1. National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign-2017
Group VII
Drought Proofing Vulnerable Districts
Chairman: Dr K Satya Gopal, IAS, Govt of Tamil Nadu
Co.Chair: Dr KV Rao, ICAR-CRIDA
Moderator: Sri KS Srinivas, IAS, MoA&FW

2. Drought Proofing Strategies
Projects Discussed
District Action Plans for Drought Proofing - ICAR-CRIDA
Zero Budget Natural Farming- Sri T Vijaya Kumar, Govt of AP
Water Management Strategies for Tree based systems- Dr K Satya Gopal
Participants include: Representatives of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, NRAA & Agri. Ministry

3. District Action Plan for Drought Proofing
An Initiative of DAC &FW
Process facilitated by ICAR
Districts covered : 24
(Karnataka: 16, Andhra Pradesh -4, Rajsthan 4)
Plan development is through collaborative efforts of CRIDA and Line Departments of selected states/ districts
Nodal office:
Disaster Management Department- AP and Karnatana
Agriculture Dept- Rajasthan
Committees have been formed involving different line departments, KVKs

4. Sericulture (wherever applicable) etcNo
State
Districts 1
Karnataka (16)
Bagalkot, Bangalore Rural, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Gadag, Gulbarga, Hassan, Kolar, Koppal, Mandhya, Mysore, Tumkur 2.
Andhra Pradesh (4)
Anantapur, Chittoor, Kurnool, Prakasam 3.
Rajasthan (4)
Ajmer, Churu, Jaisalmer, Nagaur
Departments include:
Agriculture,
Animal Husbandry,
Horticulture,
Irrigation,
Groundwater ,
Rural Development,
Sericulture (wherever applicable) etc

5. Drought Proofing plan needs
Identification of suitable interventions after thorough assessment of
Resource Available vs Prevailing Farming Systems
Scale for consideration: District/ Block/ Basin
Decentralized Plan is the key

6. Supplemental Irrigation
Connecting the Dots
Agricultural Systems
Sources of Water
Horticulture systems
Tree based systems
Vegetables
Commercial crops
Irrigated systems
Rainfall
Moisture based
Groundwater
Tank Based
Canal (assured?)-External source
Rainfed systems
Completely rainfed
Supplemental Irrigation
Livestock systems
Fodder crops
Drinking water

7. Supply side management or Demand side management
If available rainfall is more than the systems requirement
Management of available resource is
the main option
If available resource is less than the systems requirement
Management of all resources becomes important
Systems perspective
Efficiency measures
Priority for systems
Governance issues
Participatory management

8. Plan process consists of Assessments are made for
Dependable rainfall/ Effective rainfall, Crop water requirements,Potential of excess water (runoff) for in-situ/ex-situ conservation
Need for additional water requirement and sources of water available
Rainfall and surface availability (canals) is considered for supplementation.
Groundwater to be considered only if the extraction less than 50% of net availability

9. Sustainable use of groundwater
High water consuming crops are to be dissuaded
Improved application methods are to be provided for groundwater use – A must practice
Bridging the gap between potential created and utilized in canal systems is a priority
Saving of water by practicing irrigated dry crops in canal commands
Additional water accrued through savings to be made available for rainfed areas (with in district or neighbouring districts which are hydrologically connected)

10. Template- Block wise and district
Rainfall Information, drought frequency information (monthly, seasonal and annual)
Land Use Pattern, Farm Holdings details
Soils based farming systems Information and the extent of their distribution Area (‘000 ha)
Water resources information (rainfall, canal water, groundwater-availability and utilisation) and water uise
Area treated for water conservation through IWMP/MGNREGS programs etc (the information may pertain to last 10 years including storage created

11. 9.0 Strategy for drought proofing in the district
9.1 Prioritized systems for intervention
To cover all combination of systems prevailing in the area
S.No
System -Irrigated (canal/ tank/ lift irrigation/ ground water) based) and Rainfed
Rainfall zone (low/medium/ high)
Soil Depth (shallow/medium/ deep)
Season
Crops (including horticultural ones)
Vulnerability to drought (0-100 scale)
Priority (1,2,3 etc) 1 2 3 4 5 6

