Dry Land

AGRICULTURE

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Dry Land Agriculture

Dryland farming

• It is cultivation of crops in regions with annual average rainfall less than 500mm and it
may be extended upto 750mm in case of uneven distribution of rainfall.

• Crop failure is most common due to prolonged dryspells during the crop period.

• These are arid regions with a growing season (period of adequate soil moisture) less than 75
days. Moisture conservation practices are necessary for crop production.

 Indian agriculture is predominantly a rainfed agriculture under which both

dryfarming and dryland agriculture are included.

 Out of the 143 million ha of total cultivated area in the country, 101 million ha (i.e.
nearly 70%) area is rainfed.

 In dryland areas, variation in amount and distribution of rainfall influence the crop
production as well as socio-economic conditions of farmers.

 The dryland areas of the country contribute about 42% of the total food grain
production.

 Most of the coarse grains like sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet and other millets
are grown in drylands only.

 The attention has been paid in the country towards the development of dryland
farming.

 Efforts were made to improve crop yields in research projects at Manjari, Solapur,
Bijapur, Raichur and Rohtak.

 An all India co-ordinated research project for Dryland Agriculture was launched by

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History of Dry Farming

• First systematic scientific approach to tackle the problems of dry farming areas was
initiated by Tamhane in 1923 on small plots of Manjari farm near Pune and the work
passes on to Kanitkar in 1926.

• A comprehensive scheme of research was drawn up by Kanitkar with financial support from
ICAR.

• Realising the importance, the ICAR launched a comprehensive project on dryland farming in
five centres: Sholapur and Bijapur in 1933. Hagari and Raichur in 1934 and Rohtak in 1935.

• A decade of work upto 1943-44 mainly on rainfall analysis, physico-chemical properties of

soils, physiological studies in millets and on agronomic aspects resulted in series of dry
farming practices commonly known as the Bombay dry farming practices, Hyderabad dry
farming practices and Madras dry farming practices.

• These practices stressed the need for contour bunding, deep ploughing, application of FYM,
low seed rate with wide spacing, mixed cropping and crop rotation.

• These recommendations could not motivate the farmers to adopt them as the yield
advantage was about 15-20 per cent over a base yield of 200- 400 kg ha.

• By the mid 1950s, importance of soil management was realized for improving the
productivity of drylands and the ICAR established eight Soil Conservation Research Centres
in 1954.

• However, yield improvement was not more than 15-20 per cent over the basic yield of 200-
400 kg ha.

• Importance of short duration cultivars maturing within adequate soil moisture available
period (crop growing period) was recognised during 1960s.

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• With the establishment of All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture
(AICRPDA) IN 1970, emphasis was shifted to multi- disciplinary approach to tackle the
problem from several angles.

• Similar efforts were initiated at ICRISAT, Hyderabad in 1972. The ICAR selected 23 dryland
agricultural centres all over the country on basis of the moisture deficit, soil type and

Major Events in Dryland Agriculture Research are

• 1920 Scarcity tract development given importance by Royal Commission on Agriculture

• 1923 Establishment of Dry Farming Research Station at Manjiri

• 1933 Research Stations established at Bijapur and Shilapur

• 1934 Research Stations established at Hagari and Raichur

• 1935 Research Station established at Rohtak

• 1942 Bombay Land Development act passed

• 1944 Monograph on dry farming in India by Kanitkar

• 1953 Establishment of Central Soil Conservation Board

• 1955 Dry Farming Demonstration Centres started

• 1970 Twenty three Research Centres established under AICRPDA

• 1972 Establishment of ICRISAT

• 1976 Establishment of dryland Operational Research Projects (ORPs)

• 1977 Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Hyatnagar

• 1983 Starting 47 model watersheds under ICAR

• 1984 Establishment of Dryland Development Board in Karnataka and World Bank

• Assisted Watershed Development Programmes in four states

• 1985 Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad

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• 1986 The NWDPRA programmes in 15 states by Government of India
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• 1985 Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad

• 1986 The NWDPRA programmes in 15 states by Government of India

AICRP for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA)

• launched in 1970 with the assistance of the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA).

• It has now a network of 22 centres (19 main, 3 subs) and 8 ORP centres spread across arid,
semi-arid, sub-humid and per-humid rainfed agro-ecologies.

