Preface In India, rain dependent areas are vast and they have a great contribution to make in agricultural production, with just 1/40th of the world land. Of the 141 M ha of net sown area in the country, 80 M ha is rainfed. Rainfed agriculture contributes 40% of food grain production and supports 2/3rds of the livestock population. Despite considerable progress in irrigation development over the five year plans, 85% of coarse cereals, 83% in pulses, 42% in rice, 70% in oilseeds and 65% in cotton are still cultivated as rainfed. Most of the rainfed lands are typified by highly fragile natural resource base; the rainfall is low; soils are often coarse textured, sandy, inherently low in fertility, organic matter and water holding capacity; and are easily susceptible to wind and water erosion. Deterioration of natural resources is the main issue threatening sustainable development of rainfed agriculture, more so in the Third World countries. The need for comprehensive information on rainfed agriculture and watershed management for students of agriculture has been felt for quite some time. I hope this book will prove a fillip. The topics covered are most relevant in view of growing interests in rainfed agriculture technologies. The broad chapters included in the book are: Rainfed agriculture: Introduction, types, characteristics, distribution and importance; History of rainfed agriculture & watershed in India; Problems and prospects of rainfed agriculture in India ; Soil and climatic conditions prevalent in rainfed areas; Drought: types, effect of water deficit on physio- morphological characteristics of the plants, Mechanism of crop adaptation under moisture deficit condition; Water harvesting: importance, its techniques, Efficient utilization of water through soil and crop management practices, Study of mulches and antitranspirants; Management of crops in rainfed areas; Contingent crop planning for aberrant weather conditions; Concept, objective, principles and components of watershed management, factors affecting watershed management; Integrated watershed development. I acknowledge with indebtedness to authors of books/literature from which some of the material in this book has been drawn. Inspite of the best efforts, it is possible that some errors may have crept into the compilation. The readers are requested to kindly let me know the mistakes so that these can be taken care of in the further edition.

Importance of Rainfed Farming In India, rain dependent areas are vast and they have a great contribution to make in agricultural production, with just 1/40th of the world land. Of the 141 M ha of net sown area in the country, 80 M ha is rainfed. Rainfed agriculture contributes 40% of food grain production and supports 2/3rds of the livestock population. Despite considerable progress in irrigation development over the five year plans, 85% of coarse cereals, 83% in pulses, 42% in rice, 70% in oilseeds and 65% in cotton are still cultivated as rainfed. A large portion of industrially important crops such as cotton, groundnut and castor are cultivated under dry land conditions and has a great contribution to make to the production of food, fibre, fuel and furniture timber etc. Though, impressive gains were noted in some of the rainfed crops in recent times, the gap between attainable and farmers’ yields still remain high which is a major cause of concern. Small and marginal farmers who are the backbone of rainfed farming are resource poor and risk averse. Moreover, both public and private investments in technology adoption and infrastructure have been quite low in rainfed agriculture resulting in a vicious circle of low yields-low net returns-low investments in improved technologies. With several resource management problems emerging in irrigated regions, rainfed agriculture offers scope to contribute to the growing food needs of future particularly of pulses and edible oils. The high yield gaps between attainable yields realized by progressive farmers using improved technologies and those actually realized by the farmers at large in any given region offer scope for enhancing overall productivity of rainfed crops anywhere between 50 to 70% in the near term with the adoption of the available technologies, provided resource and institutional constraints in delivering the technology and inputs are addressed timely and adequately. With the promised break-through in yields through genetic manipulation and large scale adoption of water saving technologies through conservation agriculture, the yield gains can be further enhanced in the medium to long term. The 80 million hectares of rainfed farming area is not uniform for resource base, opportunities and constraints. There are areas receiving high rainfall and fertile deep soils where crop yields can be enhanced significantly by double cropping combined with supplemental irrigation with water harvesting. For the relatively lower rainfall regions, the overall system productivity needs to be enhanced by integrating crops, trees and livestock. This agro-eco region based differential approach is the key for realizing the full potential of rainfed agriculture besides addressing the dimension of regional equity.

