Final Rainfaid 19th

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Rain fed Farming; Challenges and Opportunities in Indian agriculture

Dr. Shyam Sunder Singh Chauhan * Dr. Deepa Rawat **

Dr. Deepti ***

Rainfed farming in India is one of the crucial hurdles in the development of

agriculture. So much so that rainfed farming is a major challenge to policy makers,

agriculture scientists and other stockholders in view of its size and dependency of

more than half of rural population on it. More than 55 per cent of net sown area is

under rainfed farming where per hectare yield is about 50 per cent of the yield in

irrigated farming. Dependency of rainfed farming on adequate monsoon is so

crucial that a marginal shortfall in precipitation results into a significant downfallin the production of various crops, especially the rice and wheat. Decrease in the

production of various crops in rainfed areas results into downfall in average annual

income of farmers of these areas , it further leads to large scale migration of

agricultural labourers and marginal farmers to cities in search of alternative

remunerative jobs in urban areas. In the absence of male bread earners in the

family, the onus of maintenance lies on the shoulders of females of the family.

This has resulted into the feminization of p overty in many rainfed areas of the

country. In the back drop of these adversities, the development of rainfed farming

requires urgent policy interventions, research and development in the field of high

yielding variety of seeds suitable for rainfed areas a mix of chemical fertilizer

along with compost and green manure and last but not the least low cost

technology.

In the light of the present scenario of rainfed farming in India, the present paper isdivided into six sections viz Section I Introduction, Section II Rainfed Area inIndia, Section III Ground Realities of Rainfed Farming, Section IV Factors

* Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Government Girls P.G. College, Sirsaganj, Firozabad (U.P.)** Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Agra College, Agra (U.P.)*** Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, F.E.T., Agra College Agra (U.P.)


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Contributing to Instability in Rainfed Production System, Section V ChallengesAhead and Section VI Conclusion and Policy Interventions.

Section 1

Introduction

The elements of climate, land, water, soil and biodiversity comprise thenatural resources of the country. The opportunities for livelihoods and income the

people of the country depend on these elements. In India, the prime naturalresource is 328.73 million hectares of land of which 143 million ha are arablelands, 14.81 million ha are fallows and 37.16 million ha common lands and 69.63million ha are forests, with the rest accounting for 43.22 million ha. (ASI, 2007).The second most important element, water, is critical not only for agriculture butalso for other economic activities and the survival of the entire animal kingdomand the vegetation. Agriculture alone uses 80 percent of the fresh water resourcesin the country and depends critically on maintaining the quantity and quality of the1869.35 km 3/year of water available (MoWR). India is a biodiversity hotspot andagriculture in many ways draws from and maintains the diversity of flora and faunain the country, including the diversity of many collected (non-cultivated) foodsobtained from common lands and forests.

Widespread, serious and continuing degradation of India s natural resource base isa result of continuously increasing population pressure on it. Over 120 million hahave been declared degraded or problem soils (NAAS, 2010). But this seems to bea minor problem in the face of the massive and prolonged loss of organic matter and carbon in most of the arable lands, especially in intensive agriculture in India.To some extent it is the result of over use of chemical fertilizers, particularly

Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potash. Urea, DAP and other chemical fertilizerscommonly used during the era of Green Revolution.

Generally the incremental yield per unit of nutrients tends to be lower withincreasing fertilizer use per hectare, soil organic matter depletion being a prime

cause for declining soil health and soil productivity (Sharda et al, 2010). In

addition, the water resources primarily groundwater is declining at a greater pace

threatening the sustainability of Indian agriculture. The latest reports from the


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GRACE Mission of NASA (Rodell et al, 2010) show decline at a mean rate of

4.0+/- 1.0 cm/yr, equivalent height of water (17.764.5 km 3/yr) over the Indian

states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. It was found in the study of NASA

that groundwater depletion was equivalent to a net loss of 109 km3

of water between August 2002 and October 2008 in northwest India. Such high rates of

groundwater exploitation increased the percentage of unsafe districts from 9% to

30% in a span of 9 years (1995-2004) (Vijay Shankar and Kulkarni, 2011). Other

forms of loss include water lost due to salinity and alkalinity, and due to overdraft

from groundwater sources, way beyond the recharge capacities of the aquifers

(Planning Commission, 2010; Shah et al, 2009).

