Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Cont ent s
Rain-dependent areas can be broadly split int o t wo: 'dry lands', which receive
less t han 750 mm of rain a year; and rainf ed areas, which receive more t han
750 mm. Comprising arid and semi-arid ecosyst ems, dry lands st ret ch f rom
Gujarat in t he west t ill East ern Madhya Pradesh; and f rom Rajast han t ill t he
sout hern t ip of India.
Basic
Facts-
Extent of
problem
of Rainf ed
Agriculture
In India,
about 60%
of t ot al net
sown area
comes
under
rainf ed
lands.
Rainf ed
crops
account f or
48 percent
area under
f ood crops and 68 percent under non-f ood crops.
T he remaining 60%, which account s f or a subst ant ial part of agricult ural
out put , is rain-dependent .
Rainf ed areas in India are highly diverse, ranging f rom resource rich areas t o
resource-const rained areas. Some of t he resource rich areas are highly
product ive and have experienced widespread adopt ion of t echnology.
However, most of t he areas are resource const rained and dry areas.
Rainf ed agricult ure is pract iced under a wide variet y of soil t ype, agro-climat ic
and rainf all condit ions ranging f rom 400 mm t o 1600 mm per annum.
Rainf ed Crops are prone t o breaks in t he monsoon during t he crop growt h due
t o wat er st ress. T his wat er st ress may be due t o variabilit y of rainf all, delay in
sowing, diversit y in crop management pract ice and variabilit y of t he soil t ype.
T he prolonged breaks can result in part ial o r complet e f ailure of t he crops.
Green Revolution bypassed the less-favored rainfed areas which were not t he
part ners in t his process of agricult ural t ransf ormat ion. Green Revolut ion was
designed around growing high-yielding variet ies of wheat and rice, which
needed plent y of wat er and chemical input s. T he ent ire agricult ural research
f ramework, incent ive st ruct ure, price support , input subsidies, ext ension
syst em were designed t o 'f low' along wit h irrigat ion.
Issue 3: Gre e n Re vo lut io n – Rainf e d are as - Change in t he Cro pping pat t e rns
T o reduce t heir vulnerabilit y t o rains, f armers in some areas grew crops such
as jowar, bajra and pulses. T hese crops are low-yielding, but less af f ect ed by
variat ions in rainf all. T his saved t he f armers f rom t he risky nat ure of f arming in
rainf ed and dry areas.
In t he same f ield, t hey plant ed mult iple crops. For inst ance, Jowar or pulses,
bot h drought -resist ant , would be plant ed alongside wheat , which gave high
yields in normal rains. T hey also maint ained livest ock or, if f orest s were in t he
vicinit y, gat hered minor f orest produce.
However, wit h t he advent of green revolut ion and advent of elect ricit y and
groundwat er t ube wells, t he cropping pat t erns also changed.
For example, t he f armers of Malwa (MP) used t o grow jowar during t he rains
and Malwi Ghehu , a local wheat variet y, af t er t hat t ill t he advent of Green
revolut ion. However, once t he pumps came in, f arming became a year long
act ivit y. Cash crops like soya displaced jowar. HYVs of wheat displaced Malwi
Ghehu. T his is t he st ory of almost all part s of India, and t hat is t he reason t hat
cotton, maize and soya remain the major crops of the rainfed areas of India.
Bet ween 1995 and 2004, t he proport ion of dist rict s in semi-crit ical, crit ical and
over-exploit ed has grown f rom 5% of t he agricult ural area and 7% of t he
populat ion t o 33% and 35% respect ively.
It was est ablished in 2006 t o give f ocussed at t ent ion t o Rainf ed areas of t he
count ry.