Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges &
Opportunities during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
in the rainfed area. If these constraints are addressed, these areas have tremendous potential to
contribute a larger share in food production and faster agricultural growth compared to the
irrigated areas (Reddy et al., 2020).
Targeting smallholder farmers particularly in rainfed areas and irrigated areas, offers the best
chance for reducing poverty quickly in developing countries. Small and marginal farmers
constitute 86.25% of Indian farmers, 47.38% of cultivated land and over 50% of the
total agricultural production is vital for not only achieving Indian agrarian economy, but also
for alleviating hungry and poverty (Singh et al, 2022). Most of the small and marginal farming
is rain dependent covering the SAT region in the country. They are affected by the recent trends
of climate change impacts of increased frequency of droughts, floods, high rainfall intensities,
increased temperatures combined with shifts in markets and prices. Moreover, these farm lands
are degraded due to soil erosion making the soil unproductive and unsustainable for nutrients
storage, organic carbon and other soil microorganisms useful for the plants. To make these
grey lands into productive lands, a long-term strategy for addressing the weather aberrations,
long dryspells, water conservation and rainwater harvesting are the key for making them green
with sustainable yields, increased crop productivity by adopting efficient water management
techniques for conservation of both green and blue water. Also these lands contribute 40% of
agricultural production with nutrious cereals, oil seeds and pulses besides other cotton and
commercial crops.
Since rainfed farming is rain dependent, better management of rainwater, soil moisture, and
critical irrigation are the key to helping the greatest number of small holders, for three main
reasons: (1) It cuts the yield losses from dry spells (2) It gives farmers the security they need
to risk investing in other inputs such as fertilizers and high-yielding varieties. Farmers dare
not risk the little they have buying inputs for a crop that may fail for lack of water and (3) It
allows farmers to grow higher value market crops, such as vegetables or fruits. These are more
sensitive to water stress and require costlier inputs. Improving agricultural productivity in
areas that depend on rainfall has the greatest potential to reduce poverty and hunger, in large
parts of Asia. Current yields in many rainfed settings are low and improving rainfed farming
could double or quadruple yields. Such yields “gaps” are greatest for maize, sorghum, and
millet and closing these gaps promises huge social, economic, and environmental paybacks
(CAWMA, 2007).
India receives an average of 3,000 billion cubic meters (BCM) of rainfall every year. It has
been estimated that the average surface runoff (SRO) is about 1869 BCM, out of which the
utilizable surface water available is 690 BCM, and ground water available is 433 BCM. An
additional 200 BCM is available through interlinking of rivers in different regions of India.
From the water balance of India’s water resources, the SRO contributing to oceans is 491
BCM after meeting the requirement of environmental flows of 55 BCM (10% maximum)
Emerging approaches (RS, AI, ML, Drones etc) for crop management &assessment
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