Rainfed Agriculture

Featured Articles
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)
March 2, 2021
Managing groundwater demand: the way forward
Substituting groundwater irrigation by canal irrigation will not help in maintaining the current levels of food production in India. Managing groundwater demand will, finds a study.
Groundwater, a valuable resource! (Image Source: India Water Portal)
January 28, 2021
Budget 2021: Will agriculture sector get a boost?
Solutions are needed that will increase productivity while maintaining sustainability
The government could consider a shift from the price support system to an income support system. PM-KISAN is a step in that direction, but the assistance under that is lacking. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
December 7, 2020
Not in the interest of women farmers!
The new farm related bills will spell doom for women workers who form the bulk of small and marginal sections of Indian agriculture, warns Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM).
Farm women, overworked and underpaid (Image Source: India Water Portal)
December 13, 2019
Trading in virtual water
A study highlights the need to scale down the export of rice, maize, buffalo meat and other items to conserve groundwater in India.
A farmer uses a hosepipe to irrigate crops at her farm in Nilgiris mountains, Tamil Nadu (Image: Hamish John Appleby for IWMI, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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. Amita Bhaduri posted 2 weeks 1 day ago

COVID-19 induced significant economic and social disruptions in India. Rural households, including smallholders, were affected by loss in migrant income, livelihood and farm and non-farm income.
Access to credit increased farmers' expenditures on farm-related activities. (Image: Pixy.org)
Strengthening the frontline for water security
Challenges and aspirations of community champions and how programs can address them Amita Bhaduri posted 1 month ago

India has over 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats, which manage the governance of over 6,64,000 villages spread across the country.
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)
Managing groundwater demand: the way forward
Substituting groundwater irrigation by canal irrigation will not help in maintaining the current levels of food production in India. Managing groundwater demand will, finds a study. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 1 month 2 weeks ago

Groundwater reserves are depleting at rapid rates in India, which is one of the world’s largest consumer of groundwater with it  providing 60 percent of the irrigation needs of the country.
Groundwater, a valuable resource! (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Budget 2021: Will agriculture sector get a boost?
Solutions are needed that will increase productivity while maintaining sustainability Amita Bhaduri posted 2 months 2 weeks ago

The agriculture sector is confronted with high price volatility, low returns, low productivity and weather risks.
The government could consider a shift from the price support system to an income support system. PM-KISAN is a step in that direction, but the assistance under that is lacking. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
The invisible face of agriculture
Women farmers need support in the form of resources, technologies, policies and other actions to level the farming field. The first step is to recognise their role in farming. Amita Bhaduri posted 3 months ago

“Female labour participation has been declining across India from 1990 to 2019. It has declined from 31% to 25% from 2005 to 2010 and further to 20% in 2019. This has contributed to employment loss for women.
Though women are involved in economic activities of the cropping system but their role is negligible in household decision making and participation (Image: PxHere)
Not in the interest of women farmers!
The new farm related bills will spell doom for women workers who form the bulk of small and marginal sections of Indian agriculture, warns Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (MAKAAM). Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 4 months 1 week ago

Three farm-related Bills were recently passed in the Parliament by the BJP led government at the Center, which have subsequently received presidential assent.
Farm women, overworked and underpaid (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Madhya Pradesh’s recurring droughts: Measuring, responding and reducing the vulnerabilities
Drought vulnerability in agriculture has been recognised as a key development issue in the state. (not verified) posted 4 months 2 weeks ago

Climate change has been a popular buzzword for the last two decades in the international policy arena, stimulating multitude of ideas and a few action commitments at different levels of governments.
Rugged, rocky terrain of Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh (Image: Shweta Prajapati)
Who is the thirstiest of them all?
A study evaluating the water use efficiency of sugarcane, curry banana and paddy among borewell irrigating farmers finds paddy to be the most inefficient and thirstiest of the three. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 months 3 weeks ago

Agriculture uses as high as 85 percent of the available water in India of which the irrigated area accounts for nearly 48.8 percent of the 140 million hectare (mha) of agricultural land, while the remaining 51.2 percent is rainfed.
Paddy, a thirsty crop (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Farm ponds need pondering
While farm ponds have often been depicted as magic wands to deal with water scarcity, experiences in Maharashtra show otherwise. Aarti Kelkar Khambete posted 6 months 4 weeks ago

Agriculture and inefficient water use in India
Farm ponds, often touted as magic wands to tackle water scarcity, have raised a number of concerns (Image Source: Ninad Sargar)
Agriculture and food security challenges amid Covid-19
The pandemic has bared our vulnerabilities and shaken our collective consciousness to focus on agriculture and rural economy. Amita Bhaduri posted 7 months 1 week ago

India has seen large scale rural-urban migration of people trying to escape rural distress in the last few decades.
Women farmers produce vegetables through innovative farming practices in Banka, Bihar. They can sell their produce at regional markets, and earn a better income for their families. (Image: USAID, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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