Rainfed Agriculture

Featured Articles
August 10, 2022 The irrigation at all costs mindset and narrow policies for drought protection during the colonial rule ignored rainfed agriculture and local practices that sustained agriculture in the Bombay Deccan. This continues even today.
Recurrent droughts and the struggle for survival (Image Source: Gaurav Bhosale via Wikimedia Commons):
June 19, 2022 Odisha Millets Mission is trying to bring back the glory of millets in tribal areas
A range of millet recipes and ready to cook items are sold by Millets on Wheels in Jashipur block in Mayurbhanj district. This initiative is supported by Odisha Millets Mission (Image: Odisha Millets Mission)
May 25, 2022 A study assesses the impact of the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming programme
The APCNF policy promotes zero synthetic chemical inputs (Image: Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming Facebook Page)
April 24, 2021 Study by CEEW proposes several measures for promoting sustainable agricultural practices and systems, including restructured government support and rigorous evidence generation
SRI rice field (Image: Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)
April 1, 2021 Lower transaction costs, minimal leakages, and immediate delivery make a strong case for direct cash transfers, says study.
Access to credit increased farmers' expenditures on farm-related activities. (Image: Pixy.org)
March 12, 2021 Challenges and aspirations of community champions and how programs can address them
Kalyani Dash works with 150 households in the village directly and trains them on chemical-free farming techniques, water secure crop production, efficient water use in agriculture for a sustainable farming future as well as kitchen and nutrition gardening. (Image: FES)
Book Release and Discussion on ‘Alternative Futures: India Unshackled’, a book edited by Ashish Kothari and K. J. Joy
The book is a collection of 35 essays containing dreams, visions, and pathways of reaching a just and sustainable India.
Posted on 22 Jan, 2018 10:40 AM

Alternative Futures: India Unshackled is a riveting new book that brings together scenarios of an India that is politically and socially egalitarian, radically democratic, economically sustainable and equitable, and socio-culturally diverse and harmonious.

Assam's river atlas to tackle floods, deforestation
News this week Posted on 15 Jan, 2018 09:07 PM

Assam prepares river atlas to tackle floods, erosion, deforestation

People take a boat to cross Brahmaputra. (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Rs 5,369 crore approved for Jal Vikas Marg Project
Policy matters this week Posted on 09 Jan, 2018 08:47 AM

Government approves Rs 5,369 crore for Jal Vikas Marg Project

Navigating rivers through simple boats. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Delhi enveloped in smog again
News this week Posted on 14 Nov, 2017 12:56 PM

Yet again, North India shrouded in heavy smog

Delhi shrouded in smog. (Source: Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy/Flickr)
India Industry Water Conclave on Nov 28, 2017 at FICCI, New ??Delhi
The third edition of India Industry Water Conclave and fifth edition of FICCI Water Awards on Theme : ‘Water Use Efficiency- An Imperative for India’
Posted on 07 Nov, 2017 10:12 AM

The theme for the Conclave this year is “Water Use Efficiency: An Imperative for India” to highlight the imperative of water use efficiency in the industry, agriculture and urban contexts

WOTR wins international award
Transforming barren lands to lush green landscape is one of the many works of WOTR that won them the Land for Life Award 2017 from the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification. Posted on 21 Aug, 2017 09:38 AM

Marathwada in Maharashtra is an arid region with rainfall of less than 750 mm per year. Most villages in the region face acute water scarcity. Kachner in Aurangabad was no exception. 

Kachner Tanda. (Source: WOTR)
Playing the soil health card
Is the soil health card scheme introduced to improve the economic condition of the farmers by bettering the health of the soil effective? Posted on 01 Aug, 2017 11:49 AM

Decades of skating over environmental concerns have clearly cost us dear. The folly of pursuing better crop yields using chemical fertilisers in an indiscriminate manner has been surfacing lately. “Decades of agricultural abuse using fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides have taken its toll on us.

The electrical conductivity of a diluted soil sample is being tested as a measure of soil salinity. (Image:CSIRO, Wikimedia Commons; CC Attribution 3.0 Unported)
How a poor labourer became a rich farmer
A video tells the story of a poor farmer who, through effective water conservation methods, became rich and a role model to other villagers. Posted on 27 Jul, 2017 07:59 PM

Vasant Baburao Parkale, a 52-year-old farmer, has become a role model for many farmers in the drought-prone Marathwada region. His determination and the will to excel in life have helped him to transform his dreams into reality.

Vasantrao Parkale (Source: India Water Portal)
What ails Indian farmers
A study finds faulty agricultural policies and practices and not just indebtedness to blame for rising suicides among farmers. Posted on 24 Jul, 2017 08:03 PM

Over the last few months, we saw protests by distressed farmers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and other states over farming crisis and farmer suicides.

Loans are not the only reason for farmers' distress. (Source: India Water Portal)
Saving soil health
The government’s nutrient-based subsidy has done more harm to the soil than good. Only sustainable agriculture can save the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil. Posted on 01 Jul, 2017 10:21 PM

Bhanu is bracing herself for an income loss this year. The wheat she sowed after bajra in winter did not give her the productivity expected. Her soil health is declining, she says. To top it all, she is afraid there will be deficient rainfall this year in her village in Ferozepur Jhirka in Mewat in Haryana.

Farmers thresh paddy during harvest at Sangrur, Punjab. (Source: Neil Palmer, CIAT, 2011, Wikimedia Commons)
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