Accelerating the Growthof Rainfed

Agriculture - Integrated Farmers

Livelihood Approach

Draft Policy Documented by

National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA)

Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare

July 2022
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S. Page
Content
No. No.
1. Introduction
1.1 The context of rainfed agriculture
1.2 Defining rainfed agriculture
1.3 The need for a novel game-changing policy
1.3.1. A Different Policy Framework than that of the Dominant Green
Revolution Paradigm
1.3.2. The nutritional imperative
1.3.3. Farmers’ distress and the need for taking local, indigenous knowledge
into account
1.3.4. A holistic policy for accelerating the growth of rainfed agriculture
2. Issues & challenges for rainfed agriculture
2.1 Lack of targeted approach to development
2.2 Disproportionate government support
2.3 Technologies bypassed rainfed agriculture
2.4 Yield variability
2.5 Land degradation and poor productivity
2.6 Climate risks
2.7 Poor productivity of livestock
2.8 Resource poor farmers and inadequate credit availability
2.9 Poor market linkages
2.10 No reliable data for rainfed in central database systems
3. Policy Vision, Goals and Objectives
3.1 Vision
3.2 Goals
3.3 Objectives
3.3.1 Ecological objectives
3.3.2 Economic objectives
3.3.3 Equity objectives
4. Proposed approaches for achieving the goals and objectives
4.1 Improve cropping systems and practices in rainfed agriculture
4.1.1 Release new climate-resilient varieties suited for rainfed regions
4.1.2 Promoting integrated farming systems (IFS)
4.1.3 Improve system productivity in rainfed regions
4.1.4 Improve farm power and mechanization in rainfed agriculture
4.1.5 Revival of Millets Based Cropping Systems
4.2 Promote efficient natural resource management in rainfed agriculture
4.2.1 Improve water use efficiency
4.2.2 Minimizing soil degradation and restoring/rehabilitating degraded
soils
4.3 Enhance investment ability and financial security of farmers
4.3.1 Improve Institutional credit availability of rainfed farmers
4.3.2 Encourage Allied Agricultural activities in rainfed regions
4.3.3 Establishing bio-economy in rainfed regions through promotion of
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secondary agricultural activities
4.3.4 Introduce comprehensive Insurance and weather-based instruments
for rainfed farmers
4.4 Improve infrastructure and organization that enhance farmers'
capacity to capture value'
4.5 Encourage private sector investment in rainfed regions and sustainable
practices
4.6 Improve the knowledge transfer services in rainfed regions
4.6.1 Strengthen Extension services in rainfed regions
4.6.2 Leverage Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in
rainfed regions
4.7 Create data monitoring, management and analytics infrastructure for
effective decision making
4.8 Provide targeted governance for rainfed regions
4.8.1 Develop specific ecosystem-based solutions
4.8.2 Rational Allocation of Resources
4.8.3 Policy Reorientation
4.8.4 Suggested Regulatory Acts/Reforms
4.8.5 Targeted schemes for vulnerable and disadvantaged group
4.8.6 Enabling science-led development capitalizing upon indigenous
knowledge system
Institutional Framework for accelerating the growth of Rainfed
5.
Agriculture
5.1 Institutional Framework
5.1.1 National Level Institution
5.1.2 State level Institution
5.1.3 District Level Institution
5.2 Network of Institutions and Coordination
5.2.1 National Level Committee
5.2.2 State level Committee
5.2.3 District Level Committee
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Abbreviations
ACZ Agro-climatic zones
AEZ Agro-ecological zones
ANB Atma Nirbhar Bharat
ATMA Agricultural Technology Management Agency
CHC Custom-hiring centers
CRIDA Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture
CSB Community seed banks
CSO Civil Society Organisations
DFI Doubling Farmers’ Income
DWDU District Watershed Development Unit
FPO Farmer Producer Organisations
GP Gram Panchayats
HYV High Yielding Varieties
ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IFS Integrated farming systems
IMD India Meteorological Department
IoT Internet of Things
KVKs Krishi Vigyan Kendras
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
MASL Metre above sea level
MGNREGS Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme
MoEFCC Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
MUDRA Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd.
NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
NBSSLUP National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning
NFSM National Food Security Mission
NLNA National Level Nodal Agency
NMSA National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
NRAA National Rainfed Area Authority
PDS Public distribution systems
PIA Project implementing agency
PMFBY Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
PMFME Prime Minister’s Formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises
PoP Package of practices
PWDP Participatory Watershed Development Plans
RADAR Rainfed Areas Data Repository
SAPSs Sustainable agriculture practices and systems
SAU State Agricultural Universities
SHG Self-Help Groups
SLNA State Level Nodal Agency
SRAC Special Rainfed Areas Cell
WUE Water use efficiency
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1. Introduction
The National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) was formed in 2006 as an expert body
of the Ministry of Agriculture to provide “knowledge inputs regarding the systematic
upgradation and management of the country’s dryland and rainfed agriculture.” In 2009,
NRRA published a vision document, describing the challenges and opportunities of rainfed
areas and outlining a pathway to prosperity by 2025. This document recognized that harnessing
opportunities in rainfed areas will need “a paradigm shift from a ‘Commodity-centered Green
Revolution’ to an ‘Integrated Resource Management and Farming Systems-centered Rainbow
Revolution’ for inclusive development.” It further recognized that a multi-pronged approach
was needed to “translate vision into action including prioritization of rainfed watersheds,
region specific strategies, prioritization of region-specific high impact interventions,
diversification of improved livelihoods, policies, institutions and capacity building and
innovative pilot for inclusive development of rainfed areas.

This policy document builds upon NRAA’s vision as outlined above and incorporates
integral policy measures for sustainable rainfed agriculture, inclusive of recognizing new
vulnerabilities such as climate change, farmers’ distress resulting in seasonal migration, severe
malnutrition in rainfed areas, and India’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development
Goals, in addition to various international commitments. The commitment to SDGs 2030 will
reiterate the concerns, relating to farmers’ income & their purchasing power, as also nutrition
security and ecological sustainability.

1.1 The context of rainfed agriculture

Currently, rainfed agriculture, which is rain-dependent, accounts for 55 per cent of the
net sown area (139.42 M ha), and 61 per cent of India’s farmer population. Rainfed agriculture
is crucial to the country’s economy and food security. Presently, it accounts for around 40 per
cent of the total food grain production, (85, 83, 70 and 65 per cent of nutri-cereals, pulses,
oilseeds and cotton, respectively); supports two-thirds of livestock and 40 per cent of the
human population. Further, the livelihoods of 80 per cent of small and marginal farmers is
impacted.

Crop diversity in rainfed regions is striking with almost 34 major crops grown annually
compared to 4 to 5 major ones in irrigated areas. Rainfed farmers follow a diverse portfolio of
economic activities including horticulture, agroforestry, seed spices, medicinal & aromatic
plants, fishery, livestock and beekeeping etc,. This diversity in the production system imparts
greater resilience to the country’s rainfed agriculture, and diversifies the consumption plates
necessary to address concerns of malnutrition. Rainfed agriculture is practised under a wide
range of soil types, agro-climates, topography and rainfall conditions ranging from 400 mm to
1600 mm per annum. India’s rainfed regions are characterized by complex climatic challenges,
manifested as water scarcity for rainfed crop production. Rainfall is highly unreliable, both in
time and space, with strong risks of dry spells at critical growth stages even during good
rainfall years. Rainfed crops are prone to breaks in the monsoon during the crop growth due to
water stress.
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According to the report ”Prioritization of Districts for Development Planning in India –
A Composite Index Approach(2020)” published by NRAA , 168 districts based on composite
score are identified as high priority vulnerable rainfed districts requiring immediate
interventions to enhance natural resources and livelihood outcomes. The distribution of rainfed
areas can be broadly classified into: arid, semi-arid, dry, sub-humid and humid regions, with 15
million ha of rainfed cropped area lying in the arid region receiving less than 500 mm annual
rainfall, another 15 million ha in 500-750 mm annual rainfall zone, and 42 million ha is in the
750-1100 mm rainfall zone. Out of 127 agroclimatic zones in India, 73 are predominantly
rainfed. Soil conditions also vary from one rainfed region to another. This variability calls for
a differentiated location-specific approach.
1.2 Defining rainfed agriculture

Rainfed areas are defined as areas that are primarily dependent on rainfall, and suffer
from undependable groundwater for agriculture and allied activities. The rainfed areas shall
accordingly include:

 Rainfed cultivated area as the difference between Net Sown Area (NSA) and Net
Irrigated Area (NIA)
 Irrigated area with undependable groundwater
 Permanent pastures and other grazing lands
 Cultivable waste lands
 Current fallows
 Other fallow lands

1.3 The need for a novel game-changing policy

1.3.1. A different policy framework than that of the dominant green revolution(GR)
paradigm
The Green Revolution was designed around growing high-yielding varieties of wheat
and paddy that responded to intensive use of water and agro-chemicals. The rainfed area were
an obvious casuality. The entire Green Revolution framework designed to fit the context of
dependable availability of water is not a sustainable option in the rainfed system. Ironically, its
adoption by farmers in rainfed areas due to the lure of assured markets, has only resulted in
further ecological degradation and malnutrition. The agro-ecological and economic
consequences of “a conscious Green Revolution strategy of ‘betting on the strong’ have long
been clear”, but to redress these persistent imbalances will require a strong, conceptually clear,
game-changing policy that is grounded on empirical data from the field.