Rainfed areas currently constitute 55% of net sown area of the country and

are home to 2/3 rd of livestock and 40% (330million) of human population. It is also

home to about 78% of cattle, 64% of sheep and 75% of goats. Rainfed areas cater

to most part of the meat market in the country. Even after realizing the full

irrigation potential of the country more than 50% of the total cultivated area will

remain rainfed. It has a share of cropped area under rice (42%), pulses (77%),oilseeds (66%) and coarse cereals (85%). In spite of the cumulative policy neglect

and low investments, rainfed areas are showing high growth potential. The meat

market is growing at a fast pace, the incremental productivity contribution of

coarse cereals over the last decade has even exceeded that of rice indicating the

potential of rain fed agriculture to contribute to national food security.

Unfortunately up till now a unified approach of development and major intervention for the entire country has been adopted during the plans. The green

revolution era has largely bypassed the rainfed aquiculture. Now it is high time to

adopt regionally differentiated interventions, befitting natural resource and


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Table 1 Crop wise Rain fed Farming in India

(Area in Million hectare)

S. No. Crop Total Area Area Under Rain Fed FarmingArea % to total area1. Rice (Paddy) 45.54 19.13 42.02. Coarse cereals 27.45 23.33 85.53. Jwar 7.53 6.85 91.04. Bajara 8.75 7.96 91.05. Maize 8.17 6.13 75.06. Pulses 22.09 17.01 77.07. Red Gram 3.38 3.24 96.08. Bengal Gram 7.89 5.29 67.09. Oil Seeds 27.56 18.19 66.0

10. Ground Nut 6.16 4.87 79.011. Rapeseed & Mustard 6.30 1.7 27.012. Soyabeans 9.51 9.41 99.013. Sunflower 1.81 1.25 69.014. Cotton 9.41 6.12 65.0

Total 191.55 130.48 68.0Source: Indian Agricultural Statistics 2010.

Rainfed agriculture accounts for 60 % of total cropped area, 48% of the area

under food crops and 68% under non-food crops. In terms of crop groups, 77% of

pulses, 66% of oilseeds and 45% of cereals are grown under rainfed conditions

(Table-1). Food grain production in India grew at a rate of 1.26% per annum

between 1990-93 and 2003-06. Meeting the future demand for food grains

(estimated at 280 million tonnes by 2020) would require a step up in the rate of

growth of food production this is where rain fed agriculture has to play a vital role.

As estimated by the Technical Committee on Watershed Development (GOI,2006),

even in the best possible scenario of irrigation development, about 40% of the

additional supply of food grains needed to match future rise in demand will have to

come from the rainfed agriculture. Therefore, a breakthrough in rainfed agriculture


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is an imperative for poverty alleviation, livelihood promotion and food security in

India.

Table 2: Compound Annual Growth Rate in Area, Production, and Yield in Major crops in

India(1998-99 to 2008-09)

(Per cent )

Crops Compound Annual Growth RateArea Production Yield

1.Rice (Paddy)2. Wheat3.Coarse Cereals

-0.120.39-0.52

1.280.852.73

1.400.463.26

(a) Sorghum(b) Pearl Millet(c) Maize

-2.82

0.073.0

-1.19

4.115.60

1.77

4.042.52

4. Pulses 0.61 1.08 0.47(a) Chick Pea(b) Pigeon Pea

1.690.34

2.240.16

0.54-017

5. Oil Seeds 1.60 3.65 2.02(a) Ground Nut(b) Castor (c) Sunflower (d) Soyabean(e) Rapeseed/

Mustard

-1.320.224.944.391.97

0.931.447.325.594.24

2.291.212.251.152.22

6. Cotton 0.54 10.20 9.60Source: CRIAD, Agriculture Statistics in India

The rainfed crops have shown more impressive growth rates in recent years as

compared to irrigated crops like rice and wheat as seen in Table -2. The compound

growth rates for the period 1998-99 to 2008-09 reveal that production of coarse

cereal increased at a rate of 2.73% production of pulses continued to be an area of

concern. Both area and yield didn t show any significant growth and remained

stagnant and as a result the production also increased at a mere 1.08% per annum.