• Objective: Optimize the use of natural resources, i.e., rainfall, land, and water, and minimize
soil and water loss and degradation of the moment.

• Evolve simple technologies to substantially increase crop productivity and profitability.

• It developed crop and contingency plans based on rainfall, drought intensity, soil type, and

Institutes Related to Dryland Agriculture are

• ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner

• ICAR-Central Research Institute of Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad

• ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur

• CSWCRTI: Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun

Desert Afforestation Station

• It was established in 1952 at Jodhpur.

• This was later expanded into Desert Afforestation and Soil Conservation Station in
1957 and finally upgraded to Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) in 1959 under the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.

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• The CAZRI operates through Six Divisions, located at the headquarters in Jodhpur.

• There are five Regional Research Stations located in different agro-climatic zones to work on
location-specific problems.

Some Important Programmes

Per cent of
Region States
rainfed area
Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand
Cold and northern region 60 to 81
and Himachal Pradesh

Arid western Region Rajasthan and Gujarat 66 to 88

SA to arid central MP, Maharashtra,

76 to 82
and southern region AP, TG, Karnataka ,TN
Sub humid to humid Eastern UP, Bihar,
33 to 73
eastern region Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal
Humid to per humid
North-eastern hill states Up to 90
north eastern region

Arid and Semi Arid regions of India

Climate Area (m ha) Regions

Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Parts of

Arid Tropics 31.7
Karnataka, Telanganaand Andhra

Arid Temperate 7.0 Jammu and Kashmir

Maharastra, Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana,

Semi-arid Tropics 95.7 Rajasthan,Tamilnadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana,
UP and MP

Semi-arid Temperate 1.4 Jammu and Kashmir

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Soil Constraints in Dryland Areas

• The constraints for crop production are different in different soil groups.

• The predominant soil group is alluvial where the problems for crop production are not as
acute as in red and black soils.

The different soil constraints for crop production are:

• Inadequate soil moisture availability: The moisture-holding capacity of soils in dry regions
is low due to shallow depth especially in alfisols (red soils), low rainfall.

• Poor organic matter content: The organic matter content in most of the soils under dryland
conditions is very low (< 1 %) due to high temperature and low addition of organic
manures.

• Poor soil fertility: Due to low accumulation of organic matter and loss of fertile topsoil by
soil erosion the dry land soils are poor in fertility status. Most of the dry land soils are
deficient in nitrogen and zinc.

Types of Draught
• There are 3 types of drought. They are as follows:

Type of Drought

• Agricultural drought occurs when there isn’t enough water for a crop
Agricultural drought
to grow at a particular time.

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Type of Drought

• Meteorological drought leads to soil moisture and this always has an

effect on crop production.´ this happens when the actual rainfall in
Meteorological drought an area is significantly less than the climatological mean of that area.
´ Meteorological drought is generally defined by comparing the
rainfall in a particular place and at a particular time.

• Hydrological Drought is associated with the effect of low rainfalls on

the r level in reservoirs, river hydrological drought & a hydrological
drought change in water level affects eco-system.´ This type of
Hydrological drought
drought is noticed sometimes after a meteorological drought.
• This type of drought doesn’t depend only on the number of rainfalls
where water is used carelessly for irrigation and another purpose

• Socioeconomic drought is driven by imbalances in supply and

demand for economic goods due to the physical characteristics
Socioeconomic drought of drought. It occurs when water resources systems cannot meet
water demand, mainly due to a weather-related shortfall in the
water supply.

Problems of Dry Farming

• In India, the problem of crop production in drylands are more numerous and varied as it is
practiced under a wide range of climate and soil conditions. These problems can be broadly
grouped into three: vagaries of monsoon, soil constraints and socio- economic.

Vagaries of Monsoon
• Based on average annual rainfall, the country can be divided into three zones: low (less than
750 mm), medium (750-1,150 mm) and high (more than 1,150 mm) rainfall zones.

