Watershed Development Projects have been taken up under different programmes launched by the Government of India. The Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) and the Desert Development Programme (DDP) adopted the watershed approach in 1987. The Integrated Wasteland Development Projects scheme (IWDP) taken up by the National Wasteland Development Board in 1989 also aimed at developing wastelands on a watershed basis. This programme has now been brought under the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Wastelands Development in the Ministry of Rural Development. The fourth major programme based on the watershed concept is the National Watershed Development Programme in Rain fed Areas (NWDPRA) under the Ministry of Agriculture.