So far as oilseeds are concerned, faster yield growth was observed in groundnut

(2.29%), sunflower (2.25%) rapeseed and mustard (2.22%) and slower growth in

soyabean (1.15%) and castor (1.21%). Finally, in case of cotton, the yield


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increased at a significant rate of about 9.60 per cent per annum and led to a

production growth rate of over 10 per cent per annum. Growth rate in yield of

coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds taken together (2.18%) was much higher than

that of rice (1.40%) and wheat (0.46%). Therefore, those crop groups, whose production is largely rainfed, witnessed significant production and productivity

growth during the last decade and compared favorably with that of rice and wheat.

However, this growth pattern is not sustainable, as any shortfall in precipitation

results in sever decrease in net sown area under rainfed farming and thereby

reduction in yield and production.

Although rainfed areas have recorded high growth in terms of yield and

production, but the level of yield is still significantly low. As a result, the overall

share of rainfed production of various crops, especially the food crops is either

stagnant or low. Much of this is cultivated in multiple cropping systems. There are

crop sequences and combinations tuned to undulating terrains, soil moisture,

availability and use of farm yard manure (FYM) or other bio-mass and fertilizers,

traditional pest management practices at times integrated with modern pesticides,and emerging markets (as evident in the case of sorghum, soyabean, cotton, etc.).

Contrary to the irrigated production systems that focus on individual

crops/commodities, the key feature of rainfed cropping is the attention paid to the

entire farming system and what can be harvested best.

Table 3: CAGRs of Area, Production, and Yield Indices of Principal Crops during 1980-81 to 1989-

90, 1990-91 to 1999 -2000 (% per annum)

Crops 1980-1 to 1989-90 1990-1 to 1999-2000 2000-1 to 2011-12Are Production Yield Are Production Yield Are Production Yield

Rice 0.41 3.62 3.19 0.68 2.02 1.34 0.00 1.78 1.78Wheat 0.46 3.57 3.10 1.72 3.57 1.83 1.35 2.61 1.24Coarsecereals

-1.34 0.40 1.62 -2.12 -0.02 1.82 -0.81 3.01 3.85


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TotalPulses

-0.09 1.52 1.61 -0.60 0.59 0.93 1.60 3.69 2.06

Sugarcane 1.44 2.70 1.24 -0.07 2.73 1.05 1.38 2.07 0.68Total

Oilseeds1.51 5.20 2.43 0.86 1.63 1.15 2.12 3.36 1.22

Cotton -1.25 2.80 4.10 2.71 2.29 -0.14 3.22 13.53 9.99Source: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation

(Base: TE 1981-82 =100), and 2000-01 to 2011-12 (Base: TE 1993-4=100)

Overall, the 1980-81 to1989-90 decade witnessed relatively higher growth in

production and yield in major crops compared to the 1990-91 to 1999-2000 period

except for the marginal increase in growth of yield in coarse cereals and the same

levels of growth in production of wheat and sugarcane. Further, a lower growth

(coarse cereals, pulses, sugarcane) and marginally higher growth (rice, oilseeds)

was observed in the area under these major crops during the 1990-91 to 1999-2000

period vis a vis 1980-81 to 1989-1990 except in wheat and cotton where growth

rate was 1.72 per cent and 2.71 per cent respectively. By and large the growth rates

achieved in the 1980-81 to1989-1990 period could not be sustained during the

1990-2000 period. In coarse cereals yield increases were able to offset a negative

growth in area. In both wheat and rice, in all the three sub periods, there was an

increase in area and yield, though rate of increase in yield levels had significantly

moderated in latter periods. Yield levels significantly improved for cotton, pulses

and coarse cereals during 2000-01 to 2011-12.

