32-Training and education in watershed management.

Abstract

Training and education provide a suitable mechanism and crucial input in developing technical or trained manpower in view of the fast technological advancements being made in watershed management, hydrology & water resources. The watershed management has been recognised as an holistic approaca for planning, development and management of natural resources viz. water-land & vegetation. The hydrology and water resource; related programmes like erosion control in the catchments of River Valley Projects, treatment of .catchment areas of flood prone rivers, Drought Prone Area Programme, Command Area Development Programmes etc. are being operated on the watershed basis. In view of the more attention being given to watershed management programmes and its multi-disciplinary nature, there is a strong need of trained manpower in integrated watershed management to manage the country's land & water resources in efficient way. Although efforts have been made in this direction, enough and serious attention has not been paid towards the development of trained manpower at various levels viz.Supervisory (professionals), assistants (technicians) and specialists. The need and concept of training & education in watershed management, present status of training in India, integrated watershed management training programme of Central Soil & Water Conservation Research & Training Institute, Dehradun, need of trained manpower linked with development programmes aril recommendations for strengthening the training & education programmes at various levels have been discussed in the paper.