Rainfed Agriculture

This report by the Task Force, constituted by the Planning Commission, Government of India in April, 2008, is an outcome of the need expressed by the Prime Minister of India for a fresh analysis of the problems of the hill states and hill areas of the country in a manner that suggests that these areas do not suffer in any way on account of their peculiarities.

Opinions have been expressed that the pace of development of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) has been slow when compared to the rest of the country. At the same time, its fragile nature and difficulty of taking up conventional development initiatives has not been appreciated. In this report, arguments have been presented recommending reshaping of policies to bring in the “mountain perspective” for the IHR, in the national planning. Emphasis has also been laid on developing norms for good governance and for harnessing social capital at the grassroots.

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This paper in Current Science discusses how rainfed agriculture can play a major role in India’s food security and sustainable economic growth, and notes that there are large opportunities for gains from adaptation and new investments in water management for meeting the targets under the proposed National Food Security Act.

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This strategy handbook for practitioners authored by Astad Pastakia and Sachin Oza and published by Development Support Centre deals with livelihood augmentation in rainfed areas. It is a compilation of ongoing, successful strategies piloted and upscaled by a range of development agencies in different parts of the country. The handbook is presented in four volumes under a common framework and focus on initiatives related to: participatory natural resource management; rural entrepreneurship development; use of information communication technology and institution development.

About 400 million rural poor reside in about 200 poorest districts of the country that constitute rainfed areas. Scientific research has revealed a vast untapped potential in rainfed agriculture where crop yields are lower than their potential by two to five fold. A large number of innovative projects and ideas have been tried to address this issue, although documentation has been uneven and fragmented. Drawing upon such experiences, the handbook points towards new vistas and untapped opportunities in meeting the challenge of enhancing food security with limited water resources and improving the carrying capacities of rainfed areas to match the rapidly increasing populations in these regions and elsewhere.

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There is an ongoing programme to extend the benefits of the green revolution to the eastern parts of the country. The states of Assam, Bihar, eastern U.P, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Orissa were allocated extra funds in the last year for this purpose. This year (2011-12) too, the Union Budget has allocated additional Rs.400 crore for the same purpose. The money will be utilised according to a plan created by these states. The plan is to address the main constraints impeding the growth of agriculture. The short and medium term plan focuses on water management, efficient power and other input utilisation. Also the creation and maintenance of agricultural assets like wells is also looked into.

The planning was done so that non-National Food Security Mission (NFSM)  districts are mostly chosen. These constitute 54 % of the total districts (97 out of 183). Also,  clusters of villages comprising of 1000 hectares land were made in most cases. Such clusters would expedite execution, monitoring and create visible impacts.
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