The main concern in the growth prospects in rainfed farming is the water

resources. Since the exportability of ground water in rain fed areas is negligible to

zero, this has led farmers to conserve the surface water in majority of rain fed areas

into ponds , small bandhis and small jheels . S ome areas, such as Charkhari,

Tikamgarh, Chatarpur and many others have develo ped commons. In some cases

the privileged themselves initiated the process of construction, conservation and


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skewed with less number of rainy days, with high intensity causing more soil

erosion. The coefficient of variation of decadal rainfall distribution is increasing in

several meteorological divisions, leading to food grains production deviation

indicating inter-annual variability. This has implications on length of dry spells inrainfed regions (Table 4).

Table -4: Decadal Monsoon (Jun-Sep) rainfall coefficient of variation amongmeteorological sub- divisions in India (1951-2010)

Div 1951-60 1961-70 1971-80 1981-90 1991-00 2001-10East & North East IndiaAssam & Meg 12.7 12.7 16 15.1 17.5 11.3

NMMT 13.5 11.3 12.3 13.2 14.5 16.7SHWB 14.6 11.6 13.7 14.5 20.7 12.3Ganestic W. 12.5 14.1 18.4 14.3 18 21.6Jharkhand 14.9 15.6 19.7 14.4 18 27.7Bihar 16.4 16.2 17.2 24 18.3 24.9

North West India

East UP 23.2 17.5 31 15.7 12.7 26.3West UP 15.3 21.6 25.9 24.3 16.4 27.9Haryana 25 19.6 29.6 44.1 24.5 25.8Punjab 17.6 31 31.3 47.1 22.9 32.6East Rajasthan 21.3 18.9 27.4 20.3 25.5 22.4

West Rajasthan 27.1 41.1 38.1 44.1 36.4 45.8

Central India

Orissa 13.3 11 14.3 10.7 19.6 18.1West MP 16.5 21.8 22.4 16.3 19.9 17East MP 11.9 21.6 20 15.1 18.7 19.8Gujarat 33.1 26.7 36.2 36.7 35.2 25.6Saus & Kutch 49.7 43.9 47.1 53.5 39.1 32.9

Konkan & Goa 18.1 28.8 25.9 21.2 25.3 23.2

Madhya 18.4 15.5 21.5 26 11.1 25.4Marathwada 21.2 16.3 27.9 39.5 24.2 24.1

Vidarbha 18.8 18.1 20.5 26.1 17.3 16.9Chhattisgarh 10.1 26.5 20.8 12 19.1 14.8South Peninsula


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It is important to note that any deficiency of rainfall results into decrease inthe production of food grains as well as non food crops. Many times the average

rainfall remained normal in majority of the meteorological regions of the country

even then there was a marginal decrease in the crop production. It was due to

erratic distribution of rainfall or time lag in the rainfall. Early heavy precipitation

does not contribute in significant increase in the production of various crops.

It is another thing that the heavy rainfall significantly increases the averagerainfall. Empirical data shows that heavy rainfall during early days of the monsoon

increases the potential of sowing of kharif crops but, the scantly rainfall afterwards

reduces the survivability of the plants. In another case, if the rainfall remains

erratic during the last lag of monsoon, it reduces the potential of rabi crops. In

Bundelkhand and in many other parts of southern peninsula, the farmers have

developed their own rain harvesting system, which only works with the normalrainfall during the east lag of monsoon. Farmers use the so collected water for the

irrigation of rabi crops. Rainfall aberration during south-west monsoon continues

to be the major factor contributing to instability in kharif production.

