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Not Available ; Organic Farming has emerged as an important priority area globally in view of the growing demand for safe and healthy food and concerns on environmental pollution associated with the indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals. Though the use of chemical inputs in agriculture is inevitable to meet the growing demand for food in India, there are opportunities in selected crops and niche areas where organic production could be encouraged to tap the domestic and export markets. Keeping this in view, the Government of India initiated the National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP) in Xth Five Year Plan under which many promotional and policy initiatives were taken up. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) also initiated a network project on organic farming and data is being generated on the feasibility and economics of organic production of important crops in various agro-ecological regions of the country. Farmers in rainfed areas grow a large variety of crops with negligible inputs. Through proper training and organization of farmers groups, some of the areas and crops with good market potential can be encouraged to go organic. However, there exist several research gaps both in nutrient and pest management in different production systems which need to be bridged to enable farmers to produce crops organically. The main challenge is to evolve a package of practices by using inputs permitted in certified organic farming without compromising on the yield levels. I am happy to note that CRIDA has organized a Winter School on Organic Farming in Rainfed Agriculture during November 1-21, 2007 during which a large number expert faculty shared their experiences. The invited papers from the faculty have been reviewed and brought out in the form of a book by Dr. B. Venkateswarlu, the Course Director and his colleagues. This book contains very useful information on the scope of organic farming in different rainfed crops and cropping systems, opportunities in nutrient management through green leaf manuring, bio-fertilizers, vermicompost and other permitted inputs, role of cropping systems in soil fertility build up; use of bio-pesticides and bio-agents for non-chemical pest management, organic horticulture, dairy farming, policy and promotional activities in different states and certification aspects of organic farming. I am confident that this publication will be useful to researchers, development department officials, extension staff, policy makers and all those interested in organic farming ; Not Available

Not Available ; I. History of Rainfed Agriculture A. Pre-Independence period From time immemorial, the chief form of agriculture in the dryland tracts of India was cultivation of drought resistant crops viz., millets for food and fodder. It used to be a gamble with rainfall. During good rainfall years, the hardships of farmers seem to have been mitigated, as surplus grain and fodder were available. But, as water is the most important single factor of crop production, the inadequacy (200-800 mm/year) and extremely uncertainty (cv: 60-70%) of rainfall often caused partial or complete failure of crops leading to periodic food scarcities and famines. Drought was a frequent phenomenon. These factors made the economic life of the dryland cultivator extremely difficult and insecure. To address these issues, the Government of India appointed the First Famine Commission in 1880. The Commission recommended creation of protective irrigation projects in the dry tracts. However, irrigation in scarcity tracts of Madras, Bombay, Mysore and Hyderabad provinces was possible only to a limited extent. Thus, most of the scarcity tracts of south and some in north India had to depend on rainfall for crop production (Kanitkar et al., 1968). The first systematic and scientific approach to the problem of dry farming was attempted only in 1923 to eradicate drought related problems. Dr H.H.Mann, the then Director of Agriculture, in consultation with Shri C.V.Mehta, the then Minister for Agriculture, Bombay Province, initiated research on dry farming on a small plot at Manjari Farm, near Pune, under the leadership of Shri V.A.Tamhane, the then Soil Physicist to the Government of Bombay. After the transfer of Shri Tamhane in 1926, Dr N.V.Kanitkar took up the responsibility. --- ; Not Available

