Rainfed Agriculture

Featured Articles
August 10, 2022
Taming water - Irrigation and drought protection in colonial India and the present
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
Hidden treasure: Adivasi’s traditional food diversity
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
Non pesticide management – a viable alternative
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
Scaling up sustainable agriculture critical to improve farm incomes
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
COVID-19 and social protection: Impact in the agriculture sector
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
Strengthening the frontline for water security
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)
Orissa Community Tank Management Project – A paper by World Bank on proposed project restructuring
The document confirms that there is significant room for increase in crop and livestock productivity and can be addressed with the activities to be undertaken by the project.
World Bank (WB)
Posted on 03 Sep, 2011 07:39 PM

This document provides an appraisal of the World Bank financed Orissa Community Tank Management Project. The project on tank rehabilitation in the state was focused on institutional strengthening, agricultural livelihood services and some irrigation improvements in the project area.

Forecasting agricultural output using space, agrometeorology and land based observations
Proceedings of the annual review meeting by India Meteorological Department in August 2011 at Pune -
India Meteorological Department
Posted on 03 Sep, 2011 06:29 PM

This document presents the proceedings of the annual review meeting by India Meteorological Department (IMD) on “Forecasting Agricultural Output Using Space, Agrometeorology and Land Based Observations” (FASAL) organized at YASHADA, Pune during 1-2 August 2011.

Tribal movements and livelihoods – Recent developments in Orissa – A working paper by CPRC-IIPA
This working paper by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) and Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) deals with recent developments in tribal movements and livelihoods in Orissa.
Chronic Poverty Research Centre
Indian Institute of Public Administration
Nilakantha Panigrahi
Sakti Padhi
Posted on 31 Aug, 2011 08:48 PM

For the last few decades and more particularly since 1990’s the issue of human rights-violation of rights to life and livelihood of tribal peoples’ is a central concern. Therefore, the discourse on tribal movements and issues of tribal livelihood revolved around securing their well-defined rights on land and forest resources.

Adaptive water resource management in the Lower Bhavani project command area in Tamil Nadu – A research report by IWMI
This study by IWMI explores the theory and practice of adaptive management based on a detailed field study in the Lower Bhavani project command area.
David Molden
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Mats Lannerstad
Posted on 25 Aug, 2011 11:07 PM

Bhavani

To what extent farmers and water resource managers already practice adaptive management and whether it is practiced in an optimal manner or could there be areas for improvement based on recent advancements in the theory of adaptive management are some of the questions that are particularly appropriate in the light of rapid changes in river basin water use and also in relation to basin closure.

This paper draws on the development and use of water resources in the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP), with the LBP reservoir and the 84,000 hectare (ha) LBP command area. The project diverts water from the Bhavani River, a tributary of the Cauvery River in Tamil Nadu.

Boundary concepts for interdisciplinary analysis of irrigation water management – A working paper by Peter Mollinga
This paper by Peter Mollinga, University of Bonn reviews the boundary concept that has emerged in interdisciplinary irrigation studies in South Asia, particularly India.
Center for Development Research (University of Bonn)
Peter Mollinga
Posted on 24 Aug, 2011 07:16 PM

The focus is concepts that capture the hybridity of irrigation systems as complex systems, and cross the boundaries of the natural and social sciences. 

Draft of Land Acquisition and Resettlement & Rehabilitation Bill, 2011 in public domain - Comments invited by Ministry of Rural Development till 31st August, 2011
The MoRD has on 29th July, 2011 released the draft Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation bill, 2011 in public domain as part of the pre-legislative consultative process.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 15 Aug, 2011 05:35 PM

Guest post by: Amita Bhaduri

The drafting of a new legislation on these issues was taken up by a Group of Ministers in May 2007 and this is the second draft bill presented by the UPA Government.
Toilet manure in organic farming – An article by Varanashi Research Foundation
This article by the Varanashi Research Foundation, Adyanadka, Karnataka deals with toilet manure in organic farming for maintaining the humus in the soil.
Ashwini Krishna Moorthy
Varanashi Krishna Moorthy
Varanashi Research Foundation
Posted on 12 Aug, 2011 03:45 PM

VRFHuman faeces and urine (toilet manure) are a serious waste disposal problem especially in areas with high human population density. At the same time they are rich in nutrients that are essential to plants.
Rainfed agriculture - Meeting the challenges of food security in India – A paper in Current Science
This paper in Current Science discusses how rainfed agriculture can play a major role in India’s food security and sustainable economic growth.
K D Sharma
Posted on 08 Aug, 2011 06:40 PM

The paper notes that there are large opportunities for gains from adaptation and new investments in water management for meeting the targets under the proposed National Food Security Act.

Economic and Political Weekly 2011: Review of Agriculture (June 25 - July 8, 2011)
Review of AgricultureHalf a century ago, scholars first noticed that small farms in India demonstrated a higher per acre productivity than large farms. In the 21st century these farms still produce more per acre than large farms. We should be looking at making the most of the higher agricultural productivity on small landholdings.
Where earlier seed varieties were seen as a crucial input for Indian Agriculture, it is now water that has become a critical resource because of its over-exploitation and wasteful use on crop land. In the search for better ways to harvest and use water resources, there has been tendency to hark back to the past and look at small and localized systems, but we forget that the demographic settings then were different and we do not acknowledge the fact that the institutional settings of the time made for inequitable access.
AS the government grapples with modifying the 2002 National Water Policy, an independent effort is made to formulate a draft that looks at water use in all areas in a holistic manner. These and other articles in this review look at different aspects of Indian Agriculture.
Gautam Pingle
R S Sidhu
Sukhpal Singh
A S Bhullar
Arun Chaturvedi
N G Patil
S N Goswami
J Challa
P K Joshi
Prabhakar Tamboli
Ramesh Chand
P A Lakshmi Prasanna
Aruna Singh. K Palanisami
Kadiri Mohan
Shri Krishan
Ramaswamy Iyer
K R Kakumanu
S Raman
Posted on 28 Jul, 2011 02:25 PM

 

Issue: VOL 46 No. 26 and 27 Jun 25 - July 08, 2011

Review of Agriculture

Irrigation in Telangana: The Rise and Fall of Tanks

Gautam Pingle
Perspectives on poverty in India - Stylized facts from survey data – A report by World Bank
This report by World Bank was prepared with the objective of developing the evidence base for policy making in relation to poverty reduction in India.
World Bank (WB)
Posted on 26 Jul, 2011 04:38 PM

CoverIt produces a diagnosis of the broad nature of the poverty problem and its trends in India, focusing on both consumption poverty and human development outcomes.

It also includes attention in greater depth to three pathways important to inclusive growth and poverty reduction harnessing the potential of urban growth to stimulate rural-based poverty reduction, rural diversification away from agriculture, and tackling social exclusion.

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