12. 9.2 Prioritized options for drought proofing
various systems listed above
S.No
Theme
Options
Short/Medium/Long term
Priority 1.
Crop based
Promotion of short duration drought resistant varieties 2
Crop diversification- reducing area under high water consuming crops 3
Watershed based
Enhancing the capability of soils to store available rainfall efficiently through water conservation measures 4
Promotion of new technologies for soil management 5
Water management based
Efficient use of available local surface water resources during kharif for critical irrigation purposes through additional infrastructure development 6
Better use of ground water through improved application systems 7
Making additional water available through canals from reservoirs through transfer of water from sub basins 8
Making additional water available through canals from reservoirs through transfer of water through river linkages (i.e from one basin to other basin) 9
Bridging the gap between potential created & utilized in surface water systems i.e for canals mainly 10
Bridging the gap between potential created & utilized in ground water systems 12
Others

13. 10.1 Better use of ground water through improved application systems
10.0 Strategy wise details
10.1 Better use of ground water through improved application systems
Priority:
Duration: Short term/ medium/ long term
Crops identified for introduction of improved systems
Acreage to be covered for each crop
Systems to be promoted: Drip/Sprinkler/ Rainguns etc
Area under each system for every crop identified: As an example Drip systems for Cotton in area of 30% cotton cultivated area to be covered in 2 years at an estimated cost of ….. crores. Funding to be met through PMKSY-
Target to be achieved by (No.of years and estimated cost, department responsible for achieving the target):

14. Natural Farming Practices for Drought Proofing
Enhances soil fertility, plant nutrition and seedling protection through Ghana Jeevamrutam, Drava Jeevamrutam and and Beejamrutam prepared by farmer himself (cow dung and urine used as microbial inoculants to enhance soil biology)
Enhances nutrient and water use efficiency through ground cover by polycropping, intercropping, multi layer farming, cover crops, crop residue mulching and horticultural interventions (trees)
Pest management using indigenous botanical resources such as Nema, Agni and Brhama Ashtras by farmer himself.
Climate resilience exhibited - long drought spells (26d days)
In : Farmers , 704 input shops, 4000 Master Farmers as Community Resource Persons and 4000 men SHGs formed saving > 2 crores

15. Benefits & Challenges
Benefits: Climate resilience, higher average yields (Paddy- 10%; Groundnut 29%, Blackgram-27%, Maize 28%, Chillies- 32% ), reduced cost of cultivation recorded from Crop Cutting Experiments in 13 districts of AP
Challenges: Food security to feed millions; Doubling the farm income, without addition of fertilizers and pesticides sustaining soil fertility and pest management, in dwindling animal population availability of large quantities of cow dung and urine, non availability of labour and how to mechanise agriculture in poly cropping situations
Global Concerns: soil erosion and eroding soil fertility and sustaining/ improving soil health/ quality

16. Recommendations (ZBNF)
In view of success of ZBNF widespread in Andhra Pradesh and in certain locations of Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka :
Other State departments of agriculture and horticulture shall have opportunity to have field visits and interaction with more than >48K farmers of Andhra Pradesh
Enhance NF practices by scientifically validated Ecological engineering practices (solar light traps, mycorhizha cultures, biological control (entomopathogenic nematodes) etc.
Scientific evidences for enhanced fertility, climate resilience, reduction in GHGs and enhanced carbon sequestration be built by involving national and international research organsiations
ZBNF practices will be focused as an option for drought proofing mechanism in areas having proven benefits

17. Issues discussed
Acceptability of technological interventions by farmers
Policy support
Funding for implementation of action plans
A digital database generation for frequent updation
Use of available information on Length of crop growing period
ZBNF Promotion across regions

18. Thanks