1.3.2. The nutritional imperative

Despite overall economic growth in recent years, pockets of the Indian population
predominantly in rainfed region, suffer from hunger and malnutrition. The Global Hunger
Index reveals that since 2016, hunger in India is growing and its 2021 rank is 101 out of 116
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countries. India counts among the 31 nations in the world where hunger has been classified as
"serious." Nutrition challenges that India faces, especially its women and children are
expressed as low body mass index, under nutrition, anemia, wastage, stunting, and high infant
mortality.
1.3.3. Farmers’ distress and the need for taking local, indigenous knowledge into account

The rainfed areas of India are the most variable and unpredictable environments which
render rainfed agriculture a risky proposition. Yet, there is enough evidence to show, that
traditionally, the rural communities knew how to harness this variability to support their
economies, societies, and agro-ecosystems, carefully breeding livestock and varieties of crops
that can thrive in these areas. Resource use practices and knowledge regarding the behavior of
complex ecological systems in diverse locations, that have evolved over generations through
observation, verification and validation within communities, need to be integrated as crucial
inputs for decisions on rainfed agro-ecosystem. With ignorance of this wealth of knowledge
within the policy framework, the general thrust of public investments into agriculture in India
and market forces have led to a replacement of traditional land use practices with modern
techniques. The nominal income returns and the risks associated in rainfed agriculture are seen
to be resulting in seasonal distress migration as they realize higher income from wages in
alternate non-farm activities.

1.3.4. A holistic policy for accelerating the growth of rainfed agriculture

Ecological resilience, sustainable economic development, and social equity are the
inter-connected pillars on which new policies and programmes must be leveraged. And the
practice or implementation of these programmes must be based on local expertise, location-
specific information, participation of historically marginalized communities, and institutional
support. These however need to be integrated with demand-led production and management
practices. This entails adoption of Agricultural Value System (AVS) that links farm gates with
markets. It also necessiates deployment of digital technology all along the value chain. The
National Rainfed Area Authority proposes a new policy for accelerating the growth of rainfed
agriculture through a comprehensive approach for combating climate change, securing
livelihoods, and improving nutrition. This policy will give direction to design programmes
specifically for rainfed agriculture. Proportionate investments would be needed for the
agricultural transformation of rainfed areas. The 3Es, namely Ecology, Economics, and
Equity will guide the aims and objectives of this new policy. A robust policy and a
structured framework for public investments would bring about an agricultural regeneration of
rainfed areas resulting in multiple social co-benefits such as growth of agricultural income and
generation of rural employment as well as reduction of poverty and malnutrition. The
concomitant advantage expected is the reduced stress on irrigated systems, which are now
asked to meet the increasing demand for foodgrains, which obviously results in resource
extraction beyond sustainable levels.

2. Issues & Challenges for Rainfed Agriculture

The state of rainfed agriculture is precarious and the problems associated with it are
multifarious. India ranks first among the rainfed countries in the world in terms of extent of
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rainfed area, but ranks among the lowest in rainfed yields (<1tonne/hectare). Rainfed areas are
characterized by water-scarcity, fragile environments, and drought conditions. These
unfavourable conditions results in low productivity, low cropping intensity, high cost of
cultivation, poor adoption of modern technology, uncertainty in output, inadequate institutional
credit & public investment and high incidence of rural poverty. Some of the major factors that
have aggravated these challenges are discussed in the following sub-sections:

2.1 Lack of targeted approach to development

Schemes and programs in rainfed regions follow a blanket approach, neglecting region-
specific natural resource endowment, agro-climatic conditions and topography. One key reason
behind this is an unclear definition of what constitutes a rainfed region and, a lack of an
effective segmentation or typology of the region to enable targeted governance, i.e.
customizing the policies and instruments for specific types of rainfed region. Prior efforts to
target governance based on agro-climatic zones (ACZs) or agro-ecological zones (AEZs) have
not yielded desired outcomes due to implementation challenges that transcend jurisdictional
boundaries.

2.2 Disproportionate government support:

Rainfed areas, despite supporting 80 per cent of marginal farmers, seem to have
received lower preference due to perceived nature of these areas being drought-prone, riskier
and low in overall yields. A serious policy bias exists, when it comes to public
funding/support to rainfed farming and farmers. According to the estimates of the Centre for
Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), for the period 1997-98 to 2011-12, rainfed
agriculture received merely 1 per cent of the total expenditure on agricultural subsidies of
about Rs. 11.5 lakh crore. The rest was on intensive agriculture – divided into price
support/food (38 percent), fertilizer (37 per cent), irrigation (21 per cent) and electricity (3 per
cent). Major investments relating to management of water resources are also mostly focused on
creating irrigation sources, providing subsidised electricity for groundwater use and recharging
groundwater, while programs focused on rainfed systems which possess little scope for
benefitting from dependable water sources are minimal. The investments for these regions
mostly comes through programmes such as Watershed programme & MGNREGS.

2.3 Rainfed agriculture bypassed by technologies

Evidence largely points out to wide disparities created by GR technology between

irrigated and rainfed regions to the disadvantage of the latter. Past strategies aimed at
enhancing productivity through increased use of quality seeds, irrigation, fertilizer, and agro-
chemicals were confined to a few states in the north and command area elsewhere. These
technologies were imposed on rainfed areas without proper planning to address the specific
problems of rainfed areas. For instance, the majority of conventional irrigation and
biochemical technologies are not appropriate for rainfed farming. The heavily supply-driven
technology approach had a lesser understanding of local context and the extension system
followed similar package of practices (PoPs) for farmers in irrigated and rainfed regions. The
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similarity in schemes rolled out and a linear transfer of technology approach without
understanding diverse agro-ecological and social context resulted from inadequacy of the R&D
and extension systems in appreciating the rainfed regions. This is further exacerbated by a lack
of adequate support from the extension system as the ratio of agricultural extension manpower
to operational agricultural households in India was only 1:1162. Only a few states including
Punjab, Haryana, and Maharashtra have adequate extension personnel.

2.4 Yield variability

In several disadvantaged rainfed areas, large yield gaps still remain in several crops and
regions between yields obtained at research stations and on farmers’ fields. This is despite the
average per hectare productivity levels increasing in rainfed areas from 0.6 tonnes in 1980s to
1.1 tonnes at present. Crop yields vary for different crops and regions in rainfed and irrigated
regions, though broadly the productivity of rainfed areas is around 1.1 tonnes/hectare, as
against an average of 3 tonnes/ hectare in irrigated areas.

2.5 Land degradation and poor productivity

The intensive approach to agricultural production system has not focused adequately on
conservation of natural resources, and sustainable technologies needed for rainfed production
system. As a result, the natural resource base including in rainfed areas has got severely
compromised and has led to soil erosion and loss in soil fertility. Soils in rainfed areas are
subject to a prolonged double exclusion, being unable to gain from chemical fertilizers and
receiving no support for local practices like crop residue incorporation, composting, farmyard
manure application, etc that build soil health naturally.

Soil fertility variation and its depletion due to inadequate nutrition management is
another important factor contributing to yield instability in rainfed areas. Soil degradation
comes in several forms, including erosion by wind or water, and chemical deterioration such as
loss of nutrients or salinization. The multiple nutrient deficiencies in soils of rainfed field and
horticulture crops are estimated to be 89 per cent for N; 80 per cent for P; 50 per cent for K; 41
per cent for S; 48 per cent for Zn; 33 per cent for B; 12 per cent for Fe; 13 per cent for Mo and
5 per cent for Mn. The soil organic carbon (SOC) is about 5 g/kg, whereas the desired level is
11 g/kg. Although about 80 MTs of crop residues are produced annually in rainfed areas, the
recycling is not done due to competitive uses and burning. Severe soil erosion by water is
reported in northeast hill ecosystems, and parts of central and northern India. According to
NBBSLUP (2019) average annual rate of soil erosion in the country is 16.35 tonnes per
hectare. Other causes of soil degradation include rapid depletion of soil organic matter (SOM)
because of improper crop management practices, salt accumulation, and contamination of soils
with heavy metals. Large areas are affected by toxic levels of iron, aluminium and manganese
in eastern and north-eastern regions, especially in waterlogged or poorly drained soils such as
vertisols of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during the rainy season (June-September).
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2.6 Climate risks

Climate change and climate variability impact Indian agriculture and more so in rainfed
agriculture. Long-term data for India indicates, that rainfed areas experience 3 to 4 drought
years per decade. Of these, two to three are moderate and one or two are severe in intensity.
Rainfed crops are likely to be worst hit due to limited options of coping with variability of
rainfall and temperature resulting in a shift in sowing time and shorter growing season, which
may necessitate effective adjustment in sowing and harvesting dates. Increasing intra-seasonal
variability of rainfall has become a major concern. In several meteorological divisions, the
rainfall distribution is becoming more skewed with a smaller number of rainy days and higher
intensity of rainfall causing more soil erosion. The coefficient of variation of decadal rainfall
distribution is increasing in several meteorological divisions indicating inter-annual variability.
This has implications on the length of dry spells in rainfed regions.

