Before canals, before bore wells, before submersible pumps and drip tape — before all of this infrastructure existed — the farmers and communities of the Indian subcontinent fed themselves, their families, and great civilisations through ingenious systems of water harvesting and irrigation developed over thousands of years. These systems were not primitive. They were sophisticated, ecologically integrated, and in many cases so effective that they sustained agriculture in regions that now face acute water scarcity despite modern engineering.
The rediscovery and revival of traditional water wisdom is one of the most hopeful and practically significant developments in contemporary natural farming. What our ancestors built in stone, clay, and earth, we are only now beginning to fully understand.
Johads: The Ancient Village Ponds of Rajasthan
A johad is an earthen check dam built across a seasonal stream or slope, designed to capture monsoon runoff and allow it to percolate into the ground, recharging the local aquifer. Johads were the backbone of Rajasthan’s traditional water management system, and at their peak, thousands of them dotted the state’s semi-arid landscape.
By the late 20th century, most johads had fallen into disuse and disrepair — victims of neglect, encroachment, and the false promise of deep bore wells. But in 1985, a grassroots water activist named Rajendra Singh — later to be known as the “Waterman of India” and recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize — began working with villagers in Alwar district to rebuild johads. The results were extraordinary: within two decades, five rivers in the region that had run dry for years flowed again, groundwater levels rose by 6 metres on average, and agricultural productivity recovered dramatically.
The johad restoration movement in Rajasthan now spans hundreds of villages and is one of the most documented examples of community-led water management success in the world.
Kunds and Khatris: Desert Rainwater Harvesting
A kund is an underground, dome-shaped rainwater harvesting tank, typically used in the Thar Desert regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The kund collects rain that falls on a specially prepared paved catchment area and stores it in a plastered underground chamber, shielded from evaporation by its domed cover.
Kunds were traditionally built at the household or community level and could store thousands of litres of drinking water — critically important in regions where rainfall is sparse and irregular. Their design minimised evaporation losses while keeping water cool and relatively clean. Modern engineers studying kunds have found them remarkably efficient given their simplicity.
Khatris are smaller rainwater tanks used in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, often built at the edge of a courtyard to capture rooftop and courtyard runoff. Together with kunds, they formed a household-level water security system that made permanent settlement in otherwise inhospitable desert environments possible.
Check Dams and Farm Ponds
Check dams are low barriers built across seasonal streams (nalas) to slow water flow, reduce erosion, and allow water to percolate into the soil rather than rushing off the land. They are simpler than johads and can be constructed with local materials — stone, brick, or compacted earth — often with minimal cost and without heavy machinery.
In Gujarat and Maharashtra, check dam construction has been supported by state governments and NGOs under watershed development programmes. The NABARD-funded watershed development programme has constructed tens of thousands of check dams across India, with documented improvements in groundwater levels and crop yields in surrounding areas.
Farm ponds — shallow, lined or unlined depressions excavated on agricultural land to capture runoff — serve a different purpose: they store surface water for direct irrigation during dry spells between rain events. Under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), farmers can access subsidies of up to 50% for farm pond construction, with higher subsidies available for small and marginal farmers.
A well-sited farm pond of 20 metres by 20 metres can store 500 to 1,000 cubic metres of water — enough to bridge a 3 to 4 week dry spell for 1 to 2 acres of crops.
Gravity-Fed Irrigation Systems: The Kuhl Networks of Himachal Pradesh
In the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh, a network of traditional irrigation channels called kuhls (sometimes spelled kuhals) has sustained agriculture for centuries. Kuhls divert water from mountain streams and glacier melt through channels dug into the hillside, using gravity alone to distribute water across village fields without any pumping.
The kuhl system is a remarkable example of community-managed common infrastructure. Water allocation is governed by traditional rules mediated by a village-appointed kohli (water manager), who ensures equitable distribution during periods of scarcity. Research by the Indian Institute of Technology and international scholars has documented that kuhl systems often achieve more equitable water distribution than modern government-built canal systems in the same region.
With changing glacial dynamics and altered snowfall patterns, kuhls are under increasing pressure. But revival efforts by communities in Kullu, Kangra, and Spiti valleys — supported by organisations like the Centre for Ecology Development and Research (CEDAR) — are restoring both the physical infrastructure and the governance traditions that made kuhls sustainable.
Ahar-Pyne Systems of Bihar
In the plains of south Bihar, an ancient irrigation system called ahar-pyne captured seasonal river floodwaters and distributed them across agricultural land through a network of earthen channels (pynes) feeding into rectangular catchment basins (ahars). At its height, this system irrigated over 750,000 hectares across south Bihar.
By the 1980s, neglect and displacement by tube well irrigation had caused the ahar-pyne network to fall into near-total disuse. Recent revival efforts, supported by the Bihar government’s water resources department and NGOs like Pradan, have rehabilitated portions of the network in several districts, restoring both irrigation capacity and the groundwater recharge function of the ahar basins.
Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation in Natural Farming
While traditional systems provide inspiration and scale, drip irrigation represents the most water-efficient modern irrigation technology available to natural farmers where supplemental irrigation is necessary. Drip systems deliver water directly to the root zone, eliminating surface evaporation and runoff, and can reduce water use by 30 to 50% compared to furrow or flood irrigation.
In natural farming systems, drip irrigation pairs well with mulching: the mulch further reduces evaporation from the wetted surface around each dripper, and the slow, targeted water delivery encourages deep root growth rather than the shallow roots associated with frequent surface flooding.
The Indian government’s Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana — Per Drop More Crop component provides subsidies of 55% (small and marginal farmers) to 45% (other farmers) for drip and sprinkler system installation. In states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat, adoption rates are growing rapidly.
Learning from Traditional Water Wisdom: A Call to Observe
The lesson that traditional water systems offer is not merely technical — it is philosophical. Our ancestors understood water as a commons to be carefully managed, equitably shared, and returned to the landscape rather than extracted from it. The bore well model — individual, deep, extraction-focused — is the antithesis of this philosophy.
Natural farming, with its emphasis on soil health, mulching, and reduced water demand, is most powerful when combined with landscape-level water conservation through the revival of traditional systems. Where communities have combined farm-level natural farming practices with watershed-level water harvesting — as has happened in parts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, and Andhra Pradesh — the results demonstrate what integrated, traditional-knowledge-informed water management can achieve.
Next week, we focus on one of the simplest and most transformative water conservation practices available to any farmer: mulching. We explore types of mulch, their benefits, seasonal applications, and the experiences of farmers who have changed their farming with a layer of straw.