Not Available ; India is a country of about one billion people. More than 70 percent of India's population lives in rural areas where the main occupation is agriculture. Indian agriculture is characterized by small farm holdings. The average farm size is only 1.57 hectares. Around 93 percent of farmers have land holdings smaller than 4 ha and they cultivate nearly 55 percent of the arable land. On the other hand, only 1.6 of the farmers have operational land holdings above 10 ha and they utilize 17.4 percent of the total cultivated land. Due to diverse agro-climatic conditions in the country, a large number of agricultural items are produced. Broadly, these can be classified into two groups - foodgrains crops and commercial crops. Due to the challenge of feeding our vast population and the experience of food shortages in the pre-independence era, 'self reliance' in foodgrains has been the cornerstone of our policies in the last 50 years. Around 66 percent of the total cultivated area is under foodgrain crops (cereals and pulses). Concurrently, commercial agriculture developed for whatever reasons in the pre-independent phase also kept flourishing during the post independent period. Commercial agriculture not only catered to the domestic market but has also been one of the major earners of foreign exchange for the country. Crop diversification is intended to give a wider choice in the production of a variety of crops in a given area so as to expand production related activities on various crops and also to lessen risk. Crop diversification in India is generally viewed as a shift from traditionally grown less remunerative crops to more remunerative crops. The crop shift (diversification) also takes place due to governmental policies and thrust on some crops over a given time, for example creation of the Technology Mission on Oilseeds (TMO) to give thrust on oilseeds production as a national need for the country's requirement for less dependency on imports. Market infrastructure development and certain other price related supports also induce crop shift. Often low volume high-value crops like spices also aid in crop diversification. Higher profitability and also the resilience/stability in production also induce crop diversification, for example sugar cane replacing rice and wheat. Crop diversification and also the growing of large number of crops are practiced in rainfed lands to reduce the risk factor of crop failures due to drought or less rains. Crop substitution and shift are also taking place in the areas with distinct soil problems. For example, the growing of rice in high water table areas replacing oilseeds, pulses and cotton; promotion of soybean in place of sorghum in vertisols (medium and deep black soils) etc. ; Not Available

Not Available ; Increasing evidence over the past few decades indicate that significant changes in climate are taking place worldwide as a result of enhanced human activities. The inventions that were discovered during last few centuries, more so in the last century has altered the concentration of atmospheric constituents that lead to global warming. The major cause to climate change has been ascribed to the increased levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxides (NO2), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) beyond their natural levels due to the uncontrolled activities such as burning of fossil fuels, increased use of refrigerants, and enhanced agricultural related practices. These activities accelerated the processes of climate change and increased the mean global temperatures by 0.6°C during the past 100 years, a phenomenon known as global warming. It has also induced increased climatic variability and occurrence of extreme weather events in many parts of the world. Studies indicate that the years viz., 1997, 1998 and 1999 during the past century, recorded more warmer conditions across the globe, and the process continued in this decade also. Summer 2002 and 2003 were declared as warmest years on record by NOAA especially in the Asian sub continent and in Europe where the temperatures remained extremely high for long periods resulting in death of 20,000 human populations in Europe alone. Scientists attribute this to a long-term warming trend over the globe. In large part of Asia, agricultural production is mainly dependent on the monsoonal rains. Evidences also indicate that large-scale climatic variations are prevalent at micro-regional level influencing the rainfall distribution in different parts of Asia. The causes of these regional climate changes vary from global to region level. It is evident that there was, there is and there will be climate variability at global, regional and local levels. Since climate is closely related to human activities and economic development including agricultural system, there is a serious concern about its stability (Sinha et al., 2000). The awareness of the magnitude of the impact of climate change on society by the various governments led to adoption of an International Convention on Climate Change by United Nations in 1992. Article 2 of this convention called the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) makes two relevant stipulations relevant and important to agriculture, which is (a) prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climatic system, and (b) to ensure that food production is not threatened. The two are related and need in-depth analysis. The global climate system is a consequence of a link between the atmosphere, the oceans, the biosphere, the cryosphere, and the geosphere and any change to this system produced by forcing agents - results in climate change. Some of the atmospheric constituents such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are transparent to short wave solar radiation and opaque to 331 long wave radiation emitted by earths surface, thus, trapping the heat from sunlight near the Earth's surface known popularly as green house effect. This effect keeps the planet 33°C warmer than it would otherwise be, allowing the earth to support life. With the advent of the industrial revolution, there has been a tremendous growth in the fossil-fuel utilization leading to increased carbon dioxide emissions over the globe especially since 1950s. In addition to this, the emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other chlorine and bromine compounds used in refrigeration and other industrial uses not only have an impact on the radiative forcing, but also have led to the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. Land-use change, due to urbanization and deforestation and agricultural practices, affect the physical and biological properties of the Earth's surface. Such effects also change the radiative forcing and have a potential impact on regional and global climate ; Not Available