Rainfed Agriculture - A historic view Historically, famines and scarcities have been recorded from the earliest times in India. They were mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, and there is Jain legend of a 12-year famine in the fourth century A.D. During the reign of the Moghul Emperor Shah Jehan in 1630-32, The official historian recorded in ‘Badsha Namah’ that soup Kitchens were opened, a lakh and half coins were given in charity and one eleventh of land revenue was remitted in the drought effected area. In the remote past, these famines were tided over by saving grains and fodder from years of bumper harvest and by migration of people and cattle to greener pastures. With the rise of population pressure on arable land, the effects of scarcity and famine became progressively severe because the traditional methods of tiding over were no longer adequate. The successive famines in the closing decades of the 19th century closing decades of the 19th century led to the setting up of three Famine commissions. The Commissions made several suggestions which formed the basis of the Famine Code promulgated in 1883 onwards and adopted by the then provincial governments. Apart from the relief works to be taken up during famine, the Commission recommended protective irrigation projects in dry and scarcity area and establishment of department of agriculture at the center and in the province. Later, the Royal commission on Agriculture (1928) reiterated in its report the problem of dryland agriculture and recommended a close attention by departments of agriculture to these problems. The first systematic approach was made in 1923 by setting up small plots at Manjri, near Poona. This was followed by a more comprehensive research scheme on dry farming sanctioned by the Imperial (then Indian) Council of Agricultural Research during 1933-35. Under the scheme, research was conducted in low rainfall areas at Rohtak, Solapur, Bijapur, Raichur and Agra. Based on the results of this scheme, a series of dry farming practices were evolved which were known as ‘ the Bombay Dry farming ‘, ‘ the Madras Dry farming ‘ and ‘ the Hyderabad Dry farming ‘ practices. These practices emphasized soil and water conservation as basic to dryland production programs. The Scheme was terminated in 1943, since it was felt that the immediate objectives had been achieved.

Problems Associated with Rainfed Farming Agriculture It is a dream desire to eliminate drought from this region. There are many problems that are associated with rainfed farming systems. The problems may be grouped into four major factors: climatic, edaphic, technological and socio- economic. Climatic 1.Scarcity of rain-water which is low and unpredictable with respect to intensity and distribution; 2.High ET (nearly 3650 mm annually compared to total annual precipitation ranging from 350 to 1400 mm); 3.Extreme thermic values (upto 490C with the mean annual temperature exceeding 180C at some places); 4.High solar incidence (450 to 500 Cal cm2 day-1); 5.High wind velocity with desiccating winds causing a high rate of ET and wind erosion; 6.Low relative humidity; 7.Extensive climatic hazards such as weather aberrations, drought, flood, frost, gale, cyclones and burning winds due to dry, deserted and denuded situations.

Climatic conditions prevalent in rainfed areas Weather, which is part of climate, plays an important role in crop planning in dry farming area. Out of the several elements of weather, rainfall has key position in success of dry farming. In dryland areas, South West Monsoon brings the bulk of rainfall. The South West Monsoon is followed by North East Monsoon which supplements to South West Monsoon are the main source of rainfall. There are four types of rainfall characterized by the nature in different parts of India. Generally, the rainfall is scanty, erratic and ill distributed. 1. Rainfall The monsoon period is not one of continuous rains in any part of the country. Meghalaya that is uncommon in the behavior of monsoon in the country. There are at least four variations in rainfall. 1.The commencement of rains may be quite early or considerable delayed according to the dates of monsoon for central Maharashtra zone is 10th June but is started as early as 28th May 1925 and its onset was delayed upto 26th June 1954 according with the date of onset of monsoon in Rajasthan is between June 21 to 30 but is started as late as up to end of July 1987 to 1992. 2.There may be prolonged breaks in rainfall. These breaks in monsoon rains can be different duration. The breaks of 5-7 days may not be all serious concern but breaks of longer duration of 2-3 weeks created the situation of plant water stress leading to reduction in agricultural production. Another important point is the physiological properties of soil and available water holding capacity in the relation to the breaks and drought, some of the soils e.g. deep black soils have capacity to store more than 300 mm of water per meter depth where as the desert soil can ensure only 100 mm. The impact of drought is felt more quickly in the soil having less water holding capacity but in sols with high storage capacity 15 days dry break may not affect the crop where as the soils of less storage capacity show wilting symptoms in and dry break such breaks cannot be predicted for a given season in advance. The drought caused due to this break is therefore of different magnitude and severity.

Drought There is no universally accepted definition of drought. Early workers defined drought as prolonged period without rainfall. Drought is a situation when the actual seasonal rainfall is deficient by more than twice the mean deviation. American Meteorological Society defined drought as a period of abnormally dry weather, sufficiently prolonged for lack of water to cause a severe hydrological imbalance in the area affected. Prolonged deficiency of soil moisture adversely affected crop growth indicating incidence of agriculture drought. It is the result of imbalance between soil moisture and evapotranspiration needs of an area over a fairly long period as to cause damage to standing crops and to reduce the yields.