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• Dryland area is nearly equally distributed among the three. Areas with less than 1,150 mm
(arid and semi-arid) are the problem areas for crop production. Main characteristics of
rainfall influencing crop production are its variability, intensity and prolonged dry spells

Soil Constraints
• Alluvial soils occupy the largest area in dryland agriculture. Problems of crop production are
not so acute in these soils as they are in black and red soils. Major problems are
encountered in Vertisols, Alfisols and related soils. Black and red and associated soils are
mostly distributed in central and south India. The coastal areas have Alfisols, laterite and

Socio- Economic Constraints

• The socio-economic status of dryland farmers, generally, will not permit them in adopting
the recommended dryland technology.

Major socio-economic constraints are:

• Lack of capital, support price for the produce, marketing and credit facilities make the
farmers hesitate to invest on recommended technology

• Most of the resource poor family opt for avoiding risk in dryland agriculture

Strategy For Dry Farming

• Any technology for drylands should be able to maximise the benefits of a good season and
minimise the adverse effects of an unfavourable season. Attempts were made to develop a
good weather code and drought code. When the monsoon is normal, it should be used
most effectively, using a best variety and the recommended package of practices.

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Drought code come into operation with aberrant weather and the drought programmes
indicate:

 Maximising production through alternate cropping pattern

 Midseason correction to standing crops

 Crop life saving irrigation

 Build up of seed and other inputs to implement the drought complex strategies

Midseason corrections:

• The contingent management practices done in the standing crop to overcome the
unfavorable soil moisture conditions due to prolonged dry spells are known as mid-season
conditions.

 Practices which are done as midseason correction are:

 Thinning: This ca be done by removing every alternate row or every third

row which will save the crop from failure by reducing the competition

 Spraying: In crops like groundnut, castor, redgram, etc., during prolonged dry spells
the crop can be saved by spraying water at weekly intervals or 2 % urea at week to
10 days interval.

 Ratooning: In crops like sorghum and bajra, ratooning can practiced as a

midseason correction measure after breaking of dry spell.

 Mulching: It is a practice of spreading any covering material on the soil surface to

reduce evaporation losses.

 The mulches will prolong the moisture availability in the soil and save the crop
during drought conditions.

• Measures necessary for counteracting aberrant weather:

 Thinning the plants or rows in a sole crop

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 Urea spray

 Life saving irrigation

Moisture Conservation in Drylands

• Annual rainfall in several parts of drylands is sufficient for one or more crops per year.
Erratic and high intensity storms leads to runoff and erosion. The effective rainfall may be
65 per cent or sometimes less than 50 per cent. Hence, soil management practices have to
be tailored to store and conserve as much rainfall as possible by reducing the runoff and
increasing storage capacity of soil profile. A number of simple technologies have been
developed to prevent or reduce water losses and to increase water intake

Tillage
• The surface soil should be kept open for the entry of water through the soil surface.
Offseason shallow tillage aids in increasing rain water infiltration besides decreasing weed
problems.

• Deep tillage once in 2 to 3 years has extremely beneficial in shallow red soils of Anantapur
(AP). Contour cultivation is effective in reducing soil and water loss. On red soils, crusting is
a serious constraint to seedling emergence and soil and water conservation.

• Shallow tillage during initial stage of crop with inter cultivation implements will be effective
in breaking up the crust and improving filtration. Unfortunately, all the tillage practices that
increase entry of water also tend to increase evaporation losses from surface soil. This is the
major component of storage inefficiency in soils with high water holding capacity.

• Tillage: The mechanical manipulation of soil with tools and implements for
obtaining conditions ideal for seed germination, seedling establishment, and growth of
crops is known as tillage.

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 The objective of tillage in dryland areas: Develop desired soil structure for a
seedbed that allows rapid infiltration and good retention of rainfall.

 Minimize soil erosion and to obtain specific land configurations for in-situ moisture
conservation, drainage, planting, etc.

 Hence, attention must be paid to the depth of tillage, time of tillage, the direction of
tillage, and intensity of tillage.

Types of tillage Depth

Deep tillage 25-30 cm
Medium deep tillage 15-20 cm
Shallow tillage 10 cm

Fallowing
• Traditional dryland cropping system of deep vertisols involve leaving the land fallow during
rainy season and raise crops only during post rainy season on profile stored stored
moisture.

• The main intention of fallowing is to provide sufficient moisture for the main post rainy
season crops.

• The monsoon rains, even in drought years, usually exceeds storage capacity of root zone
soil depth. This system probably provides some level of stability in the traditional system,
though in years of well distributed rainfall, the chance of harvesting good crop is lost.

