Rainfed Areas

This paper discusses agricultural techniques that rely on non-chemical methods  that enhance crop productivity. Stating that modern agriculture increases production cost, the author observes that productivity of the same crop was higher in pre-British times than what it is now with modern agriculture techniques.

As these old agricultural techniques have not been scientifically researched there is a lot of scepticism which also results in them not being promoted. The paper lists out agricultural techniques, which result in sustainable high yields and are accepted by the scientific community.Read More

This paper reports on a field experiment conducted at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Patancheru, where four crop-husbandry systems were studied.

Two of the four systems are low-cost farming methods which are based on traditional and scientific knowledge on using crop residues, farm-waste, compost, Gliricidia lopping, bacterial inoculants, and herbal extracts as nutrients to nourish the soil, and as biopesticides to manage pests.

The third system is conventional agriculture which is the "control" and receives chemical input as suggested by research institutions depending on crop type. The fourth is a combination of the  first three.Read More

This paper describes some traditional water management techniques of the Konkan region of Maharashtra, with the hope that an effort will be made to revive them to ensure water supply for rural areas.Read More