Crop and contingency planning for rainfed regions of India: a compendium by AICRPDA
Rainfed Agriculture extends over 87.5 m.ha of net sown area in different agro-climatic zones of our country and contributes over 40 percent to our food basket. Rainfed agriculture in turn supports 40 percent of human and 60 percent of livestock populations. Majority of the Nutritious cereals (87.5%), pulses (87.5%), oilseeds (77%) and cotton (65.7%) are predominantly grown in this area. The productivity of these rainfed crops, however, often fluctuates due to vagaries of weather. In this context, the All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) with a network of 22 centres in different SAUs and supported by 8 Operational Research Projects (ORPs) has been making efforts to develop and upscale appropriate contingency crop planning strategies to achieve sustainable productivity of rainfed crops in different agro-climatic environments. The project has also generated appropriate strategies and agro-techniques for growing rainfed crops under normal and delayed onset, early withdrawal and extended monsoon conditions. The project has also come up with sustainable rainfed practices, which are being actively adopted by the small, medium and large rainfed farmers in different parts of the country.