Course Description
Dryland agriculture has a distinct place in Indian agriculture, occupying 67 percent of the cultivated area, contributing to 44 percent of food grains and supporting 40 percent of human and 60 percent of livestock populations. Most of the pulses, oilseeds, and millets are confined to dryland ecosystems. Although India is blessed with an average annual rainfall of about 1200 mm, the fate of dryland crops oscillates with the quantity, onset, progress, spatial and temporal distribution of monsoon rains. In order to achieve evergreen revolution, we shall have to make grey areas (drylands) as green through the latest technological innovations.
Therefore, the course – Resource Management in Rainfed Drylands is designed to give a clear picture of agricultural technologies and practices developed by scientists in improving dryland productivity and to showcase the extraordinary amount of research and successful field action undertaken in dryland agriculture by India leading to enhancement of productivity in dryland agriculture.
Course Content
- Overview of rainfed drylands issues
- Soil and water conservation in drylands
- Crop and soil management
- Alternate land use management
- Implements and post harvest applications
- Participation, extension, linkages and institutional partnerships
Course Audience
- Undergraduate & Postgraduate Students of Agriculture
- Faculty Members of State Agriculture Universities & Agriculture Based NGOs
- Staff Members of Line Departments – State Department of Agriculture / Horticulture
- Specialists Working in KVKs
- Progressive Farmers
Outcomes of this Course
- Importance of drylands and their contribution to food basket of India
- Soil and water conservation practices for drylands
- Appropriate crop and soil management techniques
- Watershed concepts for application to drylands
- Implements and post harvest applications in drylands
- Extension methodologies in reaching technologies to farmers