2.7 Poor productivity of livestock

Animal husbandry is an integral component of rainfed farming systems and, is a

significant revenue stream for farmers. As rainfed agriculture is risk-prone, possession of
livestock - both large and small ruminants, serves as a source of liquidity and an economic
cushion for rural farming communities. Livestock contribute 10 to 45 per cent to the
agricultural GDP in the developing world and it is one of the fastest growing sub-sectors in
agriculture (World Bank, 2009). They play an important multifunctional and socio-economic
role. It is estimated that 70 to 90 per cent of the ruminant livestock (buffaloes, cattle, goats and
sheep) are found in the rainfed mixed farms. The low productivity of livestock in rainfed
agriculture is due to water scarcity resulting from the collapse of traditional water harvesting
systems, and shrinking of common grazing resources leading to scarcity of fodder. The
IGFRI,2019 reported that the shortage in fodder availability is a major reason of
Indian livestock’s milk productivity being lower by 20-60 per cent compared to the global
average. Low production potential of the native breeds, non-availability of services (veterinary,
credit, seed, feed, market) in time, high incidence of diseases and high cost of maintenance are
also other reasons for low productivity of livestock. The policies on livestock also exclusively
focus only on improvement of cows and buffaloes, while other livestock including sheep, goat,
poultry and pig, which are integral to many rainfed areas go unnoticed, or get lesser than
deserving attention.

2.8 Resource poor farmers and inadequate credit availability

Marginal and small farmers are dependent mostly on informal sources of credit in
almost all the states. The percentage of investment credit that is met from informal sources is
40.6 per cent, 52.1 per cent, and 30.8 per cent, for the landless, marginal farmers, and small
farmers, respectively. This shows a lack of access to credit facilities and formal financial
mechanisms for the majority of rainfed farmers who need it the most.
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2.9 Poor market linkages
Smallholder farmers in rainfed areas not only suffer from many production risks due to
climatic vulnerability, but are also subject to market risks (high market and price fluctuation)
that lead to unstable incomes. Further, farmers often sell their produce at low or sub-optimal
prices due to unreliable market channels and unregulated markets and their poor withholding
capacity arriving from their low rate of savings. This is further compounded by inadequate
post-harvest handling and storage facilities which prevent farmers from stocking up and selling
at the right time and accessing other markets. This necessitates strong infrastructure,
institutional mechanisms, and support systems from alternate marketing options including e-
marketing and MSP based procurement.

2.10 No reliable data for rainfed in central database systems

Standardized agronomic, soil, water, market-related, and socioeconomic datasets for

agriculture are essential for real-time decision making and sustainability. Despite the
substantive scale of rainfed agriculture that exists in terms of cultivation area and the farmer
population, huge gaps persist in data availability and data quality. In addition, existing datasets
also lack standardization as it prevents interoperability and decision-making. A proper
mechanism to assess the impact of schemes and funding allocations in rainfed regions is also
missing. This creates a huge bottleneck to assess the economic opportunity of action and cost
of inaction in these regions that is important for policymakers.

3. Vision, Goals and Objectives of the Policy

The biggest policy shift that is needed in favour of rainfed agriculture is moving away
from the present agricultural paradigm of piecemeal interventions to comprehensive treatment
for strengthening the agro-ecosystem holistically. The present agricultural paradigm, which
subsidises chemical inputs to maximize yields, was initially designed for the Green Revolution,
but then came to encompass all crops and livestock. Experience has shown that the current
agricultural paradigm has only hastened the degradation of production systems in rainfed areas
leading to diminished returns on investment and inadequate average incomes. Policies and
programmes for rainfed agriculture should adopt a different paradigm, one that measures
success in terms of inclusive and sustainable growth with regards to system-based alternative
output in contrast to season-based productivity. The guiding elements needed are nutrition for
the consumers, income for the farmers and health of the production system. It is important to
promote resilience of the diverse production systems that define rainfed agro-ecosystems and
not merely in terms of productivity.
3.1 Vision
The vision of the national rainfed policy is to “make rainfed agriculture sustainable,
remunerative and equitable”.
3.2 Goals
The policy goal is to accelerate the growth of rainfed agriculture through a comprehensive
approach for combating climate change, securing livelihoods, and improving nutrition. The
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policy seeks to maximize gains in ecology, economy, and equity in rainfed areas.
3.3 Objectives
3.3.1 Ecological objectives
 Reversing unsustainable trends by stemming land degradation by adopting practices
that improve soil health and sustainable water management
 Promoting diversified sustainable production systems that are suited to the agro-
ecosystem and are integrated within the farm and the landscape
 Promoting a holistic approach of reducing risks and making farms and landscapes
climate resilient
3.3.2 Economic objectives
 Inclusive growth with focus on circular local economies: Promoting rural
livelihoods through product and service innovation in circular localised food
systems leading to improved agricultural incomes. A co-benefit of this objective is
supply of locally grown crops to meet local demand to strengthen local food
security and nutrition.
3.3.3 Equity objectives
 Catering to the special needs of districts in rainfed areas prioritized for development
 Catering to specific vulnerabilities faced by women farmers, pastoralists, nomadic
tribes and landless labourers in rainfed areas
 Reducing malnutrition among the inhabitants in rainfed areas
3.4 Enabling enviornment
 Focusing rainfed areas for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),
2030 and Land Degradation Neutralities (LDN)
 Promoting bioeconomy-based developmental model
 Redistributing production pressures through appropriate agri-food system
 Embedding nutrition goals into rainfed agriculture and rural development

4. Proposed Approaches for achieving the Goals and Objectives

4.1 Improve cropping systems and practices in rainfed agriculture
4.1.1 Release new climate-resilient varieties suited for rainfed regions

 Release of cultivars with high resilience and yield potential is essential, especially
for smallholders through decentralized seed system. A suitable delivery mechanism
that ensures timely and cheaper availability of seeds to replace older/less beneficial
ones is needed.
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 Community seed banks (CSBs) in villages are key to providing quality seeds of
diverse crops and varieties at affordable prices at the right time. This will aid in
adaptive capacity against the contingencies of climate risks, such as repeat sowing
in case of crop failure. Besides, they will ensure in conserving and mainstreaming
the local crop varieties with inbuilt tolerance to various biotic/abiotic stresses in
rainfed regions. Seeds with medicinal/therapeutic properties can be mainstreamed
by integrating them into the formal and informal seed chains while preserving
genetic purity.

4.1.2 Promoting integrated farming systems (IFS)/integrated livelihood system (ILS)

 Promoting IFS, which synergistically integrates two or more enterprises (agronomic

crops, horticultural crops, livestock, aquaculture, poultry/ducks, apiculture, and
mushroom cultivation), can offer improved income, resilience, and soil carbon
sequestration potential. IFS systems need to be planned according to characteristics
of ACZs and followed according to the model approach indicated by the All India
Coordinated Research Project (AICRP-ICAR) across 15 agro-climatic regions. This
will require a shift from the centrally determined approach of single commodity
intensification to location-specific farming systems intensification approach which
focuses on system (more than one season in a year) productivity instead of season-
based crop productivity (tonnes/hectare)
 Incentivise pulse, oilseeds and millet-based cropping systems to check shift to
cotton and other higher water duty monocropping practices in rainfed regions. Non-
conventional legume varieties like rice bean, faba bean, moth bean etc. can be
incentivised for their tremendous potential in rainfed areas, in addition to popularly
grown varieties
 Dryland horticulture needs to be promoted and a shift to horti-millet cropping
systems will translate into more nutrition options, income diversity and better
market prices
 Diversification through kitchen/nutritional gardens in farming and non-farming
families can also be encouraged and promoted in rainfed regions through incentives
 Integration of higher tock (both large and small ruminants), poultry, fishery
activities will help generate jobs, enhance incomes and minimize enterprise risks
 Adopt Secondary Agriculture that includes activities like bee keeping, cultivation of
mushrooms etc.; primary processing of main(primary) produce post-the-harvest;
and value addition to both primary & by-products which will create local jobs and
supplementary incomes

