July 2008: Rainfed Farming

Cover Story: Agriculture means not just food security, it is not just about productivity and contribution to country’s GDP. Agriculture also means the livelihood of more than 60 per cent of the people in India. Of this 60 per cent about 400 million depend on rain-fed/dry land farms. About 68 per cent of the net sown area constitute rain-fed regions in India. Characterized by water scarcity, poor infrastructure, low productivity and inadequate policies, about 30 million rain-fed farmers are yet to see the silver lining around the dark cloud. The poverty of the country is mostly in the rain-fed areas.