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Rainfed Agriculture Rainfed Agriculture Authors R.K. Nanwal and G.A. Rajanna NEW INDIA PUBLISHING AGENCY Pitam Pura, New Delhi – 110 088 First published 2023 by CRC Press 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by CRC Press 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2023 New India Publishing Agency CRC Press is an imprint of Informa UK Limited The right of R.K. Nanwal and G.A. Rajanna to be identiﬁed as author(s) of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from9781032429243 this work, access www.copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. For works that are not available on CCC please contact [email protected] Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identiﬁcation and explanation without intent to infringe. Print and electronic editions not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bhutan). British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 9781032429243 (hbk) ISBN: 9781032429250 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003364917 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003364917 Typeset in Times New Roman by NIPA, Delhi Preface Rainfed agriculture is practiced in most of the arid and semiarid areas of India. About 67 % of arable land in India (143.2 m ha) is rainfed. In terms of production rainfed agriculture accounts for production of more than 40 per cent of total food grains, nearly 75 per cent of oilseeds, 90 per cent of pulses and 70 per cent of cotton. Most of the rainfed lands are typified by highly fragile natural resource base; the rainfall is low; soils are often coarse textured, sandy, inherently low in fertility, organic matter and water holding capacity; and are easily susceptible to wind and water erosion. Deterioration of natural resources is the main issue threatening sustainable development of rainfed agriculture, more so in the Third World Countries. India will have to produce 300 million tonnes of food grains to feed 1.5 billion populations (approx.) in the coming years. This target cannot be realized from irrigated areas alone as we have irrigation potential for 178 million hectares only. Therefore, we will have to evolve an appropriate technology for dry land farming. On the other hand, we can say that second 'Green Revolution' in Indian agriculture can be in rainfed/dryland agriculture. In semester system of education the students are quite dynamic for which the students are to be helped for changeover. We can identify their difficulties for comprehensation of language, nonavailability of text books for their semester system. The need for comprehensive information on rainfed farming relevant to undergraduate and postgraduate students of agriculture has been felt for quite sometime. We hope this book will prove a fillip. The present book suite to the need of students. The chapters of the book have been selected and arranged in such a manner as to lead the students through the entire gamut of rainfed agriculture supported by suitable examples and diagrams. The topics covered are most relevant in view of growing interests in rainfed agriculture technologies. The focus is on new concept and approaches in dryland and rainfed lands; rainfed farming-introduction, characteristics, distribution and problems; efficient management of rainfed crops; water harvesting and moisture conservation; study of mulches and antitranspirants; vi Rainfed Agriculture principles of intercropping; concept of watershed resource management; drought and its management; soil erosion-definition, nature and extent of erosion; stress physiology; scope of agro-horticultural, agro-forestry and silvi-pasture in dryland agriculture etc. R.K. Nanwal G.A. Rajanna Important Abbreviations Related to Rainfed Agriculture AICRPDA : All India Coordinated Research Project on Dryland Agriculture Hyderabad AISSLUP : All India Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, New Delhi CAZRI : Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur CGWB : Central Ground Water Board, New Delhi CIAE : Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal CIDA : Canadian International Development Agency CRIDA : Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad CSWCRTI : Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute Dehradun DDP : Desert Development Programme EGP : Effective Growing Period GIS : Geographical Information System ICARDA : International Centre for Agriculture Research on Dry Areas, Aleppo Syria ICRAF : International Centre for Research on Agroforestry, Nairobi, Kenya ICRISAT : International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics Hyderabad IGFRI : Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi IWDP : Integrated Watershed Development Project LCC : Land Capability Class NBSS & LUP : National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur NRCAF : National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi NRSA : National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad NWDB : National Wasteland Development Board, New Delhi viii Rainfed Agriculture NWDPRA : National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Areas UNDP : United Nations Development Programme USDA : United States Department of Agriculture Contents Preface....................................................................................................... v Important Abbreviations Related to Rainfed Agriculture ....................... vii 1. Rainfed Farming: Introduction, Characteristics Distribution and Problems ................................................................... 1 2. Efficient Management of Rainfed Crops, Contingent Crop Planning for Aberrant Weather Situations ......................................... 19 3. Management of Rainfed Crops: Choice of Crops and Varieties – Planting Methods under Low Rainfall Conditions ........................... 47 4. Water Harvesting and Moisture Conservation ................................... 67 5. Principles of Intercropping: Cropping Systems/Intercropping Systems in Rainfed Agriculture – Mulches and Antitranspirants ............. 85 6. Concept of Watershed Resource Management, Problems Approaches and Components ..........................................................109 7. Drought and Its Management ..........................................................129 8. Land Use Capability Classification, Scope of Agro-Horticultural Agro-Forestry and Silvi-Pasture in Dryland Agriculture....................161 9. Tillage, Tilth, Frequency and Depth of Cultivation – Compaction in Soil Tillage, Concept of Conservation Tillage ................................177 10. Soil Erosion: Definition, Nature and Extent of Erosion Types of Erosion and Factors Affecting Soil Erosion ........................197