4.1.3 Improve system productivity

 Increasing demand for food and processed commodities with a faster demand for
high-value commodities (such as horticulture, herbal & medicinal, dairy, livestock,
and fish) will require a shift from season-centric productivity enhancement to
system- production through a holistic research and development approach
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● Climate-resilient HYVs of crops that can withstand biotic (pest & disease attacks),
abiotic stress (drought, waterlogging etc.), and long-term impacts (salinity) are
critical to minimize crop failures in rainfed areas. Releasing suitable varieties of
particular rainfed crops (millets, pulses, oilseeds, and dryland herbal, medicinal &
horticultural crops) will help in obtaining efficient and successful crop production.
Research needs to be undertaken for varieties with high yield potential, drought
tolerance, high response to nutrient supply, high water use efficiency, and moderate
resistance to pests and diseases.
● Establish crop zones by targeting revenue boundaries like blocks/sub-divisions for
better alignment of crops and agricultural practices in synch with the available local
resources, rainfall, soil resources, and other agroecological characteristics of the
area, inturn improving the resource efficiency and production potential.
● Low cost protected cultivation (greenhouses, shade-net house, tunnels and plant
protection nets) that grow plants in protected environments to regulate climatic
conditions deserve to be upscaled in rainfed regions to protect crops and improve
yields. Crops can be shielded from extremes (droughts, evaporation) which are the
hallmark of rainfed areas and thus avoid economic losses. This can also reduce use
of pesticides since plants are protected from external environments. While doing so
biodegradable plastics should be preferred from the perspective of ecological
health.

4.1.4 Improve farm power and mechanization

● Develop and adopt strategies to raise farm power consumptions to 2.5 kW/hectare
in rainfed areas with at least 70-80 tractors (or equivalent) per 1,000 hectare to
assure timeliness and quality in field operations. Providing access to farm-power,
for small and marginal farmers with an equal emphasis on tractors/ power tillers or
equivalents and bullocks, as per the local context needs to be ensured. Besides
custom-hiring centres (CHCs) and entrepreneurial startups that provide farm
power on hire & lease, it necessary to promote farming as a service (FaaS). Under
this, the farmers should be able to access not just devices and machinery but total
service including operations. Further, the service that offers cluster-based support
in preference to individual farms should be incentivized.
● While animal draught power is reducing, institutional innovations on strengthening
bullock power ecosystem, including finding off-season usage for animals and
cheaper feed supplement be explored. This calls for designing of bullock-
compliant farm machineries based on use of solar and electric power.
● Farm mechanisation research should focus on developing farmer-friendly,
location-specific and easy-to-manage customized tools (tillers, drill ploughs,
plough planters, manual weeders, bullock drawn weeders). In particular,
innovative and appropriate mechanisation solutions such as machines to prepare
organic/natural farming inputs, technologies to apply inputs effectively and
judiciously (e.g., automated micro-irrigation) are required. A CHC system, with at
least one CHC per gram panchayat, is essential. Supporting local technical
innovations at the block level involving farmers’ organizations, PACS/other
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cooperatives, local industry and building on the already existing innovations on the
ground is the way forward.
● Solar-based irrigation systems can provide irrigation at a very low cost to rainfed
farmers. It will raise farmer incomes by providing opportunities to grow high-
income horticultural crops in the rabi season fetching better market prices and
profits for rainfed farmers. Government schemes for irrigation pumps and
community-based lift irrigation systems like PM-KUSUM can be leveraged to
establish community-scale solar irrigation projects in rainfed regions. Area-
specific strategies, depending on groundwater availability, cropping pattern, size of
farmer community need to be planned for increasing adoption of appropriately
sized solar irrigation systems while avoiding adoption in water scarce regions
4.1.5 Revival of millet-based cropping systems
Millets can be cultivated and they are adaptable to a wide range of climatic conditions and
marginal conditions of soil and irrigation. The alarming levels of malnutrition in the country,
particularly in rainfed areas demand a “millets for millions'' program linking production and
consumption in the same region. Bringing back millets into the country’s food systems is
critical and can be taken up in a phased manner. Introducing millets into state nutrition
programs (mid-day meal, ICDS, welfare hostels) can create bulk demand to drive the
transition. Introduction of millets in PDS in a phased manner leading to substitution of high
water duty commodities like rice and wheat will reduce the “water footprint” that now
describes the country’s public distribution of food. Decentralization of PDS through inclusion
of millets also reduces the “carbon footprint” due to shorter supply chains.
Elements of millet production and consumption program need to undertake the following steps:
 Mapping the Community Development Blocks having a recent history of millet
consumption and production
 Investing on seed systems
 Improved agronomical practices
 Clean harvesting that meet fair and assured quality standards
 Local processing and scientific post harvest management (PHM)
 Consumption campaigns
 Development of markets through processing and value-addition
 Establishment of integrated aggregation platforms at the local levels as envisioned
under the concept of GrAMs (Gramin Agriculatural Markets)

4.2 Promote efficient natural resource management in rainfed agriculture

4.2.1 Improve water use efficiency
Investments in water resource management in rainfed areas have the potential to be
highly inclusive, resulting in high social rate of returns, besides addressing multiple issues of
droughts, low productivity, insecurity against unreliable rainfall, poverty, and nutrition.
According to the studies of NRAA, a wide variation is noticed in rainfall effectiveness and
water productivity across states and type of crops. Water balance analysis based on macro data
at district level in rainfed areas reveals a poor level water productivity vis-a-vis major rainfed
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crops in India. The study observed water productivity in the range of 106 to 280 gms per 1000
liter of water for predominant rainfed crops like jowar, maize, bajra, pulses, oilseeds and rice.
This indicates that water productivity of major rainfed crops in India is very low as compared
to that of irrigated system and global average. For example the global average water
productivities of rice and maize range from 600-1600 gm/m3 and 1100-2700 gm/m3
respectively, both of which mostly count for irrigated system. Yet, the logic highlights the
scope that exists for improvement in water productivity by adopting suitable crop
diversification, crop alignment, water harvesting, in-situ moisture conservation, on farm water
management, appropriate soil health management and optimal use of available water
synergizing production system.
● Improve effective rainfall : As rainfall is the major source of water for rainfed
regions, ‘Effective Rainfall’ as an approach can harness more rainfall for achieving
food security and better livelihoods. Specific technologies that can be integrated within
the local context from improving soil organic matter to harvesting and retaining
moisture through farm ponds, conservative use etc., combined with a scientific and
participatory mapping of resources, water budgeting, mobilisation of community to
establish usage and extraction norms
● Precision water management practices: Adopting micro-irrigation technologies in
Rainfed agriculture - which include drip/trickle systems, surface and sub-surface drip
tapes, micro-sprinklers, sprayers, micro-jets, spinners, rotors, bubblers, etc., must be
prioritized and incentivized through existing schemes/programmes. Studies report that
micro irrigation systems deliver water saving upto 40 per cent over conventional flood
irrigation as well as productivity and income enhancement upto 48 per cent. It also
facilitates application of controlled quantities of water and nutrients in the vicinity of
each plant. It is estimated that replacement of Conventional-irrigation by Micro-
irrigation practices to the level of 50 per cent will bring additional cultivation area of 15
per cent in kharif and 23 per cent in rabi season. At an adoption level of 25 per cent, the
estimated additional coverage is 8 per cent in kharif and 12 per cent in rabi. It is
advisable to promote women and youth-led solar driven mobile pump-set based micro-
irrigation services for protective irrigation in critical periods using the limited available
water locally or arranging water from external sources in extreme conditions. This will
minimize production losses and consequential losses.
● Crop diversification for water intensive crops: According to the studies of NRAA,
about 6.72 per cent of rice cultivated area comprising 68 districts and 12.9 per cent of
sugarcane cultivated area encompassing 91 districts are not suitable for cultivation of
the said crops. Persistence with these crops has been causing a rise in the gap between
demand and supply of water much beyond the effective rainfall, available surface water
sources and replenishable ground water, resulting in rapid decline in water table, as also
ater quality. Adopting in these districts a policy that supports optimum cropping pattern
utilizing available water resources in a most efficient manner is need of the hour. Crop
diversification from rice and sugarcane to low duty crops such as pulses and oilseeds
would facilitate cultivation of these crops benefiting more number of small and
marginal farmers. Cultivation of water guzzling crops in these areas may be further
discouraged by shrinking the access to input and energy subsidies, as also procurement
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etc. in a phased manner. Likewise facility of crop insurance may be made available at
higher level of premium as a disincentive to adopting non-suitable crops.

4.2.2 Minimizing soil degradation and restoring/rehabilitating degraded soils

It is important to adopt suitable soil conservation measures based on land capability classes,
and landscape planning approach. Soil rehabilitation and/or soil restoration should also be a
priority, returning degraded soils to productivity, especially in historically sound agricultural or
other production systems currently under threat. Reversing the soil degradation due to low
SOC is essential to build back soil carbon, enhance agronomic productivity and aid in
sequestering carbon. Strategies for improving SOC require improving water and nutrient use
efficiencies by decreasing losses and increasing biomass production. Farming practices like
conservation tillage, mulch farming, cover crop, mixed farming/cropping, agroforestry, ley
farming (putting the land under pastures and hay after growing grain crops), utilising organic
manures (vermicompost, green manure) are ways to increase SOC and carbon sequestration.
There is significant opportunity to enhance income if farmers are compensated for generating
SOC and sequestering carbon.

