Rainfed Agriculture

1. Rainfed Agriculture 
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Definition
1.3. Categories
1.4. Differentiation from arid and semiarid regions
1.5. The new criteria for categorisation
1.6. Indian agriculture -scenario
1.7. Constraints in rainfed areas
1.8. Characteristics and issues
1.9. Programmes, schemes and new initiatives
1.10. History
Objective type questions
Review questions
2. Problems and Prospects 
2.1. Constraints for crop production
2.1.1. Climatic constraints
2.1.2. Soil constraints
2.1.3. Lack of suitable varieties
2.1.4. Traditional cultivation practices
2.1.5. Heavy weed infestation
2.1.6. Resource constraints
2.1.7. Technological constraints
2.1.8. Social and economic constraints
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2.2. Future prospects
2.2.1. Research
2.2.2. Policy
Objective type questions
Review questions
3. Soil
3.1. Dry land soils
3.2. Characteristics of dryland soils
3.2.1. Red soils (alfisols)
3.2.2. Black soil (vertisol/inceptisol)
3.2.3. Laterite soils (ultisols)
3.2.4. Desert soil (aridisols)
3.2.5. Sub-montane soils
3.2.6. Saline and sodic soils
Objective type questions
Review questions
4. Climate
4.1. Arid and semi arid ecosystems
4.2. Weather and climate
4.3. Types of climate
4.4. Effect of climate
4.4.1. Effect of precipitation in dryland
4.4.2. Effect of solar radiation in dry lands
4.4.3. Effect of wind in dry lands
4.4.4. Effect of other climatic factors
Practical 4.1: Study on climate classification
Practical 4.2: Study on rainfall pattern in rainfed areas
Practical 4.3. Estimation of crop water requirement and effective rainfall
Practical 4.4: Studies on meteorological data and scheduling of
irrigation
Objective type questions
Review questions
5. Soil and Water Conservation
5.1. Soil erosion
5.1.1. Water erosion
5.1.2. Wind erosion
5.2. Soil & water conservation techniques
5.2.1. Measures of water erosion control
5.2.2. Measures to control wind erosion
5.2.3. Sand dunes stabilization
Practical 5.1. Soil and water conservation
Objective type questions
Review questions
6. Drought 
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Definition of drought
6.3. Criteria of drought
6.4. Classification of drought
6.5. Periodicity of drought
6.6. Important causes for agricultural drought
6.7. Effect of drought/water deficit on physio-morphological
characteristics of plants
6.8. Crop adaptation and mitigation to drought
6.9. Agricultural drought mitigation strategy in India
Practical 6.1. Rainfall and drought analysis
Objective type questions
Review questions
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7. Water Harvesting 166
7.1. Meaning of water harvesting
7.2. Components and principles of water harvesting
7.3. Importance of water harvesting
7.4. History of rain water harvesting
7.5. Water harvesting structures
7.6. Techniques of inducing runoff
7.7. Techniques of rainwater harvesting
7.7.1 Arid regions
7.7.2 Semi-arid regions
7.8 Storage, management and use of harvested rainwater
7.9. Efficient utilization of rainwater through soil management
practices
Practical 7.1: Importance of water harvesting
Objective type questions
Review questions
8. Crop Management 
8.1. Efficient cropping systems
8.2. Choice of crops and cultivars and crop substitution
8.3. Land preparation
8.4. Early sowing of crops in the season
8.5. Planting patterns and plant densities
8.6. Managing soil crust problems
8.7. Minimizing evaporation losses
8.8. Reducing losses due to transpiration
8.9. Nutrient management
8.10. Mid-season corrections
8.11. Alternate land use systems
8.12. Protective irrigation
Practical 8.1: Studies on cropping patterns on rainfed area
Objective type questions
Review questions
9. Contingent Crop Planning 
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Contingency cropping
9.3. Crop planning for successful crop production under water
scarcity and dry farming condition
9.4. Recommendation for late onset of monsoon
9.5. Recommendations under long dry spell
9.6. Recommendations when heavy rainfall occurs at the end of monsoon during august – september
9.7. Contingent crop plan for early cessation of rains
9.8. Contingent crop plan for early onset of monsoon
9.9. Inadequate and uneven distribution of rainfall
Practical 9.1. Cultural practices to mitigate moisture stress
Objective type questions
Review questions
10. Watershed Management 
10.1. History of watershed development in india
10.2. What is watershed?
10.3. Need of watershed
10.4. Hierarchy of a watershed
10.5. Delineation and types of watersheds
10.6. Problems of watersheds
10.7. What is watershed management?
10.8. Concepts of watershed management
10.9. Objectives of watershed management
10.10. Principles of watershed management
10.11. Steps for watershed management action plan
10.12. Factors affecting watershed management
10.13. Components of watershed management programme
10.14. Integrated watershed management
10.15. Issues before watershed management programmes
Practical 10.1. Characterisation of watershed
Practical 10.2. Planning a visit to a watershed
Objective type questions
Review questions
Glossary 
Abbreviations 
References