Zabo WATER conservation
Villages such as Kikruma, where zabos are found even today, are located on a high ridge. Though drinking water is a major problem, the area receives high rainfall. The rain falls on a patch of protected forest on the hilltop; as the water runs off along the slope, it passes through various terraces. The water is collected in pond-like structures in the middle terraces; below are cattle yards, and towards the foot of the hill are paddy fields, where the run-off
It is an ingenious method of catching rainwater from running off the mountains practised in Kikruma in Nagaland. It involves the preservation of forests on the hilltops as they are the catchment for the water. At the next level are the ponds dug out to hold rainwater, which is brought there through small channels. The water is passed through cattle yards and carries the dung and urine of the animals to the fields below – perfect to meet the nutritional needs of the soil. The paddy fields are also used to rear fish, yielding about 50-60 kilogrammes of fish per hectare as an additional output. A huge variety of medicinal plants and herbs grow on the embankments of the ponds. The ponds are constructed to distribute water evenly. Inlet channels are dug to carry water from one pond to the next. The zabo system has not been replicated elsewhere.