Not Available ; Introduction The rainfed agro ecosystem in India covers arid, semi arid and sub humid zones which represents more than 70% of the geographical area. Sixty six percent of the 142 m.ha. cultivated area is rainfed. Unlike irrigated areas where homogenous, high intensive cropping systems are common, rainfed farming systems are more diverse and heterogenous. Coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cotton are the major cropping systems. Livestock farming plays an important role in farmer's livelihood. Historically, rainfed farmers followed a low intensive sustainable farming system with excellent integration of crops-trees-pastures and livestock. However, from 70s, with the introduction of hybrids and high yielding varieties particularly in sorghum, pearlmillet and oilseeds, a shift of cropping pattern towards monoculture took place and a corresponding increase in the use of chemical inputs in crop production. The various developmental schemes of the Government of India under different missions have also contributed towards increased use of chemical inputs and higher production. Rainfed Agriculture : Low Input Farming However, the vast majority of rainfed farmers in remote areas still practice low external input or no external input farming which is well integrated with livestock, particularly small ruminants. The average use of chemical fertilizers in rainfed areas based on a survey of non irrigated SAT districts was found to be 18.5 kg as against 58 kg in the irrigated districts (Katyal and Reddy, 1997). Based on several surveys and reports, it is estimated that upto 30% of the rainfed farmers in many remote areas of the country do not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Thus, many resource poor farmers are practicing organic farming by default. The Government of India task force on organic farming and several other reviewers have identified rainfed areas and regions in north east as more suitable for organic farming in view of the low input use (GOI, 2001; Dwivedi 2005; Ramesh et al 2005). ; Not Available

India is a vast country with total geographical area of 328 million hectares (Mha) and a net sown area of 142 Mha. Out of this, over 85 Mha is under rainfed cultivation which is the domain of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), a constituent of ICAR, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The government has assigned top priority for developing rainfed agriculture under the XII Five Year Plan through the use of biotechnology and declaring a National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture. ; ICAR-CRIDA

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy in Malawi and accounts for 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 90% of the export revenues. Corn (maize) is the major cereal crop grown as staple food under rainfed conditions, covers over 92% of the total agricultural area, and contributes 54% of the caloric intake. Corn production is the principle occupation and major source of income for over 85% of the total population in Malawi. Issues of hunger and food insecurity for the entire nation are associated with corn scarcity and low production. Global warming is expected to cause climate change in Malawi, including changes in temperature and precipitation amounts and patterns. These climate changes are expected to affect corn production in Malawi. This study evaluates the impacts of climate change on rainfed corn production in Malawi. Lilongwe District, with about 1,045 square miles of agriculture area, has been selected as a representative area. First, outputs of 15 General Circulation Models (GCMs) under different emission scenarios are statistically downscaled. For this purpose, a weather generator (LARS-WG) is calibrated and validated for the study area and daily precipitation as well as minimum and maximum temperature are projected for 15 GCMs for three time horizons of 2020s, 2050s and 2090s. Probability assessment of bounded range with known distributions is used to deal with the uncertainties of GCMs' outputs. These GCMs outputs are weighted by considering the ability of each model to simulate historical records. AquaCrop, a new model developed by FAO that simulates the crop yield response to water deficit conditions, is employed to assess potential rainfed corn production in the study area with and without climate change. Study results indicate an average temperature increase of 0.52 to 0.94oC, 1.26 to 2.20oC and 1.78 to 3.58oC in the near-term (2020s), mid-term (2050s) and long-term (2090s) future, respectively. The expected changes in precipitation during these periods are -17 to 11%, -26 to 0%, and -29 to -3%. Corn yields are expected to change by -8.11 to 0.53%, -7.25 to -14.33%, and -13.19 to -31.86%, during the same time periods. The study concludes with suggestion of some adaptation strategies that the Government of Malawi could consider to improve national food security under climate change. ; 2013-12-01 ; M.S. ; Engineering and Computer Science, Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering ; Masters ; This record was generated from author submitted information.

