Districtwise Promising Technologies for Rainfed Cereals based Production Systems in India

Abstract

Rainfed Agro-eco system occupies the largest cultivated area in the country and produces most of rainfed cereals (Maize, Sorghum, Pearlmillet, Fingermillet and other minor millets), pulses and oilseeds. These crops provide staple food for millions of poor people in arid and semi-arid regions. These crops are highly adopted to drought conditions and are also the major source of fodder for live stock Among rainfed cereals, sorghum is the third major food grain of the country grown in 11-12 m ha. There has been a steady decline in area under kharif sorghum over the last three decades, despite substantial improvement in productivity. At all India level, significant replacement of kharif sorghum area took place with competing crops, while rabi sorghum is staple food crop for millions of people in Maharastra and Karnataka. The area under sorghum in rabi remained more or less constant but the productivity has not improved significantly since it is grown with residual moisture. Pearlmillet is grown in 9.9 m ha in rainfed environment in 340 districts of the country. The area under this crop is stagnant in Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Gujarat, Tamilnadu and Karnataka. But the productivity is increasing in all pearlmillet predominant districts except in states of Gujarat, Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh. Fingermillet is predominantly grown in states of Karnataka, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The area under this crop is decreasing in the states of Karnataka and Orissa while it is stable in Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh. The productivity is stable in Orissa and Maharastra while it declined in Karnataka and increased in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Among cereals, maize is grown in 5.6 m ha out of which 3.95 m ha (86%) is rainfed. The area under this crop is stable in Punjab, while it showed an increasing trend in the states of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The productivity of this crop showed an increasing trend in all the predominantly maize growing states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Keeping this situation in view, efforts have been made to document viable and profitable technologies of rainfed cereals with collabaration of All India Coordinated Research Projects of Sorghum, Pearlmillet and Fingermillet under different rainfed production systems.