4.3 Enhance investment ability and financial security of farmers

4.3.1 Improve access of rainfed farmers to institutional credit
The role of the finance sector to enhance rainfed farmers' growth is extremely critical. From
this perspective, their role needs to be redefined to enable upliftment of rainfed farmers. Some
suggestions are:
● Farmers in rainfed regions need access to banking finances and better rural banking
infrastructure to benefit from government schemes (through DBT, crop and weather
insurance, etc), and minimized risks from dependence on informal credit sources.
Financial institutions need to be set up in these regions to engage small-scale producers
and encouraged with government benefits like provision of venture capital.
● Finance sector could support rainfed farmers in the form of micro-capital assistance.
For instance, allow SHGs to take land/equipment on lease for cultivation purposes.
Financial institutions could help farmers in gaining access to remunerative online
trading markets like e-NAM. In this way, they could help break the cycle of
indebtedness for needy farmers who lack access and knowledge to these resources.
● Explore the possibility of the finance sector to act as a mediator between the
private/public sector enterprises and farmers to finance carbon projects or open up
newer avenues for sustainable procurement ventures to rainfed farmers.
4.3.2 Encourage allied agricultural activities in rainfed regions
i. Enhancing income through animal husbandry in rainfed regions
● The development of the livestock sector in rainfed regions has to be based on a
multi-pronged strategy covering production, conservation, medical support
infrastructure and marketing.
● Identify exclusive schemes and programs for small ruminants (pigs, goats,
sheep), as also poultry, camels and yaks; and tailor interventions based on local
resource availability and the socioeconomic status of the farmer. For example,
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emerging innovations like goat banks which provide ruminants at a very low
cost to women and marginal farmers need scaling up and integration with
women's development schemes.
● Build adequate veterinary infrastructure for the rainfed livestock ecosystem
which at present is concentrated in irrigated districts and for mostly cattles.
● Provide tailored insurance schemes to livestock rearers for reducing the
investment risk faced by them.
● With more than 27 major traditional pastoralist communities inhabiting 15
states with an estimated population of about 3.4 crores, special policy and
funding focus for pastoral ecosystems needs to be developed. Policies to ensure
the protection of commons that offer grazing areas and programs for livestock,
credit access, and avenues for selling cow dung on scale need to be planned
and implemented.
● Adopt integrated Pastoralism System Development project on the lines of
‘Integrated Watershed Development Project’ for sustaining the livelihood of
migrant pastoralist communities
● Develop efficient pasture and fodder production systems in rainfed areas
through fodder production on arable lands ( encouraging farmers to use at least
10 per cent of their land for fodder production); integrated fodder production
system (integrate rearing of ruminants with trees in the form of Silvi-pastoral,
Agri-Silvi-pastoral, and Horti-pastoral systems) and improving and
safeguarding Common Property Resources (CPR) for fodder availability.
ii. Enhancing income through dryland horticulture in rainfed regions
 Horticulture is emerging as the main growth engine of Indian agriculture and
has been defined as Sunrise Sector by the Doubling Farmers Income (DFI)
Committee, as it contributes more than a third of the agricultural GDP, though
it occupies less than a fifth of the cultivated area.
 Horticulture crops generate employment, provide raw material to various food
processing industries, and generates higher farm profitability due to higher
production and export earnings from foreign exchange.
 Diverse agro-climatic conditions in India enable production of all types of
fresh fruits, vegetables, herbal and medicinal plants in different parts of the
country. Health consciousness among people is growing alongside increase in
their purchasing power. With expected diversifications of consumption pattern
in favour of micro-nutrient carrying agri-horti-produce, the demand for
horticultural produce will see a rise, and exists to produce more horticultural
crops.
 The comparative production per unit area of horticultural crops is higher than
field crops, e.g., currently paddy crop gives an average of only 30 q/ha, while
banana crop gives 300–450 q/ha and grapes 90–150 q/ha. The technical yield
potential of fruits is 19-20 tons/ha and that of vegetable is 20-30 tons/ha.
These potential yield levels are much higher than that of field crops.
 Difficult rainfed areas like the slope lands with uneven or undulating
topography are suitable only for horticultural crops. Some fruit trees can also
be grown in culturable wasteland or possessing poor quality soil.
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 In addition to increased farm income, nutritional security and other export
potential, horticultural systems generate several positive environmental
impacts in rainfed areas. Carbon sequestration is one such.
 Efforts should be more towards promotion of agri-horticultural Integrated
Farming System suitable to the agro climatic condition which can bring certain
level of resilience to the production system as well as create higher income
avenues.

4.3.3 Establishing bio-economy in rainfed regions through promotion of secondary

agricultural activities
Secondary agriculture is a strategic intervention for rainfed area to process both primary and
by-products of the agriculture sector into value added products and thereby create gainful
employment, and supplementary income for the farmers. It can also serve as a mitigation
mechanism during periods of extreme weather events, crop losses, and price volatility of
agricultural produce. Following strategies can be adopted to boost secondary agricultural
activities in rainfed regions:

● Identify potential secondary agricultural activities that involve value addition of

primary agricultural produce (processing, nurseries, biofertilizers, and biopesticide
production etc.), alternative enterprises (beekeeping, sericulture, organic/indigenous
seed production, biochar, bio pelletisation etc.), and income generation activities
through agricultural residues/wastes (vermicompost, organic manure, biopesticides,
and fiber products etc.).
● Provide specialized technical support (capacity building programs, low-cost skilling,
and training programs for farm families) and financial support (institutional credit)
for allied agricultural enterprises.
● Insurance against business risks can be provided for rural income generation
activities that are dependent on agricultural production activities.
● Priority sector status can be accorded to secondary agriculture to ensure institutional
credit access and to fastrack benefit transfer under ongoing schemes related to skill
& enterprise promotion.
● Specialized agro products from micro and small-scale enterprises can be identified
for Geographical Indicator (GI) labels to build brands, improve marketability and tap
export potential.
● Prioritise processing equipments/machineries that operate on decentralized
renewable energy to ensure a reliable supply, which is the second major challenge
for rural microenterprises.

4.3.4 Introduce comprehensive Insurance and weather-based instruments

Weather events like excess rains/droughts have a direct and systemic impact on the economic
activities of the rained areas. Therefore few strategies to mitigate the risk suggested are:
● Safeguard rainfed farmers through financial infrastructure in the form of credit flows
(production and post production financial tools) and insurance cover. Crop insurance
packages must also be made more comprehensive and pervasive as there is low
coverage in rainfed and remote areas under the ongoing PMFBY owing to the lower
number of bids from implementing agencies and quoting of high premiums. Thus,
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additional incentives are required to encourage the adoption of the PMFBY scheme
in rainfed regions.
● Access of small and marginal farmers to institutional credit, and insurance for non-
loanee farmers needs to be improved. The present process of enrolment through an
application needs to be overhauled and a mechanism for enrolment of non-loanee
farmers under PMFBY promptly explored.
● A robust data management system to ensure efficiency in insurance schemes,
enrolment of farmers, price discovery, selection of implementing agencies through
bidding, estimation of crop loss, and timely payment of claims is esstential.
● Weather risk management instruments such as weather-based crop insurance
schemes can be scaled up in rainfed regions as they provide a viable alternative to
traditional crop insurance schemes. It uses weather parameters as a “proxy” for crop
yields (which is more verifiable), and is therefore preferable to crop cutting
experiments (CCE) in assessing the loses for compensating the cultivators for
deemed crop losses. Weather index derivatives not only help mitigate the high risk
faced by vulnerable households and economic agents within the rural sector, but also
reduce/rationalize the Government’s cost of natural disaster aid. As extreme weather
events are expected to rise, rainfed farmers should receive a comprehensive risk
cover package under Restructured Weather-based Crop Insurance for drought,
untimely rainfall, and other weather-led events.
● Institutional mechanisms to provide timely weather-related information to rainfed
farmers, especially on the onset of monsoon, unseasonal rain, and drought will be
important to cope with climate change. High spatial and temporal resolution data can
be collected by setting up extensive weather monitoring systems on the ground. This
can be leveraged to provide customized short and long-term meteorological forecasts
to the farmers. This will enable rainfed farmers to make the right decisions on crop
selection, sowing, harvest time, etc., at the right time for reducing crop losses and
improving crop yields.