Coastal AP 18.7 23.1 26.3 27.9 22.5 25.6

Rayalaseema 23.9 24.7 23.4 32.3 30.8 34.2

Telangana 20.4 11 28.6 28.1 17.1 24.6

Tamil Nadu 17.1 22.4 14.9 25.5 33.1 19.2

Coastal Karnataka 31.3 23.8 21.8 15.7 8.3 19.8

N.I. Karnataka 17.5 16 19.6 22.6 14.1 28.8

S.I. Karnataka 21.2 20.6 17 20.5 15.9 30.3

Kerala 14.7 23.8 18.9 18.5 14.7 18.9


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nutrient application, both soil fertility and crop yield show declining trends in

rainfall regions. Soil erosion by wind in drought prone areas and soil erosion by

water in flooded areas increased acidity, alkalinity/ salinity and other complex

problem, are the principal causes of land degradation. These problems are further aggravated in rainfed areas.

Rise in the Input Costs:

High yielding varieties of all the crops requires additional doses of soil

nutrients in the form of chemical fertilizers, plant protection systems and irrigation

of agriculture. In an eye opening report by P. Sainath (P. Sainath,2007), more than

two thirds of the farmer s suicide took place in mainly four states. Out of the 1.5

lakh Indian farmers who look their own lives between 1997 and 2005, 2/3 rd did so

in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

Unfortunately all these states have large tracts of rainfed farming. In another study

by Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Rythy Swarajya Vedika, it was found

that two of every three farm suicides in the country have taken place in four states

where cotton is cultivated mainly in dry land areas - Both these reports

emphatically state that about 70% of the cotton farming in these four states is done

on dry land. It is interesting to note, that farmers in Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana

grow cotton in irrigated areas.

Section V

Challenges Ahead

The UPA government at the Centre is committed to enact the National Food

Security Act in order to provide guaranteed food grain supply to those sections of

the society who are marginalized and deprived. The President of India has


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promulgated, National Food Security Programme Ordinance on 5 th July 2013. The

salient features of this programme are following

1. Every person belonging to priority household shall be entitled to receive 5kg

of food grain/ person/ month from the state government under the targeted

public distribution system.

2. Every pregnant women and lactating mother shall be entitled to (a) meal,

free of charge during pregnancy and six month after the child birth, through

the local Aganwadi , so as to meet the nutritional standards. (b) Maternity

benefits of not less than Rs. 6000.

3. Every child in the age group of 6 months to six years shall be entitled for ageappropriate meal, free of charge through the local Aganwadi , so as to meet

the nutritional standards.

4. Children up to class 8 th or in the age group of 6 to 14 years shall be entitled

for one mid day meal, free of charge every day, expect on school holidays in

all schools run by local bodies, government and government aided schools.

5.

Every school as referred above and Aganwadi shall have facilities for cooking meals, drinking water and sanitation.

6. The state government shall identify and provide meals free of charge to

children who suffer from malnutrition.

7. The eldest women, who is not less than 18years of age in every eligible

house hold shall be head of the household for issue of ration card.

It is estimated in a more conservative manner that appropriately 64.2 milliontonner of cereals, primarily rice and wheat will be needed annually to cover 2/3 rd of

the population in the country. The estimated cost this programme is about Rs.

125000 crore per annum. The government or the policy makers may pat their own

backs on the desirability and utility of the programme, but the bare fact is that the


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net per capita availability of food grain/ day was 437.1 gms (401.7gms for cereals

and 35.4 gms for pulses)in 2011. It is 90.76% of the level attained in 1991 and 98.7

% of the level attained in 1961. (GOI, 2012). The average annual growth rate of

the population hovers around 1.7%, by this standard nearly 2 crore people areadded per year in the population of the country. Accordingly nearly 93 thousand

tonnes additional food grain will be needed per year to feed the continuously

increasing population.