Bei einer Beschreibung des Regenfeldbaus (Voraussetzungen, Hindernisse, angewandte Techniken, Regierungsinterventionen, Entwicklungsprogramme) kann nicht außer acht gelassen werden, daß in Gambia Regenfeldbau und Bewässerungsanbau im Zusammenhang gesehen werden müssen. Die vorgeschlagenen Maßnahmen betreffen ausschließlich mittel- und langfristige Entscheidungen. Sie basieren darauf, daß im gesamten öffentlichen Sektor der politische Wille dazu besteht, die Effizienz aller Institutionen zu steigern, die im landwirtschaftlichen Sektor tätig sind. Des weiteren ist eine angemessene Landwirtschaftspolitik (z.B. Produzentenpreise) erforderlich sowie Bemühungen, die staatlichen Ausgaben zu effektivieren. (DÜI-Wgm)

India ranks first among the rainfed agricultural countries in the world. The impact of changing climate threatens rainfed food production as well as the food security of millions of people in the tropics and subtropics. The Government of India initiated Watershed Development Programmes (WDPs) for the overall development of these areas. We, therefore, established a comprehensive, location-specific, bottom-up tool to analyse and compare the climate vulnerability of watershed areas. For this, we deducted a new Climate Vulnerability Index for Rainfed Tropics (CVIRFT) to evaluate the potential effectiveness of programmes to adapt to climate change impacts. The CVIRFT comprises of three dimensions of vulnerability, i.e., adaptive capacity, exposure and sensitivity. These dimensions consist of ten major components and 59 indicators with emphasis on rainfed farming and WDP interventions. To test the tool, we collected primary data through household surveys (n = 215, split among three watershed communities) in Kerala. We show that there were strong variations in the exposure dimension, moderate in sensitivity and negligible in adaptive capacity across the watersheds. After analysing the major components under the dimensions, we suggest focusing on policy orientation towards redesigning of the WDPs with emphasis to economic diversification, livelihood strategies, social networking coupled with stakeholder participation, natural resource management and risk spread through credit and insurance flexibility. The CVIRFT is replicable to similar physio-geographic areas of rainfed farming, with the refinement of indicators suited to the locality.

Not Available ; During recent decades per-eminence of agricultural sector in India has declined despite huge investments on Watershed Development Programs implemented for soil conservation and rainwater harvesting in rain-dependant regions of Peninsular India. Sub-optimal gains from these projects except in a few cases, has induced migration from rural areas to urban region that are ill equipped to take additional pressure. Increased inflow of rural people into urban areas with poor coping skills and deterioration of living condition in urban centres often culminate into social and political flash points forcing the authorities to undertake shortsighted and usually counter-productive measures to keep peace. The paper describes the prevailing socio-economic and environmental scenario in rainfed regions in India that force migration by rural population despite implementation of development projects at massive costs. The study analyses the underlying reasons for the lacunae in the programs and the necessity to urgently revamp them. ; Not Available

India ranks first among the rainfed agricultural countries in the world. The impact of changing climate threatens rainfed food production as well as the food security of millions of people in the tropics and subtropics. The Government of India initiated Watershed Development Programmes (WDPs) for the overall development of these areas. We, therefore, established a comprehensive, location-specific, bottom-up tool to analyse and compare the climate vulnerability of watershed areas. For this, we deducted a new Climate Vulnerability Index for Rainfed Tropics (CVIRFT) to evaluate the potential effectiveness of programmes to adapt to climate change impacts. The CVIRFT comprises of three dimensions of vulnerability, i.e., adaptive capacity, exposure and sensitivity. These dimensions consist of ten major components and 59 indicators with emphasis on rainfed farming and WDP interventions. To test the tool, we collected primary data through household surveys (n = 215, split among three watershed communities) in Kerala. We show that there were strong variations in the exposure dimension, moderate in sensitivity and negligible in adaptive capacity across the watersheds. After analysing the major components under the dimensions, we suggest focusing on policy orientation towards redesigning of the WDPs with emphasis to economic diversification, livelihood strategies, social networking coupled with stakeholder participation, natural resource management and risk spread through credit and insurance flexibility. The CVIRFT is replicable to similar physio-geographic areas of rainfed farming, with the refinement of indicators suited to the locality. ; Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst ; Peer Reviewed