Prospects and Opportunities for Rainfed Agriculture in India
1.Climate-Resilient Crop Varieties:
Development and promotion of climate-resilient crop varieties
can enhance the adaptability of rainfed agriculture to variable climatic
conditions.
2.Water Harvesting and Management:
Implementation of water harvesting techniques, such as building
check dams, farm ponds, and contour bunding, can enhance water
availability and improve soil moisture retention.
3.Conservation Agriculture:
Adoption of conservation agriculture practices like minimum tillage,
crop residue retention and cover cropping can enhance soil
health, reduce erosion and conserve moisture.
4. Integrated Farming Systems:
Integrated farming systems, combining crops, livestock and
agroforestry, can enhance resource utilization, diversify income
sources, and improve overall farm productivity.
5. Improved Extension Services:
Strengthening extension services and knowledge-sharing
platforms can provide farmers with up-to-date information, best
practices, and training on rainfed agriculture techniques.
6. Government Support and Policies:
The government can support rainfed agriculture through policies that
prioritize investment, research, and development in
rainfed farming systems.
Financial assistance, subsidies and incentives can be provided to
farmers to promote sustainable rainfed agricultural practices.
7. Market Linkages and Value Addition:
Developing market linkages and value chains for rainfed
agricultural produce can enhance farmers' income and provide better
market opportunities.
Soil condition in rainfed areas
• Poor quality: Low fertility, high erodibility, fragile, shallow, loss of physical integrity
• 1. Low Moisture Retention Capacity of the Soil
• Many soils in rainfed areas (especially sandy soils) cannot hold water for long.
• After rain, water quickly drains or evaporates.
• Plants can’t get enough water in between rains.
Result: Crops get stressed due to lack of moisture, affecting growth.
• 2. Low Fertility of Soils
• Soils in dry regions often lack nutrients needed for good crop growth.
• There may be less organic matter and essential minerals.
• Fertilizers are not always used properly due to cost or lack of awareness.
Result: Even if rainfall is good, crop production remains low due to poor soil health.
• 2. Very weak buffering and resilience capacity. Soil pH affects:
• Nutrient availability to plants
• Microbial activity
• Fertilizer efficiency
Main contributors:
Clay minerals – High surface area and charge.
Organic matter – Contains functional groups that can neutralize H⁺ or OH⁻.
Carbonates (in calcareous soils) – Neutralize acids.
Cation exchange capacity (CEC) – Soils with high CEC can better adsorb and
exchange ions.
• 3. Suffer from excess salt (Saline-alkaline soils) in arid and semi arid area
Low Rainfall, High Evaporation
• In arid/semi-arid zones, rainfall is insufficient to leach salts deep into the soil.
• High evaporation pulls water upward from the water table, leaving salts
behind in the topsoil.
• Over time, salts accumulate in the root zone.
Saline Groundwater or Irrigation Water
• In many areas, groundwater is brackish/saline.
• Using this water for irrigation adds more salts to the soil.
• Without proper drainage, salts build up.
• Acidic in sub humid and humid areas
• Leaaching of basic salts like ca, mg, K n Na. Left H+ and Al3+ for acidity
• Micronutrients and ameliorants (mainly lime) are deficient
• Supplementation needed
• Coarse textured, high degraded, hence retain less water and nutrients.
• low WHC, multiple nutrient deficient because of sparse vegetation producing little
residues.
Distribution of soil
• Alfisols : 30%, Low in organic matter
• Sandy loam with subsoil alluvial layer Calcium carbonate accumulation in upper 150 cm
of clay Low microbial activity
• Less WHC Many textural gp like loamy sand, sandy loam,
• Prone to drought loam, silt, silt loam, clay
Nearly two-thirds of Indian’s land mass has more
• Vertisols : 35%,
than 3% slope and is slightly undulating.
• Deep (15-240 cm) Wind erosion due to less soil cover, uncontrolled
• Clay 30-70% grazing, removal of vegetation
• Rich in biomass
• High WHC
• Entisols :10%
The inherent properties of dry land soils lead to
degradative processes in Rainfed semi-arid tropics,
impose the following constraints for successful crop
production:
• Much reduced permeability,
• Poor or restricted root development,
• Tillage and seeding problems,
• Poor seedling establishment,
• Uneven soil wetting,
• Salinity and shallow water table and
• Poor soil fertility,
• Uneven topography with high erodibility,
• Low moisture storage and release capacity,
• High surface crusting that leads to poor crop stand establishment.
