Rainfed areas: poor definition and flawed solutions |
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| Authors: | M Dinesh Kumar V Ratna Reddy A Narayanamoorthy Nitin Bassi A J James |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy, Hyderabad, India;2. Livelihoods and Natural Resource Management Institute, Hyderabad, India;3. Department of Economics and Rural Development, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India;4. Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy, New Delhi Office, India;5. Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur, India |
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| Abstract: | This article questions the criterion used by government of India to classify agricultural areas into ‘rainfed’ and ‘irrigated’, merely on the basis of percentage of area under irrigation, in spite of the vast differences in the biophysical and socio-economic characteristics between areas classified as ‘rainfed’. This criterion fails to consider the agro-climate and hydro-meteorology of the area, which decide whether crops can be grown under rainfed conditions or require irrigation. Watershed development interventions, which are usually prescribed for agricultural development of rainfed areas, are bound to fail when rainfall is low and aridity is high, and strategically, interventions should be based on agro-ecology and hydro-meteorology. |
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| Keywords: | Rainfed areas irrigation watershed development India aridity |
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