• Probably poor drainage, tillage problems and weed control have forced the farmers to
adopt post rainy season cropping. Since the soil has to be kept weed free during rainy

Mulching

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• Mulching is a practice of covering soil surface with organic materials such as straw, grass,
stones, plastics etc, to reduce evaporation to keep down weeds and also to moderate
diurnal soil temperatures.

• Soil and runoff losses can also be reduced considerably. The effectiveness of mulches in
conserving moisture is relatively higher under conditions of more frequent rains, drought
and during early plant growth when canopy cover remains scanty. Though, mulches are
useful in mitigating moisture stress effects, availability and cost is limiting their use.

• Mulches

 Mulch is any material applied on the soil surface to check evaporation and
improve soil water. Application of mulches results in additional benefits like soil
conservation, moderation of temperature, reduction in soil salinity, weed control,
and improvement of soil structure.

 About 60 to 75 percent of the rainfall is lost through evaporation.

Straw mulch • If straw is used as mulch, it is called as straw mulch

• Plastic materials like polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride are also used as mulching
Plastic mulch
materials.
• Crop residues like wheat straw or cotton stalks etc. are left on the soil surface as
a stubble mulch.
Stubble mulch
• The advantages of stubble mulch farming are the protection of soil from erosion
and reduction of evaporation losses.

• If the surface of the soil is loosened, it acts as a mulch for reducing evaporation.
Soil mulch • This loose surface soil is called soil mulch or dust mulch. Inter cultivation
creates soil mulch in a growing crop.

• It consists of digging narrow trenches across the slope at intervals and placing
the straw or crop residues in these trenches.
Vertical mulch
• The pruned plant material is placed in contour trenches formed between rows
or in trenches around the plants in concentric circles each year in one circle.

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Characteristics of Dryland Agriculture

Dry land areas may be characterized by the following features,

• Uncertain, ill-distributed and limited annual rainfall

• Occurrence of extensive climatic hazards like drought, flood etc.

• Undulating soil surface

• Occurrence of extensive and large holdings

• Practice of extensive agriculture, i.e., prevalence of monocropping etc.

• Relatively large size of fields

• Similarity in types of crops raised by almost all the farmers of a particular region

• Very low crop yield

• Poor economy of the farmers

Dry farming crops are characterized by very low and highly variable and uncertain yields.

• The rainfall is low and highly variable which results in uncertain crop
Inadequate and uneven
yields.
distribution of rainfall
• The distribution of rainfall during the crop period is uneven.
Prolonged Dry spells during • Long breaks in the rainy season is an important feature of the Indian
the crop period monsoon
• The crops raised on red soils, and coarse-textured soil suffers due to
Low moisture retention
lack of moisture whenever prolonged dry spells occur due to their
capacity
low moisture-holding capacity.
• Due to the late onset of monsoon, the sowing of the crop is delayed
resulting in poor yields.
Late-onset and early
• Sometimes the rain may cease very early in the season exposing the
cessation of rains
crop to drought during flowering and maturity stages which reduces
the crop yields considerably

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Dryland Agriculture

• It is the profitable production of useful crops, without irrigation, on lands (arid and semi
arid) that receive annual rainfall of less than 750mm

Rainfed Agriculture

Difference between Rainfed and Irrigated Farming

Rainfed farming Irrigated farming

In a certain part of the year crop is grown where Throughout the year depending upon the water
rainfall received availability

Crops/crop varieties having drought tolerance or According to the need, crops or their varieties are
less water requirement are used selected

Duration of crops depends on the rainfall

duration/ growing period most of the times short Depending upon the need
duration (LGP)

Mixed cropping is beneficial Generally pure cropping is done

Due to limitation of moisture one or two crops in More than two crops in a year are grown, subject
a year is possible to availability of water

The field is ploughed to deep to increase No need for deep ploughing to conserve soil
infiltration of rains moisture

Land is prepared according to optimum time of

Land is prepared immediately after rainfall
sowing

Risk of crop failure is expected due to insufficient

No risk of crop failure
soil moisture or drought

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• The distinguishing features of these two types of farming are given below.

