India, Nov. 5 -- The Centre has urged states to accelerate watershed development programmes and ensure the effective utilisation of allocated funds to strengthen science-based interventions for resilient agriculture. The emphasis was placed on delivering tangible benefits to farmers and rural communities at the grassroots level. Addressing a national-level consultation on the draft National Technical Guidelines (NTG) for improved watershed management in Nagpur, Dilip Kumar, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, called for identifying essential parameters that should be followed uniformly across states, while allowing flexibility to adopt additional measures based on local requirements.

Kumar stressed the need for robust baseline data...