4.4 Improve infrastructure & organizations to enhance economic gains

Poor market linkages and lack of rainfed farmers’ ability to negotiate market prices call
for enhancing their capacity to capture the value of the product through strategies that include:

 To reduce the high transaction (during sales, input procurement, etc.) costs per unit
of produce borne by small and marginal rainfed farmers in particular, aggregation is
essential. A cluster of 100 hectares or more of rainfed farms within close proximity
could be apt for aggregating economic activities. Appropriate integrated farming
systems can also be identified and adopted for clusters by measuring soil quality,
rainfall, irrigation facility, and market access. Dedicated FPOs formed by farmers in
each cluster can be leveraged to source low-cost and quality inputs (seeds,
fertilizers), farm mechanization tools, post-harvest infrastructure (transportation,
cold storage), and provide better market access.
 Setting up rural-based low-cost small-scale agro-industries (food and non-food) in
rainfed areas to process the marketable surpluses can improve farmers income.
Creation of multi-purpose low-cost rural-based agro-processing complexes/parks can
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also be prioritised to directly reach large private players. FPOs, Farmer
SHGs/Cooperatives could be leveraged to set up these models in a Public-private
partnership (PPP) mode for establishing processing and value addition units at
strategic places in the rural areas for pulses, millets, fruits, vegetables, dairy,
fisheries, and poultry.
 Learning from the successful milk cooperative movement of India, appropriate
models of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) need to be structured and tailored
to suit needs of rainfed areas. Significant investment is needed to capacitate FPOs in
playling an effective role that goes beyond aggregation focused functions, such as
marketing and value addition.
 Establish decentralized aggregation and market platforms to facilitate marketing of
surpluses in close proximity to farmgates. Integrated markets called ‘Gramin
Agriculture Markets (GrAMs) may be established.
 At the GrAMs, provide for the needed agri-logistics including community cold
storage facilities whereat individual farmers can hire required space akin to the
locker system available at the banks.

4.5 Encourage private sector investment in rainfed regions

There exists great scope for the private sector to enable rainfed agriculture to reach its
potential and they need to be encouraged and incentivized to prioritize interventions in this
direction. Private sector investment and collaboration are key to developing a sustainable
agriculture system. Private sector will be incentivized and facilitated to:
● Develop innovative support mechanisms (quality inputs, cost-effective credits,
certification and audits, capacity building trainings etc.) to ease the transition of
farmers to sustainable practices
● Drive adoption of sustainable agriculture practices and systems (SAPSs) in their
supply chains (domestic and global) via suitable existing/new supply chain
assurance and traceability mechanisms
● Address the business opportunities created by the shift to sustainable agriculture in
rainfed regions e.g. develop and commercialize farm implements to ease laborious
sustainable practices; production and supply of special or new types of inputs
(biopesticides, precision tools, etc) and digital tools for decision-making.
● Reorient the R&D to build solutions for sustainable agriculture in rainfed regions
and rely on scientific assessment of the impact of sustainable agriculture practices in
rainfed regions for sound evidence-backed scale up.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, a sum of more than Rs. 3,500 crore has
been invested in agriculture and rural development sectors under the purview of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) during the period of 2015-16 to 2019-20. There is no organized
mechanism to evaluate the importance and priority of the identified projects, monitoring or,
their contribution/ supplementation to national initiatives/commitments. An Integrated
platform with a robust MIS is required to be established to facilitate building sound proposals
for inviting and guiding interested agencies/companies, selection of priority area/ projects and
implementing agencies, undertaking periodic monitoring and technical supervision for best
 DRAFT
use of these resources. Putting in place a suitable system can benefit of CSR partnership for
initiatives in rainfed regions on a sustainable basis.

4.6 Improve knowledge transfer services in rainfed regions

4.6.1 Strengthen Extension services in rainfed regions

 With extension services mostly geared towards irrigated agriculture, the extension
functionaries should be reoriented and trained to serve various agro-ecologies
adequately in rainfed regions. The proposed ratio between extension functionaries to
farmers based on an optimal blending of manpower and ICT is 1:1000 for rainfed
regions and the gap between the aspired and current ratio needs to be bridged.
 Extension workers/technical functionaries should be trained on the latest advances in
rainfed agriculture technologies and on SAPSs for adopting resilient cropping systems
and improving productivity. Special exposure training of short duration is also required
for the grassroots level personnel involved in the implementation of the watershed and
rainfed agriculture development programs in various states
 Model/ Adarsh watersheds are key for scaling up successful watershed approaches. The
model watersheds are intended to demonstrate successful watershed management
approaches and serve as ‘Pilot Replicable Watersheds’ at district scale. The model
watershed interventions need to be developed by consortium of various local
institutions such as research, development, government, civil society and these
necessarily need to be scalable. Science-backed analysis and interventions/best
solutions at the level of model watersheds should be integrated with wide extension
activities and all the extension institutes should adapt model watersheds for scaling
mechanisms of interventions.

4.6.2 Leverage Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in rainfed regions

Technology adoption in rainfed regions is low and ICT can be capitalized, as

technology adoption rates are higher when ICT and traditional extension systems are blended,
in comparison to dependence on the latter alone. ICT can be leveraged for providing
information on several key fronts, including but not limited to:
 Agronomy-related customized information (crop production, protection, disaster
management),
 Market-related information including prevalent and future commodity prices in
both near-and far-range markets, demand forecast during harvesting seasons,
warehousing and cold storage availability etc.
 Resource and climate-related (weather information, pest & diseases, allied sector
resources, agri-input availability and management) and
 Governance related information (e-Governance, schemes) for specific rainfed
ecosystems.

To fully capture the potential of ICT, infrastructure must be upgraded and capacity-
building programs provided to extension personnel in multiple dimension of ICT usage.
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 IoT (Internet of Things) technology can be utilised in rainfed agriculture to ensure
optimum application of resources, achieve higher crop yields, and reduce
operational costs through real-time monitoring of rainfall, soil health, livestock
health and productivity, crops, and status of pest & diseases. Besides crop
production, IoT will provide a smoother flow of agriculture logistics during the
post-production phases and, ensure better market prices for farmers through real-
time market price monitoring.
 Establishing an accessible online data information platform for farmers which
provides real-time critical information on weather, pest & disease, and market-
related information will be useful in making critical decisions such as sowing,
harvesting, and selling time. Additionally, IoT can also be leveraged by providing
temperature & moisture-related information in grain storing warehouses to farmers
to monitor the quality of their produce in cold storage/warehousing

4.7 Dynamic Data Portal and Decision Support Tools

● Developing a dynamic data portal for rainfed regions to enable decision making and
to improve transparency and accountability is crucial. This will enable better risk
mitigation, customised solutions, and course corrections for region-specific climate
and related risks.
● Scaling up the ‘Unified Farmer Service Platform (UFSP)’ which can act as a central
agency and repository in the agri-data ecosystem will bring a paradigm shift in
data-based decision making.
● The Task force constituted by NRAA (2020) envisaged development of a
Centralized Database on Rainfed Agriculture - Rainfed Areas Data Repository
(RADAR). It is a centralized database on various parameters which can serve the
agencies responsible for planning, research and development. The proposed
database will encompass parameters of agriculture production, availability of water
resources, metrological data, soil characteristics, available technologies (including
varieties) input availability, infrastructure/agri-logistics facilities, procurement etc.
in addition to socio-economic parameters like income, health & education,
migration, rural work force, etc.

4.8 Provide Targeted Governance for Rainfed Regions

4.8.1 Develop specific ecosystem-based solutions

Rainfed ecosystems are home to a wealth of region-specific indigenous knowledge,

seeds, farming/cultural practices, and systems that can be leveraged for scaling up sustainable
agriculture. Different context-specific SAPSs (traditional as well modern) are piloted in the
rainfed regions. Facilitated by ecosystem-focused scientific cells, an ecosystem-specific
scientific Package of Practices (PoPs) could be developed that capitalize on a) the indigenous
knowledge system; b) modern science; and c) experience from existing projects focused on
sustainable agriculture. Recognition and certification of unique agricultural heritage systems as
Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHs) by the Food and Agriculture
Organization needs to be encouraged and pursued in rainfed areas. This will protect, nurture
and help boost agri-tourism.
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● A renewed way of looking at rainfed regions can be envisioned by dividing it into a
manageable number of segments (ecosystem) using the following parameters:

i. Rainfall patterns
a. Dryland areas with arid conditions: <500 mm
b. Low-to-medium rainfall: 500-1000 mm
c. Medium-to-high rainfall: 1000-1500 mm
d. Very high rainfall (Forest-hilly): >1500 mm

ii. ACZs delineation (considers regional similarity in terms of crops grown,

rainfall; temperatures; soil types, etc)

iii. Economic profiling (considers sustainable livelihood activities with potential

for market demand/value chain development)

iv. Terrain (groups similar terrains delineated by ACZ into pockets of Gangetic
plains, plains, plateaus, hills, high mountains, coastal plains and islands)

v. Aspirational districts- 117 Aspirational Districts have been identified by NITI

aayog based upon composite indicators associated with health & nutrition,
education, agriculture & water resources, financial inclusion and skill
development and basic infrastructure which have an impact on Human
Development Index (HDI).

