ENHANCING SUSTAINABILITY

OF DRY LAND RAINFED

FARMING SYSTEMS

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & COOPERATION
CROPS DIVISION

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INDIAN AGRICULTURE SCENARIO
Net Cultivated Area : 141 m ha
Irrigated Area : 56 m ha (40%)
Rainfed/Dryland Area : 85 m ha (60%)

TOTAL FOOD GRAIN

PRODUCTION
(212 m tonnes)

KHARIF( AREA:74 m ha) RABI (AREA: 50 m ha)

112 million tonnes 100 million tonnes

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RAINFED FARMING AREA IN INDIA – (85 m ha)
(68.5 m ha fully rainfed & 18.0 m ha partial rainfed)

Regions States % Rainfed

area (range)
Cold arid Northern Jammu & Kashmir, 60-81
States Uttaranchal and Himachal
Pradesh,
Arid Western States Rajasthan, Gujarat 66-68

Semi arid to arid Central Madhya Pradesh, 76-82

& Southern States Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu
Sub humid to humid Eastern Uttar Pradesh, 33-73
Eastern States Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa,
West Bengal
Humid to Per humid Assam & North Eastern Hill upto 90%
North Eastern States States 3
IMPORTANCE OF STRENGTHENING
DRY LAND FARMING

 60% of cultivated area - about 85 million

ha
 Contributes approx. 40% of total food
production
 Native to many nutritious crops
(Dicoccum wheat, ragi, pearl millet,
pulses, oilseeds, fruits, etc.)
 Successive years of deficient rainfall
 No. of farm holdings affected 54.6 m 4
 SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF
NO INTERVENTION
 Loss of crop
 Reduced productivity and loss of income
 Loss of wages to labourers &
unemployment
 Increased drought relief
 Migration of farm labourers and farmers
 High indebtedness and debt trap for
farming community
 Migration and loss of animal/ livestock
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What to do ?

1. Need to re-invent country’s monsoon agriculture

through change in policy & approach
2. Target dry land areas for diversification- livestock,
horticulture, silviculture, grassland, fodder in
keeping with natural resource availability
3. Improve in-situ moisture conservation through
ground water recharge
4. Adopt dry land farming approach- raised bed,
ridge furrow, zero tillage, mulching
5. Integrate with multiple watershed development
programmes of other agencies/Ministries

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UNDER IMPLEMENTATION -WATERSHED
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES OF

 Ministry of Rural Development (DPAP,

DDP, IWDP)
 Ministry of Environment & Forests (IAEPS)
 Ministry of Agriculture (NWDPRA,
RVP,FPR, WDPSCA)
 Planning Commission (Western Ghat and
Hill Area Development)
 NABARD (WDF)
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SO IS THE PROPOSED DRYLAND FARMING SCHEME A
DUPLICATION?

No
• Targets individual farm holdings instead of watershed area
• A multilayered response to monsoon failure / water
deficiency
• Watershed development along with farm improvement,
address trio concerns of ecosystem, farming-livestock
systems and livelihood especially for landless.
• Stand alone water bodies can not achieve desired result.
• Must be combined with appropriate technological support
• These include water management, in-situ water
conservation, on-farm generation of organic manure,
alternate land use, cropping system and diversification into
agri-horti-livestock.
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 PROJECT COMPONENT

- On farm rain water management

- Development of farm ponds
- Well recharging

- In-situ moisture conservation

• Promotion of conservation tillage techniques
- Bed planting
• Inter row/ plough water harvesting managemen

To integrate with other on-going projects of different

Ministries/Agencies

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 AREA OF OPERATION
CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION
 Less than 750 mm rainfall
 less than 30% coverage under assured
irrigation,

e.g. Like States of Maharashtra, Gujarat,

MP., A.P., Karnataka, Rajasthan,
Tamilnadu
 Farm holdings in rainshadow and drought prone
areas

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 DELIVERY MECHANISM

Tech support
Ministry of TECHNOLOGY
ICAR, CRIDA,
Agriculture
CAZRI

FUNDS
State Agriculture
Tech support
Department
SAUs, Local
ICAR Institutes

DRDA District
KVK/
KGK
Farmer Panchayat
 SHARING OF SYSTEM COST

• Average cost per hectare may range

from Rs. 33000 to Rs. 50000
• Proposed financial assistance to
farmers- 50% of unit cost
• proposed sharing of system cost
- 50% by GOI
- 50% by farmers through own
resources or loan from bank
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 EXPECTED OUTCOME / IMPACT

 Stabilize / enhance production in dry

land areas
 Assure income to individual farm
families
 Insulate poor and marginal farmers
from weather vagaries
 Restore ecological balance of natural
resources
 Increase biodiversity at farm level
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 COVERAGE UNDER THE PROJECT

( Rs. in crores)
Component 2005-06 2006-07

( i) In situ moisture conservation/ 565 745

utilization
(ii) On-farm production & use of organic 45 60
matter
(iii) Alternate land use/composite farming 180 240
system
(iv) Capacity building and extension 90 120
(v) Others (monitoring& evaluation) 45 60
Total 925 1225

Note: Average holding : 2 ha

No. of holdings : 1.8 to 2.8 lakh
Per holding Government support : Rs. 33000 to 5000014
 PROPOSED FINANCIAL OUTLAY
(Rs. in crores)
Plan Year Amount
X Plan 2005-06 925.00
2006-07 1225.00
Total 2150.00
XI Plan 2007-08 1300.00
2008-09 1300.00
2009-10 1400.00
2010-11 1500.00
2011-12 1500.00
Total 7000.00 15
Thank you

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