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)
Rainfed areas and rice farming Crucial agricultural water issues
Making up-gradation of rainfed areas a priority for food production and poverty alleviation Posted on 25 Dec, 2010 08:30 PM

John Thompson works on power, policy and sustainability issues in food and agriculture, water resource management and rural development. He is a STEPS Centre member, IDS Fellow and joint Co-ordinator of the Future Agricultures Consortium. He presents two crucial agricultural water issues to take priority on World Water Day.

Saving rice - Ambitious plans to increase productivity
Rice is at the heart of a fierce strategy debate as the country prepares to launch the second Green Revolution in the eastern states. Policymakers and scientists have drawn up ambitious plans to increase the productivity of this cereal which feeds two-thirds of Indians. Posted on 24 Dec, 2010 10:13 AM
Rice is at the heart of a fierce strategy debate as the country prepares to launch the second Green Revolution in the eastern states. Policymakers and scientists have drawn up ambitious plans to increase the productivity of this cereal which feeds two-thirds of Indians.

Enormous funds are being poured into research aimed at improving seed varieties, with a heavy focus on developing hybrid rice. Is it the right option for millions of small rice farmers who are already battling high input costs and increasingly unpredictable weather? Or does part of the solution lie in efficient methods of cultivation that will cut down water use and improve yield?

Rice intensification for increasing productivity in Koraput, Odisha
System of Rice Intensification is new mantra for reducing water usage and increasing productivity Posted on 24 Dec, 2010 10:12 AM


System of Rice Intensification

Photo: Muralidhar Adhikari

Ecological farming: Drought resistant agriculture – A paper by Greenpeace
This paperelaborates on the drought-resistant crop varieties and calls for policy makers to increase funds for research on the system. Posted on 20 Dec, 2010 08:09 PM

This paper by Greenpeace on ecological farming illustrates proven, modern farming approaches that help cope with drought. It elaborates on the drought-resistant crop varieties and calls for policy makers to increase funds for research on the system. 

Human-induced climate change is resulting in less and more erratic rainfall, especially in regions where food security is very low. The poor in rural and dry areas will suffer the most and will require cheap and accessible strategies to adapt to erratic weather. This adaptation will need to take into account not only less water and droughts, but also the increased chance of extreme events like floods. 

Biodiversity and a healthy soil are central to ecological approaches to making farming more drought-resistant and more resilient to extreme events. Practices that make soils better able to hold soil moisture and reduce erosion and that increase biodiversity in the system help in making farm production and income more resilient and stable. 

Water poverty in the northeastern hill region of India: Potential alleviation through multiple-use water systems - A report by IWMI
Local water resource-based multiple-use water systems that provide water supply both for household and livestock needs and for small high-value agriculture are understood. Posted on 20 Dec, 2010 12:07 AM

This study by IWMI maps the household water poverty in a typical remote village of the northeast, understands the causes for such a scenario and reflects on the past efforts. Local water resource-based multiple-use water systems that provide water supply both for household and livestock needs and for small high-value agriculture are understood. 

The per capita and per hectare availability of water in India is highest in this region but the societal (both productive and consumptive) water use is less than five per cent of the existing potential. The unutilised and excessive water supplies during the rainy season create a mayhem of devastations almost every year with ravaging floods, landslides, soil erosion and other infrastructural failures and miseries and unrest in large parts.

Conceptual framework of South Asian water futures exchange - Commodity Vision
The concept of the establishment of a 'futures market in water availability' in the context of the risk of water availability that Indian agriculture has been facing in the recent years. Posted on 18 Dec, 2010 12:15 AM

In this article published in Commodity Vision, the author presents the concept of the establishment of a 'futures market in water availability' in the context of the risk of water availability that Indian agriculture has been facing in the recent years.

With South Asian agriculture being dependent on the timely occurrence of the monsoons, any deviation from the scheduled arrival of the monsoon causes problems not only for the farmers, but also produces a threat to the food security of the region. However, the author argues that, there is no market in South Asia where users and investors exposed to water availability risk can effectively hedge against such a risk.

Water management across space and time in India – A working paper by the University of Bonn
This paper links development of water management and its practices with social, religious, economic development with the rise and fall of the ruling regime. Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 10:09 PM

This working paper by the University of Bonn attempts to give a spatial and temporal overview of water management in India. It traces how people and the successive regimes made choices across space and time from a wide range of water control and distribution technologies. The paper divides the water management in India into four periods –

  • the traditional system of water management before colonial times;
  • response from the colonial rulers to manage the complex socio-ecological system;
  • large scale surface water development after independence; and
  • finally, the small-scale community and market-led revolution.

Water footprint assessments of dehydrated onion products of Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd – A report by IFC
Documenting the water consumption in Jain Irrigation Systems Limited’s (JISL) production of dehydrated onions and of micro-irrigation systems. Posted on 17 Dec, 2010 07:05 PM

This work on water footprint assessments represents a pioneering effort on documenting the water consumption in Jain Irrigation Systems Limited’s (JISL) production of dehydrated onions and of micro-irrigation systems. It also assesses the sustainability of this water consumption and formulate response strategies. 

Direct seeding of rice A simple solution to India s water crisis?
Cultivating rice and reducing usage of water: how technology merges with practices and finds new ways to better living. Posted on 26 Nov, 2010 11:57 AM

In partnership with the Columbia Water Center, researchers from Punjab Agricultural University have initiated a multi-year project to implement and field-test diverse water-saving technologies, practices and policies aimed at reducing agricultural water use in the state of Punjab, particularly among rice farmers. In last year’s trial, the most successful project involved the installation of inexpensive tensiometers in the fields of over 500 farmers, yielding water savings of 30-35 percent.

Concurrently with the tensiometer trials, the team also recruited a smaller number of farmers to adopt a different way of cultivating rice altogether: Direct seeding of rice.

In traditional rice cultivation, rice is sprouted in a nursery; sprouted seedlings are then transplanted into standing water. With direct seeding, rice seed is sown and sprouted directly into the field, eliminating the laborious process of planting seedlings by hand and greatly reducing the crop’s water requirements.

Conventional rice production requires standing water

×