4.8.2 Rational allocation of resources

Rainfed agriculture needs to get a fair and proportionate share of the public investments
to enable full realisation of its potential. The aim should be to render the rainfed system
economically viable (adequate capital flow, market support, remunerative and sustainable
livelihoods); ecologically resilient (natural resource efficiency, land, and crop productivity)
and equitable in developmental processes (access to banking finance, inclusive programs). By
repurposing/restructuring/reforming the existing policies, programs, schemes and/or creation of
new rainfed agriculture-focused ones, a more rational reallocation of public resources may be
done based on a) the size of the population supported by and land under rainfed agriculture,
and b) the level of investment necessary to alleviate poverty and stimulate growth in this
population/land base. The ecosystem-centric governance approach can further rationalize
resource allocation based on the specific needs of different rainfed ecosystems.

It is challenging to target public investment programs, very precisely as rainfed and

irrigated areas coexist in every village. The following are some of the potential strategies to
ensure that the quantum of resource allocation to the rainfed region is fair:
● Use of price policies to target rainfed specific crops
● Emphasizing rainfed regions in public investment in infrastructure development,
poverty alleviation programs, and other related policy and institutional reforms
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● Emphasizing rainfed regions in watershed management schemes, which have a track
record of lower spending in rainfed regions compared to lands irrigated through big
dams and canal networks
● Significantly uphaul investment on government procurement of nutri cereals, which is
much lower as compared to wheat and rice spending
● Upgrade agri-logistics and market infrastructure to support post harvest management of
agri-commodities (agronomic, horticultural & livestock) specific to rainfed regions
● Make specific and dedicated allocations to undertake R&D activities in respect of
indentified rainfed region problems/challenges

Other than the quantum of investments, even their nature or investment types that go
into rainfed agriculture warrant reforms. For instance,
● programs that focus on input resources mainly seeds, fertilizers, hybrid seeds, soil
health cards spill over to rainfed regions without taking into consideration their actual
requirement. Instead, the incentives can be provided to livestock rearing farmers and
channelise investments in distributing indigenous seeds, organic manure, etc.

4.8.3 Policy reorientation

4.8.3.1 Restructuring of schemes and programmes: There is need for restructuring of schemes
and programmes to make them farmer friendly, particularly in accessing all related
support for a production system under one platform. For example the National Mission
for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) may function as an umbrella scheme
accommodating supports for integrated farming, integrated livelihood; natural farming,
organic farming & other conservation agriculture systems; dryland horticulture;
agroforestry; national bamboo mission etc. One MIS and reporting system to capture
farmers’ registration and requests for support under different scheme interventions
along with progress monitoring would not only bring synergy among the schemes, but
also reduce the botheration of farmers to seek support from different programmes to
accomplish their requirements associated with one’s production system. Similar efforts
need to be made for livestock and fishery sector. The current education system in
agriculture and allied sectors focuses mostly on sectoral expertise and does not take an
integral approach to agriculture systems as a whole. This need to be reconfigured and
reoriented.
4.8.3.2 Policies for pastoralism: Currently, there are no official policies or social and
economic development programs aimed exclusively at the communities actively
engaged in pastoralism in India. The livestock sector is more focused towards dairy
animals with little emphasis on small ruminants, fodder production and migratory
animal folks. This anomaly needs to be corrected by adopting dedicated policies and
programmes for pastoralists.
4.8.3.3 Integration of programmes at Panchayat level: In the agriculture and rural
development sector, lot of programmes and schemes are being implemented by
different departments/ministries and agencies which are closely correlated, but
executed through isolated windows reducing their expected efficacies, loosing the
synergy and coherence in many instances. To encourage decentralized & bottom-up
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approach, integration of all these programmes at Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) level
is very much essential. Sub-district level agencies in conjunction with Grama Sabha/
NGOs execute Water and Agriculture plans/feasibility checks, which can be made more
effective if appropriate systems are grounded. Real-time IT and GIS-based two-way
Decision support systems (DSS) can be implemented with District-Sub district
machinery in conjunction with state and central level agencies.
4.8.3.4 Effective integration of agricultural institutes with premier technological institutes:
State Agricultural Universities (SAU) need to be integrated with premier technological
institutes (IIT's, IIIT's, IISER"s, NIT's, Technological universities and ICAR centres)
for adaption of inter disciplinary and state–of-the-art technologies/curriculum. The
subject electives of technical and other science courses can include rainfed agriculture
for awareness among other disciplines. Higher/ Upper primary school subject electives/
quizzes/ fairs/ symposiums/ exhibitions with focus on rainfed agriculture can be a key
catalyst for promotion of rainfed agriculture systems among youth.

4.8.4 Regulatory Acts/Reforms – suggestions

4.8.4.1 Land ownership and farm productivity is inter linked -In India, considerable amount
of land ownership is in the hands of urban dwellers, working and business professionals who
are not full time agriculture practitioners /farmers. The non engagement of these groups in full
time agrarian activities greatly affects the agriculture productivity and sustainability. The land
is considered as an asset and possessed or transferred from ancestors whose livelihood is not
dependent on agriculture. Since land lease is not legal in most states yet, a substantive
percentage of land is seen to be remaining fallow. And, when it is leased based on oral
agreement the lessee is seen not to consider the ecological and sustainable management
practices needed while cultivating. Further the lessee being ineligible to directly access
government/institutional support, the cultivation stands to lose from needed interventions
causing less than normal productivity. Hence there is need for legalising land lease (based on
Model Land Lease Act, 2016 of NITI Aayog). Further, as recommended by the DFI
Committee, the definition of farmer may be delinked from land ownership status and, the
actual cultivation during the current season made entitled to governmental and institutional
support. This entails maintenance of a digitally enabled dynamic database of the farmers.
4.8.4.2 Judicious use of the groundwater is a critical intervention needed for sustainable rain
fed agriculture. Groundwater governance entails the focus of political, social, economic, and
administrative systems. Water governance in India being a state subject, legislations in state
legislative assembly on groundwater will be a critical catalyst in the success of rainfed
agriculture programs. Studies show a rapid decline in usable groundwater between 2005 and
2019 in the States of Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Telangana leading to the risk of
severe food crisis and drinking water scarcity for rainfed regions of the country. Limiting
subsidized electricity and adoption a mechanism of pricing for groundwater usage will be a
critical reform in the domain of conjunctive use of groundwater for rainfed agriculture.
4.8.4.3 Dedicated water related Policy/Advisories for rainfed areas: Rainfed areas need a
differentiated focus on water management (policy, investment, technology, institutions) based
on a framework of dedicated water-related policies. As of now, the national water policy for
agriculture sector is mostly oriented towards irrigation. Gauging and volumetric
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measurements of micro-watersheds at the outlets of catchments is necessary to assess the
water use at micro-watershed scale and suggest management approaches. Water Foot Print
demarcation for rainfed agriculture products offers an objective indicator to quantify the
volume of water utilization per unit of harvest. Region-specific Water foot print quantification
of rainfed agriculture crops is to be standardized with specific Guidelines. The water foot
printing will be a critical developing strategy to study about the water consumption and
distribution in the rainfed regions.
4.8.4.5. Land ownership for women in rainfed agriculture-Women play a vital role in wide
range of agriculture activities contributing to inclusive agricultural growth in rainfed regions.
Women’s land title ownership may be promoted by linking of additional subsidies and benefits
to women farmers, as it enhances their status/ decision-making power in the household. In
addition, promotion of women-friendly farm implements, enhanced subsidies to women owned
startups, strengthening of SHG’s, encouraging Women FPOs, skill-oriented trainings on
scientific livestock management and utilization of non-degradable farm-waste etc. be
encouraged to address the gender equity issues in rainfed areas.
4.8.5.5 Regulation for mining of soils: Considerable extent of productive and potential
agricultural lands are being utilised by brick making industry. Brick Industry (BI) generates
employment but contributes to soil loss as the brick industry relies on clay-rich soil. Silt from
the excavation / screening process results in chocking of fields, Salinization of lands, and
effects the natural breeding grounds of fishes, aquatic lives and loss of biodiversity. Economic
returns of BI are much higher than agriculture/allied activities, but leads to environmental non-
sustainability in the long run. Hence the urgent need for regulating mining of soils from brick
fields. Simultaneously, use of alternative construction materials such as fly ash bricks,
modification of brick processing by vertical shaft brick kilns may be promoted to combat the
adverse effect of brick making on potential agricultural lands.
4.8.5.6 Supportive policies towards crop diversification: Interlinking of crop diversification
and policies/programmes is very much essential for dissuasion of farmers from growing water
intensive crops. According to the studies, sizeable extent of paddy and sugar cane cultivation is
practised in regions that are not compatible in terms of available water resources. It is
necessary to adopt a policy that dis-incentivises cultivation of agro-ecologically non-suitable
crops and is incentivising of agro-ecologically suitable crops.

