DRY LAND AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENT

Presented By;

Arunesh Kumar

Contents

Introduction Types of Dry Land Agriculture Characteristics of Dry Farming Importance of Dry Land Agriculture Challenges of Dry Land Agriculture Management of Dry Land AgricultureConclusion

Introduction“Indian agriculture is a gamble of monsoon.”

Out of 143 m ha of cultivated land 85 m ha is rain fed*, which is 60% of the cultivated land.

Such land suffer from low rainfall , draught and excess rainfall. Despite considerable progress in irrigation development over the FYP , 85% of coarse cereals, 83% pulses,42% in rice, 70% in oil seeds and 65% in cotton is still cultivated as rain fed.

IntroductionMore over 40% of food grains production comes

from dry lands. India will need 308.5 m tons of food grains by 2030 to feed the population. Hence Dry Land agriculture management becomes very much significant.

Types of Dry Land AgricultureDepending on the amount of rainfall received

Dry land agriculture can be classified into three categories:

I. Dry Farming

Amount of rainfall received is less than 750 mm.

These are arid regions with growing period of 75 days.

II. Dry land farming

Amount of rainfall received is more than 750 mm per annum.These are semi arid tract with growing period of 75 to120 days.Crop failure is relatively less.

III. Rain fed farming

Amount of rainfall is more than 1150 mm.No stress of water, rather requirement of its disposal.These are humid regions and growing period is more than 120 days.

Note: UNESC define two types Dry Farming [less than 800mm] Rain Fed Farming [more than 800mm]

Dry Land area in different region of India

States % of rain fed area

Jammu and Kashmir , Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh

60 to 81

Rajasthan and Gujarat 66 to 88

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka ,Tamilnadu

76 to 82

Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal

33 to 73

Characteristics of Dry Farming in India

Uncertain, ill-.distributed and limited annual rainfall;

Occurrence of extensive climatic hazards like drought, flood etc;

Undulating soil surface Practice of extensive agriculture i.e. prevalence

of mono cropping etc; Relatively large size of fields;

Characteristics of Dry Farming in India

Similarity in types of crops raised by almost all the farmers of a particular region;

Very low crop yield; Poor market facility for the produce; Poor economy of the farmers; and Poor health of cattle as well as farmers.

Importance of Dry Land Agriculture About 70% of rural population lives in dry

farming areas and their livelihood depend on success or failure of the crops

Dry land agriculture occupy 60% of cultivated area and supports 40% of human population and 60 % livestock population.

At present, 3 ha of dry land crop produce cereal grain equivalent to that produced in one ha irrigated crop.

Since regions under irrigated agriculture are already facing problem due to nutrient exhaustion, salinity build up and over use of fertilizers. So it is imperative to produce more from dry land while conserving existing resources.

Dry lands offer good scope for development of agro forestry, social forestry, Horti - sylvi-pasture and such other similar systems which will not only supply food, fuel to the village people and fodder to the cattle but forms a suitable vegetative cover for ecological maintenance.

Relative characteristics of rain fed vs irrigated regions

Parameter Rainfed Irrigated

Poverty ratio % 37 33

Proportion of agricultural labour % 30 28

Land productivity, Rs./ha 5716 8017

Per capita consumption (kg/year) of

CerealsPulsesTotal food grains

24020260

45912471

Cooperative credit, Rs./ha 816 1038

Bank Credit, Rs./ha 1050 1650

Infrastructure development index 0.30 0.40

Social development index 0.43 0.44

Challenges of Dry Land Agriculture

Moisture stress and uncertain rainfall Inefficient storage of rain water Disposal of dry farming produce Use of limited crop varieties Problem in application of manure and

fertilizers Inferior quality of farm produce Socio-economic constraints of farmers

Compound annual growth rate in area, production and yield of major cropsin India, 1998-99 to 2008-09 (Raju et al., 2010)

Yield of major rain fed crops

Management of Dry Land Agriculture

Engineering approach:It is aimed at soil and moisture conservation.

- Contouring

- Scooping

- Compartmental bunding

- Water harvesting

Physiological approach:It used to check evapo-transpiration from plants. Mulches Shelterbelt Wind break Antitranspirants

Phenyl mercuric Acetate (PMA)

Genetic approachIt is focus on use of HYV seeds with high tolerance, draught resistant, deep roots, resistant to disease, dwarf growth etc. ICAR is working with ICRISAT to develop such hybrid seeds.

Other measures:

Enabling rural institution and forming policies for dry land agriculture though capacity building and knowledge sharing.

Practicing animal husbandry along with agriculture.

Providing crop insurance and credit linkage. Growing crops with short maturation period

like . in sorghum growing areas millet can be planted.

ConclusionWith climate change likely to exacerbate. The

water scarcity is threatening the scope of dry land agriculture. More over to meet the food security of over billion Indian population and check the extent of land degradation, Dry Land Agriculture Mgt. has become critically significant. Day by day the area under cultivation is contracting to meet the developmental need of nation. So the future will depend on how efficiently Dry Land Agriculture is managed.

Thanks

References:www.crida.inwww.icar.org.inwww.fao.org

www.icrisat.orgwww.agrtech.tnau.ac.in