Developing Earth Observation Based End User Technology for Making Sustainable Development a Living Reality in Semi Arid Areas - Nurturing through Convergence of Technologies at Grass Root Level

This paper is based on the smart rainwater harvesting pilot demonstration developed over the last two years. The approach and implementation is based on in-depth studies of past and current environmental and physical factors, economic and social setup, practices followed in semi-arid areas in India on one hand and experiments carried out by various institutes on agricultural productivity, future climate change impacts, convergence and role of science and technology with traditional wisdom on the other. The studies point to the importance of smart infield rain water harvesting in semi arid regions for food security, safe drinking water, introduction of agro horticulture, agro forestry practices and high value crops for livelihood and achieving long term sustainability of local and regional populations. Making sustainable development a living reality needs integrated assessment of ecosystem using Earth Observation data to know the potential and constraints of the area; socio economic situation analysis for need assessment and long-term planning. Further, developing area specific end-user technology by incorporating and demonstrating applicable innovative technologies which are affordable and adoptable by the people is essential for sustainability; A pilot site has been created and is operational for demonstration and capacity building for practice knowhow at the grass root level for accelerating the adoption by the local communities.