Although food grain production during 2012-13 is estimated to be 255.36

million tones, thanks to good monsoon, however, there is no guarantee that this

level of output will remain intact in the subsequent years. A 15% to 20% deficit in

the monsoon rain results into the decline of nearly 18% food grain production as

witnessed during 2008-09 when the food grain production came down to 218.01

million tonne from 234.4 million tonne in 2007-08.

Thus success of National Food Security Programme especially lies in the better

performance of rainfed farming because the crop productivity in majority of the

food grain growing areas such as Punjab, Haryana and UP has reached the

saturation level. So much so, many farmers are in the process of replacing the

cereal and pulses farming with that of cash crops such as potato and other

vegetables, mustard, mentha, sorghum, jatropha etc. The net result is a slow and

unpredictable growth in the food grain production in the coming future, unless the

government adopts suitable measures to develop rainfed farming on a sustainable

basis.

Table 5: Requirement under National Food Security Bill 2011. (Million Tones)

Item Wheat Rice Total cereals

Requirement for Beneficiary population(67% of 22.0 26.8 48.8


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Programme (RADP) window in RKVY all have a common goal i.e. to increase the

productivity and the production of various crops. Development of rainfed farming

is not only the need of the hour but also urgency to make the National Food

Security Programme a success. The following policy interventions are urgentlyrequired:

1. Focus on stabilizing and securing diverse cropping by bringing a focus on

Rainfall Use Efficiency as an important part of policy to

a. Promote measures for in-situ conservation and efficient use of rainwater

b. Invest in shared and protective/supportive irrigation

2. Harness the inclusive growth potential in the so far untapped Agronomic and

Management innovations that are aligned to enhancing sustainability of natural

resources, reducing costs, increasing efficiency of resource use and improving

total factor productivity.

3. Strengthen the extensive livestock systems.

4. Invest in decentralized and local institutional planning.5. Enhance institutional capacities in local governance and resource management,

particularly related to Commons and strengthen Panchayat Raj, cooperatives

and other stakeholder institutions.

6. A National Rainfed Farming Agency (NRFA) to be constituted which sets out

the new policy framework and provides oversight on all programmes in rainfed

areas and synthesizes learning.

7. Creation of Rainfed Investment Windows in all relevant mainstream

programs of various ministries, with flexibility to follow different guidelines

for rainfed areas.


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8. Most of the Special Area Programmes under the Ministry of Rural

Development to be merged into the Rainfed Programmes with provision of

special allocation to the Blocks falling under the special programs.

Thus in the end it can be concluded that the development of rainfed region in thecountry is of utmost importance for the growth of agriculture. The government

should adopt various policy initiatives for rainfed agriculture.

References

Acharya, ss and Jogi, R.L. (200); Input Subsidies and Agriculture. Future perspectives in International Alternatives and Governance of Agriculture, ed.

Vishwa Ballabh, Academic Foundation New Delhi. Pp 95-118. GOI 2008, Annual Report 2007-08 Ministry of Water Recourses, N. Delhi. Government of India, 2011, Report of the working Group on Natural Recourses

Management and Rainfed Farming. Planning commission, N. Delhi. Government of India, Technical Committee on water shed development. Mc Neill J.R. & Winiwarter V. Breaking the sood. Humankind, History and

soil. Science 304, 1627-1629 (2004). NAAS 2010. Degraded and Wastelands of India: Status and spatial Distribution

Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture, ICAR, Pusa, N.Delhi.

NRAA 2011, Challenges of food Security and its Management 2011. NationalRainfed Area Anthority, Government of India.

Planning commission Report 2010.Planning commission, Government of India, N. Delhi.

Rodell M. Velicogna I and Famigliettle 2010, Satellite Based Estimates of

Groundwater Depletion in India, Nature, 469 pp 999-1002. P. Sainath,2007. Farm Subside Rising, most Intense in 4. States, the Hindu, Nov.2012.

Shah T, Gulati A,Hemant, P Shreedhar G and Jain RC, 2009. Secret of Gujarati

Agrarian Miracle after 2000. EPW, Review of Agriculture 44(52) pp 45-55.


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