Challenges in Maintaining Soil Fertility in
Rainfed Situation
Key Challenges:
1.Improving soil organic matter
2.Maintaining soil ecology
3.Correction of nutrient deficiencies
4.Reclamation of problematic soils
5.Managing contaminated soils
6.Addressing Fe toxic soils
7.Managing surface crusting
8.Erosion control
Climate condition in rainfed areas
•Climate is one of the major factors influencing crop growth.
•Weather, which is part of climate, plays an important role in crop
planning in dry farming areas.
•Out of the several elements of weather, rainfall has a key position in the
success of dry farming.
•Favorable weather is essential for good harvests.
•Weather abnormalities like cyclones, droughts, hailstorms, frost, high
winds, extreme temperature and insufficient photosynthetic radiation,
etc. may generally lead to very low or even no yields.
• 1. Rainfall
• In dry land areas, South West Monsoon brings the bulk of rainfall.
• The South West Monsoon is followed by North East Monsoon which supplements the
South West Monsoon as the main source of rainfall.
• There are four types of rainfall characterized by the nature in different parts of India.
• Uncertain and ill distributions of rainfall are two qualities which make rainfed farming
difficult.
• Rainfed areas mainly depend on natural rainfall to grow crops. But often, the rainfall is not
enough or doesn't come evenly throughout the season. This means:
• Some areas may get too much rain, while others get too little.
• Sometimes rain comes all at once, then stops for a long time.
Result: Crops either get damaged by too much water or suffer due to lack of water.
• Late Onset and Early Cessation of Rains
Monsoon rains are expected to start at a certain time. But sometimes:
• The rains start late, which delays sowing of crops.
• They stop earlier than expected, affecting crop maturity.
Result: Crops don't grow properly, leading to lower yields and loss for
farmers.
• 2. Dry spells:
• It is another rainfall feature. Breaks in monsoon are normally experienced (observed) during late July and August.
• They may extend by 2 weeks to 13 weeks at a stretch.
• A break is defined as a period receiving less than 15 mm rainfall in consecutive weeks.
• Even during the rainy season, there can be long dry periods (called dry
spells) when no rain falls for weeks.
• These dry spells are harmful, especially when crops are at a crucial
growth stage (like flowering or fruiting).
• Result: Crops dry up or produce fewer grains/fruits, reducing harvest.
• 3. Water availability period:
• Water availability depends on rainfall and PE.
• Humid (when rainfall exceeds PE) and moist (when rainfall is less than
PE but exceeds PET) periods together provide congenial weather for
active crop growth.
Mismatch Between Rainfall and Crop Needs
• Rain often comes in bursts or too early/late for certain crops.
• Peak crop water demand may not match the peak rainfall.
• 4. Wind velocity:
• Wind velocity is generally high during July and August.
• If wind velocity exceeds 18 - 20 km/hr, such period coincides with dry spell. Hence,
evapotranspiration is at high degree.
• If velocity is low, the lowest evaporation rates are observed during November and
December.
• This dries out the soil, leaving less moisture for the crops.
Impact on crops:
•Crops wilt or grow poorly due to lack of water.
•High wind can damage delicate crops or blow away topsoil, reducing soil
fertility.
•Strong winds increase evapotranspiration – that means water quickly evaporates
from soil and plants.
•These winds often occur during dry spells, when there is no rain.
• 6. Humidity:
• During dry spell, less relative humidity is noticed.
• Evaporation demands are also accelerated with high temperature and low humidity
Why it's a problem:
• Low humidity means faster evaporation of water from the soil.
• Crops lose water through their leaves more quickly.
• This creates water stress, especially when there's no rain.
Impact on crops:
• Crops dry up faster, especially during important growth stages.
• The need for irrigation increases, but in rainfed areas, there's often no irrigation
available.
• 7. Temperature:
• Maximum temperature exceeds during late April and early May.
• Minimum temp. is noticed during December.
• High temperatures cause:
• More evaporation of water.
• Stress to plants, especially young seedlings.
• If high temperature comes with low humidity, it worsens the
problem.
Impact on crops:
• Germination is affected (seeds may not sprout).
• Crops grow slower or fail to flower/fruit properly.
• In extreme heat, plants may die before harvest.
Conclusion
Problems of Crop Production in Rainfed areas
• Inadequate and uneven distribution of rainfall
• Late onset and early cessation of rains
• Prolonged dry spells during the crop growth stage
• Low moisture retention capacity of the soil
• Low fertility of soils
