5.
Characteristics of dryland farming
and major constraints for crop
production
Problems or constraints for crop
production in dry farming regions
• Majority of the farmers are small farmers with
meagre resources.
• The poor resource base permits only low input
subsistence farming with low and unstable crop
yields.
• The constraints can be broadly grouped in to
A) climatic constraints,
B) soil related constraints,
C) heavy weed problem
D) lack of suitable varieties and
E) socio economic constraints.
A) climatic constraints
1. Rainfall characteristics:
(i) Variable rainfall
• Rainfall varies both in time and space dimension.
• Annual rainfall varies greatly from year to year and
naturally its coefficient of variation is very high.
• Higher the rainfall less is the coefficient of
variation.
• Crop failures due to uncertain rains - more frequent
in regions with lesser rainfall.
• Based on the average annual rainfall, the india can be
divided into four zones.
• More than one third of total geographical area in
india receive rainfall less than 750 mm
Classification of India into different
zones based on rainfall
Zone Average annual Per cent of
rainfall (mm) geographical area
Zone I (very low rainfall
area) < 350 13
Zone II (low rainfall
area) 350 to 750 22
Zone III (Medium
rainfall area) 750 to 1125 36
Zone IV (High rainfall
area) > 1125 29
Vagaries of Monsoon
Location Annual Rainfall
Mean (cm) CV (%)
Hissar (Haryana) 451 31
Anantapur (AP) 565 30
Ludhiana (Punjab) 661 50
Sholapur (Maharashtra) 708 28
Kovilpatti (Tamil Nadu) 749 27
Anand (Gujarat) 869 40
Bangalore (Karnataka) 888 20
Ranichauri (U.P) 1264 22
Jabalpur (M.P) 1308 24
Ranchi (Bihar) 1338 16
Mohanpur (WB) 1389 19
(ii) Intensity and distribution:
• > 50 % of total rainfall is usually received in 3 to 5 rainy
days.
• Intensive rainfall results in substantial loss of water due to
surface runoff.
• Accelerates soil erosion.
• Distribution of rainfall during the crop growing season is
more important than total rainfall in dryland agriculture
iii) Aberrations or variations in monsoon
behaviour
(A) Late onset of monsoon:
• If the onset of monsoon is delayed, crops/varieties
recommended to the region cannot be sown in time.
• Delayed sowing lead to uneconomical crop yields
(B) Early withdrawal of monsoon:
• Equally or more dangerous than late onset of monsoon.
• Rainy season crops will be subjected to terminal stress
leading to poor yields.
• Post-rainy season crops fail due to inadequate available
soil moisture, especially during reproductive and
maturity phases.
(c) Prolonged dry spells:
• Breaks of monsoon for 7-10 days not be a serious
concern.
• Breaks of > 15 days duration esp. at critical stages
for soil moisture stress leads to reduction in yield.
• Drought due to break in monsoon adversely affect the
crops in shallow soils than in deep soils.
2. High atmospheric temperature:
• Because of high atmospheric temperature the
atmospheric demand for moisture increases causing
high evapotranspiration losses resulting in moisture
stress.
3. Low relative humidity:
Low relative humidity results in high ET losses causing
moisture stress whenever moisture is limiting.
4. Hot dry winds:
• Desicassion of leaves resulting in moisture stress.
• High turbulent winds especially during summer
months cause soil erosion resulting in dust storms
and loss of fertile soil.
5. High atmospheric water demand:
• Due to high atmospheric water demand the potential
evapotranspiration (PET) > precipitation during
most part of the year.
B. Soil Constraints
• Black soils, red soils and alluvial soils.
• Constraints for crop production are different in different
soil groups.
• The predominant soil group is alluvial where the
problems for crop production are not so acute as in red
and black soils
a) Inadequate soil moisture availability:
• MHC of soils in dry regions is low due to shallow depth
especially in alfisols (red soils), low rainfall and low organic matter
content.
b) Poor organic matter content:
• OM content in most of the soils under dryland conditions is very
low (< 1 %) due to high temperature and low addition of
organic manures.
• Poor organic matter content adversely affects soil physical
properties related to moisture storage.
c) Poor soil fertility:
• Due to low accumulation of organic matter and loss of fertile
top soil by soil erosion
• Most of the dry land soils are deficient in nitrogen and zinc.
d) Soil deterioration due to erosion (wind, water):
• In India nearly 175 m.ha of land is subjected to different land
degradations, among them the soil erosion is very
predominant.
• The erosion causes loss of top fertile soil leaving poor sub
soil for crop cultivation.
e) Soil crust problem:
• In case of red soils, the formation of hard surface soil layers
hinders the emergence of seedlings which ultimately affect
the plant population.
• Crusting of soil surface after rainfall reduces infiltration
and storage of rainfall, due to high run off.
f) Presence of hard layers and deep cracks:
• Presence of hard layers (pans) in soil and deep cracks
affect the crop production especially in case of black soils.
Alfisols
• Poor crop stand due to crusting and rapid drying of
surface soil
• Poor crop growth due to unreliable soil moisture supply,
low moisture storage capacity due to shallow depth
and drought spells
• Low soil fertility – low OM, poor nutrient status- N, P, S
and Ca and compact subsoil layer
• Land degradation from soil erosion and crusting
Vertisols
• Black soils – high clay content (30-70%)
• Physical constraints – narrow range of soil water
content for tillage, tendency to become
waterlogged and poor trafficability
• Land degradation from soil erosion and salt
accumulation
Inceptisols and entisols
• Commonly termed as alluvial soils
• Low WHC and nutrient holding capacity
• Management easy compared to red and black
soil
• Soil erosion
C. Heavy weed infestation:
• Weed seeds germinate earlier than crop seeds and
try to suppress the crop growth.
• The weed problem is high in rainfed areas because
of continuous rains and acute shortage of labour.
• The weed suppression in the early stage of crop
growth is required to reduce the decrease in crop
yields
D. Lack of suitable varieties:
• Most of the crop varieties available for cultivation
in dry lands are meant for irrigated agriculture.
• There are no any special varieties exclusively
meant for dryland areas.
• Hence still more efforts are required to develop
varieties in different crops exclusively meant for
dryland agriculture.
E. Socio-economic constraints:
• The economic condition of the dryland farmers is
very poor because
a) Less access to inputs
b) Non availability of credit in time
c) The risk bearing capacity of dryland farmer is very
low
• Hence the dryland farmers resort to low input
agriculture which results in poor yields.
