Dry Land Agriculture - 2 | Agriculture Optional Notes for UPSC PDF Download

Challenges of Dry Land Agriculture

• Moisture stress and uncertain rainfall
• Inefficient storage of rain water
• Disposal of dry farming produce
• Use of limited crop varieties
• Problem in application of manure and fertilizers
• Inferior quality of farm produce
• Monsoon irregularity.
• Increasing water scarcity.
• Extremely poor condition of farmers, lack of infrastructure to boost production.
• Dryland areas suffer from various process of soil degradation especially soil erosion.
• Government expenditure is largely focused towards irrigated regions.

Steps Needed

• Conjunctive use of rainfall, surface and ground water.
• Harvesting of water for use in dry periods.
• Soil conservation by contour bunding, terracing, land sloping and land levelling and also by practicing conservational tillage (zero tillage and minimum tillage).
• Practice of drip irrigation to save water.
• Lining of canals to minimize water loss.
• Agronomic practices like mixed cropping and crop rotation which increase the yield of crops need to be practiced.
• Integrated nutrient management need to be practiced with special emphasis on use of bio-fertilizers to maintain the soil fertility.
• For the non-farm operation dryland areas have to be supplemented with non-form occupation like animal husbandry, fisheries, poultry, social forestry and cottage for the development of these areas.

Steps Taken

• In the 1960s, both the Central Government and the Planning Commission recognized that replicating the input-intensive strategy from the Green Revolution in the well-endowed regions of north-western India and the larger Indo-Gangetic plains wouldn't support agricultural growth in rainfed areas effectively.
• Consequently, a series of initiatives were launched to promote agricultural growth in rainfed regions through a natural resource management (NRM) approach. This approach aimed to address the unique challenges of these areas.
• Initiatives such as the Drought Prone Areas Programme and the Desert Development Programme were introduced in specific watersheds to showcase the benefits of a holistic and integrated NRM-based approach.
• The National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) is currently developing a comprehensive drought-proofing action plan for 24 districts in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. Similar action plans will be created for 151 additional districts.
• The Dalwai Committee, in its report on doubling farmers' income (DFI), recommended the utilization of dryland farming techniques in drought-prone districts.
• Watershed management schemes are employed to capture rainfall and runoff on or near farmers' fields, effectively extending the period of water availability for agriculture.
• The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) plays a significant role in supporting these efforts.
• The Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture is engaged in research activities to address the specific challenges of dryland agriculture.

Notes

• Over the last decade, India's economy has shifted away from being primarily agricultural. Currently, only one-third of the rural economy is focused on agriculture.
• The manufacturing, service, and agriculture sectors are roughly balanced in a 1:3 ratio.
• The challenges facing Indian farmers today are not related to production but rather their ability to generate income from their produce. Indian farms are currently producing 1.3 billion tonnes of agricultural products. India encompasses diverse agro-climatic zones, and it has a vast expanse of arable land, second only to the United States.
• While agriculture has shown positive performance in India, the farmers themselves have not benefited to the same extent.
• The situation we face now is marked by surpluses that surpass demand, leading to unfavorable market prices. The global decline in commodity prices has exacerbated this situation. Additionally, experts have pointed out that our focus on food security, particularly carbohydrates, addresses only one-sixth of the broader issue of nutritional security.