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)
How do farmers perceive soil erosion?
A study in Telangana argues that farmers’ expertise is important while assessing the severity of soil erosion.
Dayakar Peddi
Kavi Kumar
Posted on 01 Aug, 2019 03:24 PM

Regionally and globally, soil erosion is a major contributor to total land degradation.
A farmer in Pochampally (Image:Saurabh Chatterjee, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Meghalaya draft water policy, Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill both get approval
Policy matters this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 16 Jul, 2019 10:34 PM

Meghalaya's draft water policy gets approval
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been fighting over Cauvery water sharing for a long time (Source: Wikipedia Commons)
Certificate Programme by Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS)
Field-Level Training on Participatory Watershed Management and Sustainable Agriculture
Posted on 16 Jul, 2019 12:37 PM

SPS Certificate Programme

 

To apply for this programme, write to waterpractitioners@gmail.com
Budget 2019 talks big on water
But have the crucial schemes received more money than last year? We talk to some experts in the water sector to find out.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 10 Jul, 2019 02:04 PM

Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister alluded to gaon, garib and kisan as the centre of all policies of this government, while announcing a clutch of schemes aimed at the rural and urban poor.
Indian children tapping water (Image: Global Water Partnership, Flickr Commons, CC BY NC-SA 2.0)
Cultivating more millets to make food production climate resilient in India
A study finds that selectively increasing coarse grains/millets in crop production can greatly help in reducing the negative impacts of climate shocks on future food production in India.
Davis et al
Posted on 09 Jul, 2019 02:32 PM

Crop production is highly influenced by the sensitivity of crops to variations in climate and can have major implications for food supply and rural livelihoods. The effects of climate change are increasing in India, where extreme rainfall events have become more frequent and spatially more variable.
A millet crop ready for harvest in rural India (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
How millets can make India’s food basket climate-resilient
Study reveals millets can mitigate effects of climate change on rainfed agriculture, thus improving food security.
Dinesh C Sharma
India Science Wire
Posted on 02 Jul, 2019 03:38 PM

New Delhi, July 1 (India Science Wire): Increasing temperatures, changing monsoon and more frequent extreme climate events are posing a threat to food security in India.
Millets. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Digging deeper to cope with droughts
A study finds that farmers in south India continue to rely on borewells rather than investing in water conservation structures or demand management strategies to cope with droughts.
K. Palanisami
D. Suresh Kumar
T. Mohanasundari
Posted on 01 Jul, 2019 09:14 PM

India is witnessing the second driest pre-monsoon season in the last 65 years. As the country eagerly eyes the monsoon clouds, the delay so far has now widened the rain deficit to 43%.
Coping with droughts, a challenge for farmers (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Women hold the key to water for food security and nutrition
Study reveals women are central to both food production and preparation, as well as to domestic water provisioning.
Amit Mitra
Nitya Rao
Posted on 01 Jul, 2019 12:34 PM

The water sector remains male dominated at different scales, from engineers and technocrats responsible for designing irrigation systems, to upper caste and upper class men who decide on the location of canals, borewells, tanks, and other water systems at the grassroots level.
A woman from the Ahir tribe at Chapredi village, east of Bhuj with cotton husks. (Image: Meena Kadri, Flickr Commons, CC BY-ND 2.0
Economics of land degradation: India’s new environment targets
What are India's plans for managing its natural resources, undertaking sustainable land management and combating droughts?
Arjuna Srinidhi
Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR)
Posted on 28 Jun, 2019 09:38 AM

Managing natural resources, the sustainable way
Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar with representatives of UNCCD, IUCN and other panelists at the June 17th meeting. (Photo: DD News Hindi)
From water to agriculture, well-being and beyond
While WOTR’s work has contributed to improving SDG outcomes, what are the learnings from the efforts made by the organisation to map and identify the pathways that have brought about this change?
Arjuna Srinidhi
Marcella D’Souza
Crispino Lobo
Posted on 17 Jun, 2019 06:20 PM

Sustainable development, still an unfinished agenda
WOTR’s holistic approach integrates environmental, social and development challenges. (Image Source: WOTR)
Subscribe to Rainfed Agriculture
×