4.8.5 Targeted schemes for vulnerable and disadvantaged group

Landless farmers, women, youth, and various socio-economically disadvantaged

population segments, especially the tribal and indigenous communities face more severe
constraints compared to others in accessing productive resources, markets, and services. A
high proportion of the tribal population is found in rainfed and upland areas in the central and
mountainous regions of the country. These challenges impede their productivity and ability to
contribute to their individual development and broader social and economic goals.
Inclusive and targeted policies consisting of incentives and rewards need to be
developed aiming at maximal participation of disadvantaged population segments, promoting
gender equality, and retaining youth in agriculture. The following are some of the strategies
that may be explored:
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● Tribal population can be effectively targeted by the strategic implementation of
tailored/customisd programs/schemes in regions inhabited by tribal communities.
● For women in agriculture and allied activities, Mahila Kisan Mandal (Women Farmers’
Cooperative) may be established in villages to educate them on several fronts. Tools
and implements need to be designed for the women community to allevicatetheir on-
farm drudgery and help them realize higher efficiency and productivity. Women-run
cooperatives could lead to greater sensitization among women farmers and increase
participation rates in utilizing farm machinery. All policies and programs need to be
reoriented to incorporate a gender-sensitive and pro-women approach.
4.8.6 Enabling science-led development capitalizing upon indigenous knowledge system
● Consortium of research and development institutes
ICAR Centres, State Agricultural Universities, Central and private Agricultural
research institutes, KVKs and Civil Society Organizations working for a particular
ecosystem can be grouped into an institutional system to collate and analyze local
knowledge/practices/systems, data and schemes to develop and standardize context-
specific solutions.
● Conservation of Indigenous landraces and agro biodiversity
Local landraces in tribal and agro biodiversity-rich regions which possess desirable
qualities including resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, pest & disease resistance,
and therapeutic/medicinal value, must be integrated into the seed chain through
community seed banks (CSBs) and Nursery banks to ensure wider adoption by
farmers.
● Scientific decision making
Long-term multidimensional research is needed to establish economic (yield,
income); social (women participation, nutrition); and environmental (water and soil
health, biodiversity) impact of the practices relevant for rainfed agriculture. This will
provide scientific evidence for scaling up SAPSs to other relevant parts.
● Standardizing Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITKs)
Scientific and traditional knowledge need to be standardised and technologies
upgraded so that farmers can adopt at a larger scale with confidence.
 Sensor based Smart agriculture interventions
Sensor based interventions to maximize yields using minimal and timely application
of resources such as water, fertilizer, and seeds need to be scaled up. Results of
sensor based soil moisture and crop water requirements estimations at micro scale
will enable optimum use of available resources and minimize exploitation beyond
sustainable limits. The sensor based results need to be integrated and appropriately
customized/regionalized for scalable application in similar environments.
 Generating evidence on interventions in rainfed ecosystems
To enable scientific decision making, long-term multidimensional studies are needed
to establish evidence for impact of potential agronomic, environmental and market
related practices on various outcomes relevant for rainfed agriculture, such as yield,
productivity, water and soil health, climate resilience, women participation and
nutrition.
 Incubation and scaling of innovations of startups
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Technology and innovation-led initiatives be encouraged across various sub-sectors
of the rainfed agriculture systems by integrating with Atal Innovation Mission (Atal
Incubation Centres, Atal Tinkering Labs, Start up India, Stand up India, MUDRA,
PMFMFE, and various initiatives under Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiatives of the
Government).
 Participatory groundwater use and monitoring
Promotion of user friendly equipment for ground water monitoring and decision
support tools for participatory Groundwater monitoring and Community based water
mapping for conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water will be a critical
catalyst for sustainable Rainfed agriculture Systems. This will promote the practice
of water-budget based production system at village level.

5. Institutional Reforms
5.1 Institutional framework
The issues of rainfed agriculture as discussed in the document are multifaceted and require an
holistic institutional framework at various levels viz., National, State, District and Village
levels to drive the sustainable solutions.
5.1.1 National level Institution
At present, NRAA as a national anchor provides actionable knowledge inputs for
systematic up-gradation and management of the country’s dryland and rainfed agriculture.
NRAA’s proposed functions which are iterative and integrated, are listed as follows:
 Formulating and advocating policies and road map
 Recommendations for rationalizing Guidelines for central government schemes/
programs/ other initiatives
 Identifying research gaps and recommending to the Ministry of Agriculture and other
concerned ministries to undertake necessary R&D activities
 Identifying constraints in implementation and conducting studies including action
research
 Coordinating multilateral and International Cooperation relating to rainfed agriculture
systems
 Collating data and publishing ongoing as well as periodical reports
 Undertaking, Monitoring and Evaluation of programs
 Iteratively develop comprehensive knowledge on all aspects of rainfed agriculture in
different zones
 Facilitate multilateral and International Cooperation by creating enabling environments
for research consortiums in order to recommend evidence-based policy formulation in
rainfed areas
 Develop frameworks for assessment of programmes through a rainfed lens
 Facilitate action-research through pilot projects in different agro-ecological zones
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 Coordinate and facilitate for systematic convergence of funds available at the level of
central & state governments and mainstream into rainfed agriculture
NRAA’s institutional framework currently has 5 verticals catering to specific subject domains
namely, Water Management, Watershed Development, Agriculture/Horticulture, Animal
Husbandry/Fisheries, and Forestry. To encompass the comprehensive development of rainfed
areas as illustrated in the policy proposal, there is need to strengthen the expertise/professional
skill of NRAA in more cross-cutting dimensions. Important verticals addressing Secondary
agriculture, Extension & Farmers organizations and may be supplemented to enhance the
service support of NRAA.

5.1.2 State level Institution

At present there is no dedicated state level institution for anchoring rainfed agriculture. The
State Government can upgraded their existing Commissionerate/Directorate of Watershed
programmes as ‘State Rainfed Area Authority (SRAA)’ mandated with additional
responsibilities to coordinate/drive policies and programmes in respect of rainfed agriculture of
the state.

5.1.3 District Level Institution

It is important to assign to a competent agency, the role of coordination for overall
development of rainfed agriculture and farmer driven arrangements for technology and policy
dissemination. An institution in the form of Agricultural Technology Management Agency
(ATMA) already exists at district level. ATMA with active participation of all concerned
districts level line departments, farmers/farmer-groups, NGOs, Krishi Vigyan Kendras
(KVKs), Panchayati Raj Institutions and other stakeholders operating at district level and
below, may be engaged as the district level arm of SRAA with appropriate empowerment and
support to focus on rainfed agriculture as a supplemental responsibility.

5.1.4 Village level Institution

At village/panchayat level, the PRIs need to anchor the development agenda of rainfed areas
which are mostly driven by programmes of agriculture & allied sector, rural development and a
few other departments. To encourage decentralized & bottom-up approach, PRIs are the most
relevant institution for effective integration of all these developmental sectors. PRIs need to be
facilitated with information support and decision support tools to select need based
interventions and farmer statkeholders requiring genuine and immediate attention.

5.2 Network of Institutions and Coordination

5. 2.1 National level Committee

Since comprehensive development of rainfed areas is not limited to agriculture and allied
sectors alone, and is also closely associated with interventions, programs of other sectors like
Water Resources, Rural Development, Panchayat Raj, Tribal Welfare, Environment and
Forests, Science and Technology, Medium and Small Scale Enterprises, Drinking Water and
Sanitation, Energy and Power, Skill Development, NITI AYOG. etc, there is need for proper
coordination and cohesive developmental approach. This calls for a national level committee to
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take on such responsibility. In this context, two following Committees are suggested:
 An Executive Committee under the Chairmanship of CEO, NRAA, with officers (of
the level of AS/JS) representing all concerned Ministries/Departments and
Agencies (like NABARD, NCDC, SFAC etc.) as members
 An Advisory and Coordination Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary
Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, with secretaries of all concerned
Ministries/Departments, CEO, NRAA and heads of concerned Agencies (like
NABARD, NCDC, SFAC etc.) as members
5.2.2. State level Committee
The institutional system at the state level can be a mirror image of the national level
arrangement with appropriate modifications. While the State Executive Committee can
function under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Agriculture, the State Advisory
and Coordination Committee can be set up under the Chairmanship of Development
Commissioner/Additional Chief Secretary/Agricultural Production Commissioner, as the case
may be. Both Committees can have officers of relevant departments, institutions and agencies
including representatives of the State Agriculture Universities/ Farm Universities.
5.2.3 District level Committee
The primary responsibility of District Level Committee is to prepare District Action Plan and
implement various programmes, projects and schemes. Hence, the ATMA platform is well
equipped to serve as the District Level Committee and may therefore be mandated with
execution of rainfed agriculture initiatives.

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