Natural resources conservation and their management hold key to sustainable agriculture and livestock production. It is all the more crucial for countries with predominant agrarian economies where development of sustainable agriculture is essential for overall growth, redressal of poverty and security. Conservation of both soil and rain water as very crucial and basic resources have been practiced since ancient times in India. However, there has been renewed emphasis on conservation and efficient utilization of these resources in the recent past. The fact that 70% of the arable area of India is rainfed with precarious supply of water and that rainfed agriculture supports 44% of India’ s human population and contributes 90 per cent of coarse cereals and pulses, 80 per cent of oilseeds and 65 per cent of cotton and growing realization that further gains i n productivity of crops and livestock will emanate from rainfed regions, leave no room for complacency in this regard. Year after year, the fate of a vast ‘majority of Indian farmers hangs in balance, as success with rainfed agriculture continues to be a gamble. It is evident that crop yields in semi-arid areas depended more on rainfall distribution than on total rainfall and lack of serious efforts to create d water supply for crops through scientific management of rainwater is a factor favouring this avoidable uncertainty. In rainfed agriculture no other input can perhaps enhance the yield without effectively tackling of the rainfall aberration related sub-optimal moisture availability. Therefore a prerequisite for substantial improvement in the agriculture production in the semi-arid region is to manage runoff water and to use it either at the time of moisture stress even during the monsoon or in next season. It has been reported that only one supplementary irrigation at proper stage can double of Rabi crops. But supplemental water is a developed resource and is more expensive than the natural resources. Hence, it is all the more necessary to use this water judiciously and efficiently. Standardization of techniques by which as much of precipitation as possible can be conserved for crop use, either directly in the soil profile through infiltration or through runoff collection and recycling is an area of priority in research.

Soil and water conservation measures Soil conservation is using and managing the land based on the capabilities of the land itself involving application of the best management practices leading to profitable crop production without land degradation. Water erosion control Water erosion occurs simultaneously in two steps : detachment of soil particles by falling raindrops and transportation of detached soil particles by flowing water. Therefore, water erosion can be minimized by preventing the detachment of soil particles and their transportation.

Crop plan and practices for rainfall scarcity prone areas The appropriate crop plan and practices, which have so far been generated and recommended for achieving the objective of increased and stable crop production in dry land areas have been summarized in the following points:- 1.Proper and timely tillage 2.Early sowing 3.Choice of suitable crop/good plant material 4.Proper plant population 5.Cropping system 6.Fertilizer use 7.Timely weed control 8.Efficient rain water storage and its use 9.Alternate land use system 10.Planning for aberrant weather hazard

Watershed A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is: “that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community.” Watershed is defined as a hydro-geological unit of area from which the rainwater drains through a single outlet. Watershed development refers to the conservation, regeneration and judicious use of all the natural resources (like land, water, plants, animals) by human beings. Watershed Management brings about the best possible balance between natural resources on the one side and human beings on the other. Human beings and the ecology are interdependent. The changes in the environment directly affect the lives of the people depending on it. A degraded environment means a degraded quality of life of the people. This degradation can be tackled effectively through the holistic development of the watershed. A watershed provides a natural geo-hydrological unit for planning any developmental initiative. The approach would be treatment from “ridge to valley”. A watershed, also called a drainage basin or catchment area, is defined as an area in which all water flowing into it goes to a common outlet. People and livestock are the integral part of watershed and their activities affect the productive status of watersheds and vice versa. From the hydrological point of view, the different phases of hydrological cycle in a watershed are dependent on the various natural features and human activities. Watershed is not simply the hydrological unit but also socio-political-ecological entity which plays crucial role in determining food, social, and economical security and provides life support services to rural people.

Management of watershed in India It involves management of water, land, energy and greenery, integrating all the relevant scientific approaches appropriate to socio-economic background for a pragmatic development of a watershed. In practice, it means allowing load free rainfall run off from the watershed. Clear outflow imply management of effective soil and water conservation and generating a lush green carpet in whole of the area. In other worlds, it is greening of a watershed through proper management of land, water and energy sources. The comprehensive development of watershed seems to make productive use of all its natural resources and also protect them is termed as watershed management. The Banave terraces in Indonesia and those in Nepal, Mediterranean are examples of integration of human elements into a system of land management, which is an early achievement in watershed management. Watershed management is not merely anti-erosional and anti-run off approach but also a comprehensive integrated approach of land and water resources management. The approach is preventive, progressive, corrective as well as curative. Here wasted land resources could be fruit fully harvested into a productive face for rural development.

Integrated watershed management programme (IWMP) The main objectives of the IWMP are to restore the ecological balance by harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources such as soil, vegetative cover and water. The outcomes are prevention of soil run-off, regeneration of natural vegetation, rain water harvesting and recharging of the ground water table. This enables multi-cropping and the introduction of diverse agro-based activities, which help to provide sustainable livelihoods to the people residing in the watershed area. In addition, there is a Scheme of Technology Development, Extension and Training (TDET) is also being implemented to promote development of cost effective and proven technologies to support watershed management. Till 1.4.2008, Department implemented 3 watershed programmes viz. Integrated Wastelands Development Programme, Drought Prone Areas Programme, Desert Development Programme. Since then, they have been brought under a comprehensive programme named Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) to be implemented under Common Guidelines on Watershed Development, 2008.

Exercise 1: Studies on climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by the Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846-1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936.Later, the climatologist Rudolf Geiger introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system.