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)
Trading in virtual water
A study highlights the need to scale down the export of rice, maize, buffalo meat and other items to conserve groundwater in India.
K S Sree Vidhya
L Elango
Posted on 13 Dec, 2019 09:12 AM

The recent trade war between the United States and China was, among other things, about virtual water - the hidden water in products. Producing anything, whether it is soyabean or clothes, uses water, and has a water footprint.
A farmer uses a hosepipe to irrigate crops at her farm in Nilgiris mountains, Tamil Nadu (Image: Hamish John Appleby for IWMI, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Replacing rice will improve India’s climate resilience
A study calls for solutions that can benefit farmers and the environment and positively impact India's nutrition indicators.
Kyle Frankel Davis
Ashwini Chhatre
Narasimha D Rao
Deepti Singh
Suparna Ghosh-Jerath
Anvi Mridul
Miguel Poblete-Cazenave
Nabin Pradhan
Ruth DeFries
Posted on 11 Dec, 2019 11:50 AM

A new study finds that introducing coarse cereals such as millet and sorghum could improve India’s national food supply in many ways.
Rice field in Karnataka (Image: Guldem Ustun, Flickr Commons, CC BY 2.0)
Mapping Pune’s aquifers
Groundwater use has doubled in Pune. Comprehensive mapping of groundwater resources and better management and governance is the need of the hour.
Himanshu Kulkarni
Manoj Bhagwat
Posted on 25 Oct, 2019 01:13 PM

Pune continues to face a water crisis every summer despite having sufficient water, thanks to its geographical location and plentiful natural water assets. While enough of its water needs are taken care of by water supply from the Khadakwasla dam, the use of groundwater to meet the needs of the population continues to increase.
Groundwater, an exploited resource (Image Source: India Water Portal)
How farm ponds in Madhya Pradesh are building agricultural resilience
An intern with Watershed Organisation Trust narrates his field experience from the villages of Madhya Pradesh, where farmers are using farm ponds to conserve water.
Apoorv Nandwana
Posted on 24 Oct, 2019 12:33 PM

Madhya Pradesh, promoted as 'The Heart of India' by the state's tourism board is aptly named so because of its central location. The campaign made me keen to visit the state, for the last many years.
A farm pond constructed by Sheshrao Dhurve in Karaghat Kamti village of Madhya Pradesh
In conversation with K. J. Joy of SOPPECOM
In this interview, Joy talks about his work as an activist working in rural Maharashtra, and how he came to work on water conflicts in India.
Priya Desai
Posted on 21 Oct, 2019 10:41 AM

To many in the water sector, K. J. Joy needs no introduction. An activist at heart, Joy is known for his untiring rights based work in mobilising communities in rural Maharashtra, and for his research work on water and water related conflicts including inter-state riparian water conflicts.
KJ Joy speaks at a felicitation for the late Professor Ramaswamy Iyer.
Goa fights to protect its khazans; Coonoor cleans its river; Punjab gov scrambles to clean Kali Bein River before Gurupurab
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 10 Oct, 2019 11:36 AM

Goa government, farmers against MoEF for proposing re-designation of the state’s low lying lands
Aerial view of a Khazan in the Zuari river, Goa.
India’s target to combat land degradation and desertification
While India has increased its target of restoring degraded land from 21 million ha to 26 million ha, what is the scale of the challenge and what do the new targets mean?
Arjuna Srinidhi
Posted on 01 Oct, 2019 05:44 PM

India finally announced that it would increase its targets of restoring degraded lands from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares[1].
Combating desertification and land degradation in semi-arid regions of Maharashtra, India (Image Source: WOTR)
From droughts to floods: India’s tryst with climate extremes
Deconstructing the traditional narrow engineering based policy discourses around floods and droughts and connecting them to social and cultural realities is the need of the hour in India.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 01 Oct, 2019 11:54 AM

India has witnessed extreme weather conditions this year. While parts of the north and south have battled drought like conditions this summer, the northeast and western coastal areas witnessed heavy rains and floods.
Water talk Series at Mumbai (Image Source:Tata Insitute of Social Sciences)
The Water Future Conference in Bangalore: Towards a Sustainable Water Future
The recently concluded 4 day conference in Bangalore looked at the current state of global water resource challenges & future pathways to achieve the SDGs, while ensuring equity in access to all.
Priya Desai
Posted on 30 Sep, 2019 12:38 PM

The Water Future Conference in Bangalore last week, saw many from the scientific community, academia, research, civil society and the media come together to discuss the state of water resources across the world and in India, as well as future pathways and scenarios, and different technological a
Charles Vorosmarty, Chair, COMPASS Initiative, Water Future at the opening plenary on advanced water system assessments to address water security challenges of the 21st century.
Climate vulnerability map of India coming soon
DST and SDC working together to develop pan-India climate vulnerability assessment map, to help communities and states better prepare for climate change.
Dinesh C Sharma
India Science Wire
Posted on 28 Sep, 2019 04:27 PM

New Delhi, September 27 (India Science Wire): Rising sea levels, increasing number of extreme weather events, urban floods, changing temperature and rainfall patterns - such impacts of climate change are being felt in many parts of India, and not just in the coastal areas or hilly regions. 
Dr. Akhilesh Gupta , head of the climate change programme at DST. Image source: India Science Wire
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