assumed
when field-level calculations are extrapolated to broader scales (Ahmad et al. 2007 ).
In Sri Lanka, policymakers have focused on alleviating seasonal water scarcity in
the dry zone using large-scale storage tanks and inter-basin transfers (Ariyabandu
2008 ). An unlined rooftop rainwater harvesting (RRWH) pond concept is practiced
by the poorest rainfed farmers living in the more vulnerable and marginal areas of
Sri Lanka. Farmers realized that household food security increased using RRWH
and that there was an indirect impact on the local microenvironment around the sys-
tem, particularly the survival of vegetation during dry spells. In general, a sensitivity
analysis under various scenarios indicated that RRWH pond investment was eco-
nomically viable under the given circumstances (Bandara and Aheeyar 2010 ).
In Nepal, community management of watersheds and water systems has been
popular (Pretty 2003 ). Many irrigation systems use surface irrigation methods such
as basins and furrows, and limited areas in the hills and mountains use sprinkler
irrigation. In Nepal, there are public irrigation systems and farmer-managed irriga-
tion systems (FMIS); in 2008, 70 % of the irrigated area was under FMIS. In non-
FMIS areas, some systems are managed by Water User Associations (WUAs), while
others are jointly managed by the government and WUAs. Farmer- and community-
managed systems are more efficiently managed than government-managed systems
(Frenken 2011 ); however, the government plays a crucial role in research and devel-
Fig. 1 HDPE-lined farm pond at Namakkal, Tamil Nadu
Dryland Agriculture in South Asia: Experiences, Challenges and Opportunities