Dryland agriculture in India – problems and solutions

Abstract

Dry land agriculture is the agriculture which limits the crop growth to a part of the year\rdue to lack of sufficient moisture (Peterson et al., 2006). 68 per cent of the cultivated area in Indian\ragriculture comes under dryland, which contributes about 44 per cent of the total food production and\rplays a critical role in India’s food security. A vast majority of the small scale farmers depend on the dry\rregions for their livelihood. According to the Fourth five year plan of India, dry lands are defined as\rareas which receive rainfall ranging from 375 mm to 1125 mm and with very limited irrigation facilities.\rDry regions are economically fragile regions which are highly vulnerable to environmental stress and\rshocks. Degraded soils with low water holding capacities along with multiple nutrient deficiencies\rand depleting ground water table contributes to low crop yields and further leading to land degradation.\rIn order to ensure long term sustainability for dry land agriculture in India, various components are to\rbe taken into consideration like socio-economic resources, integrated water shed development,\rimprovement of rain water use efficiency, diversification of agriculture through livestock farming\ralternative land uses and integrated soil–nutrient-water-crop management. Dry land farming areas\rneeds much closer attention.