Rainfed Agriculture

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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)
National Water Commission in place of CWC and CGWB
Policy matters this week Posted on 16 Feb, 2016 09:28 AM

Government proposes to set up a National Water Commission

The Upper Lake, Bhopal (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Budget needs to protect food security
Budgetary support needs to be upped for the implementation of the public distribution system entitlements under the National Food Security Act. Posted on 15 Feb, 2016 11:01 AM

With the budget 2016-17 round the corner what are the asks from the standpoint of food security? This year’s budget is being prepared in the wake of many parts of the country being affected by drought resulting in greater distress, hunger and starvation for a large number of people.

Children at an anganwadi centre, Mysore waiting for the mid-day meal
Agriculture and informal sector labour need a budgetary push
What initiatives should the 2016-17 budget include for the agriculture sector? ActionAid India’s submission to the Ministry of Finance looks at these. Posted on 08 Feb, 2016 08:46 AM

Recent data from the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) as well as the Agriculture Census highlighted the plight of Indian farmers. Around 85 percent are small and marginal farmers with an average monthly income of only Rs. 4653, which is lesser than their monthly expenses. Debt rates are very high among farmers with an average loan of more than Rs.

A farmer in Jhansi, Bundelkhand
Odisha tribals humour changing skies with mixed platters
The Kondh tribes believe that the more one visits the farm, the better the crops will be because the bond between man, land and plant strengthens. Mixed cropping furthers this thought. Posted on 11 Jan, 2016 09:18 PM

Bamboo trees bloomed with long wispy spikes weighing heavy on the stalks. While it might've made for a pretty picture, Loknath Nauri knew it would be a tough year. “More the density of the flowers, the more severe the drought we face,” he says. This was in March 2015 in the forests of southern Odisha.

Aadi Kumbruka with various types of legumes, millets, oilseeds and corns grown on his farm.
Ultratech Cement mines limestone (and villagers) in Chhattisgarh
The people of Parswani were promised jobs, healthcare and water. Now, after signing an MOU, they just about get polluted water for irrigation purposes. Posted on 13 Dec, 2015 03:38 PM

Paraswani village in Balodabazar district, Chhattisgarh contains vast reserves of limestone, a sedimentary rock that is a primary ingredient in the cement manufacturing process. Since 1992, Ultratech Cement Ltd. (UTCL) followed by four other similar companies, have begun excavating this rock within a 30 km radius of the village.

A view of the Ulratech Cement factory from Paraswani
Sustainable practices in slash-and-burn lands in Nagaland
Jhum or shifting cultivation has been criticised regarding its ecological and economic impacts. UNDP takes on the challenge by introducing integrated farm development practices. Posted on 01 Nov, 2015 11:02 AM

A thick smog and haze eclipse the sun all through the day when jhum areas are burnt. Jhum, known as shifting cultivation a practice practice inv

Shifting cultivation lands (Source: Prashant N S, 2006, Wikimedia)
How much water should flow in the Yamuna?
Considered sacred, the Yamuna is gasping for breath today choking on the unprecedented load of sewage and industrial effluents that drain into it. Can its ecological flow be worked out? Posted on 26 Oct, 2015 05:17 PM

Rivers are the not just the lifeline of our country, but life itself. We may revere them, even worship them but we continue to pollute, choke, and poison their waters. A river, its catchment area, and its floodplains have evolved over millions of years, and once damaged, may not be easy to reclaim.

For a river to be healthy & maintain all its associated functions, free flow must be close to 50-60% of the total flow all year round (Source: Wikimedia)
A pond comes to life
Hundreds of villagers pitched in to revive a village pond at Bapugaon, a village in Rajasthan, to make it water and food secure. Posted on 22 Sep, 2015 10:42 AM

It had not rained for awhile and the tiny cracks in the earth in Bapugaon were opening up. This little village in Chaksu tehsil of Jaipur was yet again faced with a drought in the mid 1980s. The situation was aggravated in 1986 when the river Dhund, an important water source for Bapugaon, went dry. Since then, both the quantity and quality of water started deteriorating.

More than just physical rehabilitation of a water body, says Kalyan ji of Bapugaon
Piped water scheme changes the lives of Odisha villagers
Bandhabhuin village went from having 1 handpump for 400 people to 7, toilet facilities in 55% of the houses and had an overall improvement in its social and economic fabric. Posted on 19 Sep, 2015 05:55 PM

In India, about Rs.70,000 crore 

Anup Munda showing his functional toilet at Bandha Bhuin
From abandonment to water abundance: Is it possible?
People know that water is crucial, and yet apathy abounds. Dr. Indira Khurana talks candidly on the issues concerning water and how this precious resource can be better managed. Posted on 06 Aug, 2015 05:39 PM

Dr.

The earth is water rich, but water is still scarce (Source:India Water Portal)
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