Constituent Dryland farming Rainfed farming

Rainfall (mm) <800 >800
Moisture availability to the
Shortage Enough
crop
Growing season (days) <200 >200
Arid and semiarid as well as
Growing regions uplands of sub-humid and humid Humid and subhumid regions
regions

Cropping system Single crop or intercropping Intercropping or double cropping

Constraints Wind and water erosion Water erosion

Improved Dryland Technologies

• Following are the various improved techniques and practices recommended for achieving

Crop Planning
• Crop varieties for dryland areas should be of short duration through resistant tolerant and
high yielding which can be harvested within rainfall periods and have sufficient residual

Planning for Weather

• Variation in yields and output of the dryland agriculture is due to the observation in
weather conditions especially rainfall. An aberrant weather can be categorized in three
types viz.,

 Delayed onset of monsoon.

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 Long gaps or breaks in rainfall

 Early cessation of rains towards the end of monsoon season.

Crop substitution
• Traditional crops/varieties which are inefficient utilizer of soil moisture, less responsive to
production input and potentially low producers should be substituted by more efficient

Cropping systems
• Increasing the cropping intensities by using the practice of intercropping and multiple
cropping is the way of more efficient utilization of resources. The cropping intensity would
depend on the length of growing season, which in turn depends on rainfall pattern and the
soil moisture storage capacity of the soil.

Contingency cropping:

• It is the growing of a suitable crop in place of the normally sown highly profitable crop of
the region due to aberrant weather conditions.

 In dryland agriculture, the contingency of growing another crop in place of a

normally grown crops arises due to a delay in the onset of monsoon.

 Contingency cropping is highly location-specific due to variation in amount and

distribution of rainfall. Especially in arid regions, the spatial distribution of rainfall is
highly variable.

 Contingency plan and midterm corrections vary with the type and time of
occurrence of rainfall aberration.

Strip Cropping:

• It is a system of growing of few rows of erosion resisting crops and erosion permitting crops
in alternate
AGRICULTURE strips
| Dry Land on contour (across the slope).
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• Objective: Breaking long slopes to prevent soil loss and runoff.

 Close growing erosion resisting crops reduce the transporting and eroding power of
water by obstructing runoff and filtering sediment from runoff to retain in the field.

 The normal ratio between the erosion resisting crops and erosion permitting crops is
1: 3.

 Among the different crops, the anti-erosion value of pillipesara is highest, whereas
the cotton crop recorded the lowest value.

Contour strip • The erosion permitting crops and erosion resisting crops are grown in alternate
cropping strips along the contours.

Field strip • Alternate strips of erosion permitting crops and erosion resisting crops
cropping are raised across the general slope not necessarily on exact contour

Wind strip • Strip cropping of erosion permitting and erosion resisting crops across the
cropping direction of the most prevailing wind irrespective of the contour.

• This type of strip cropping is practiced in areas having steep slopes and badly
Buffer strip
eroded soils were strips of permanent cover crops or perennial legumes or
cropping
grasses or shrubs are alternated with field crops.

Fertilizer Use
• The availability of nutrients is limited in drylands due to the limiting soil moisture.
Therefore, application of the fertilizers should be done in furrows below the seed. The use
of fertilizers is not only helpful in providing nutrients to crop but also, helpful in efficient use
of soil moisture. A proper mixture of organic and inorganic fertilizers improves moisture

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Rain Water Management

• Efficient rain water management can increase agricultural production from dryland areas.
Application of compost and farm yard manure and raising legumes add the organic matter
to the soil and increase the water holding capacity. The water, which is not retained by the
soil, flows out as surface runoff. This excess runoff water can be harvested in storing dugout
ponds and recycled to donar areas in the server stress during rainy season or for raising

Watershed Management
• Watershed management is an approach to optimize the use of land, water and vegetation
in an area and thus, to provide solution drought, moderate floods, prevent soil erosion,
improve water availability and increase fuel, fodder and agricultural production on a

Alternate Land use

• All drylands are not suitable for crop production. Same lands may be suitable for range/
pasture management and for tree farming and ley farming, dryland horticulture, agro-
forestry systems including alley cropping. All these systems which are alternative to crop
production are called as alternate land use systems.

• This system helps to generate off-season employment mono-cropped dryland and also,
minimizes risk, utilizes off-season rains, prevents degradation of soils and restores balance
in the ecosystem.

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