Lok Sabha Question No. 3210 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-22
Subject: Dry Land Agriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Kavitha Malothu, Gaddam Ranjith Reddy, Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta, Dayakar Pasunoori

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS' WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS' WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3210

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  MARCH, 2022

## DRY LAND AGRICULTURE

3210.  SHRIMATI KAVITHA MALOTHU: DR. G. RANJITH REDDY: SHRI VENKATESH NETHA BORLAKUNTA: SHRI PASUNOORI DAYAKAR:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS' WELFARE कृ षएवंकसानकयाणमंी be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether  the  Ministry  supports  dry  land  agriculture  in  the  country  and  if  so,  details thereof with particular reference to Telangana; and
- (b)the  details of innovative and scientific initiatives taken up by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) in the country and the achievements made by them?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ षएवंकसानकयाणमंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) Department  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers'  Welfare  (DA&FW)    is  implementing Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Rainfed  Area  Development  (RAD)  Programme  under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture which focuses on Integrated Farming System to benefit farmers of rainfed areas across the Country including Telangana.Since inception and up-to 2020-21, an amount of Rs. 1434.73 Crore was provided as Central Assistance to States  across  the  country  including  Rs.  51.40  Crore  to  the  State  of  Telangana  to  adopt various  interventions  of  Integrated  Farming  System.  During  2021-22,  an  amount  of  Rs. 180.00  Crore  has  been  allocated  for  RAD  programme  including  Rs.  2.00  Crore  to Telangana.
- (b)  Various innovative and scientific initiatives taken up by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA)   across the country are given below:
- I. A voluntary center of All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) is initiated in 2018   by Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Central Research  Institute  for  Dryland  Agriculture  (ICAR-CRIDA)  at  Agriculture  Research Station, Adilabad, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University(PJTSAU) to develop improved dryland technologies for northern Telangana zone. This center is also supporting Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) programme of CRIDA in Adilabad district.
- II. CRIDA  has  pioneered  the  concept  of  watershed-based  development  in  rainfed regions of the country and now focusing on adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope  with climate change  and  variability. Many  technologies  like rain water management  (in-situ  and  ex-situ),  efficient  and  profitable  intercropping  systems, improved soil health and energy management practices perfected by CRIDA and its network  have  been  widely  adopted  by  the  farmers  across  the  country.  This  has imparted stability in productivity and production in rainfed areas.
- III. The  institute  in  collaboration  with  National  Agricultural  Research  Extension  & Education  System  (NAREES)  has  prepared  650  District  Agricultural  Contingency Plans (DACP's) and 24 districts drought proofing plans for  addressing the weather aberrations  in  agriculture  and  allied  sectors.  Further  efforts  are  being  made  for operationalization of these plans including theirupdation. The Institute has come up with  vulnerability  atlas  of  India  for  identifying  hotspots  of  extreme  weather  events across  various  districts/areas  and  has  also  prioritized  the  rainfed  districts  of  the country.
- IV. The Institute  has  created  state  of  the  art  facilities  for  carrying  out  climate  change studies. The institute has strong linkages and collaboration with various National and International  agencies  to  further  the  cause  of  dryland  agriculture.  The  Institute  is providing technical backstopping to several State and Central Government schemes and also actively involved in capacity building of primary and secondary stakeholders. The Institute is poised to play an important role in  coming years not only  to  address  the  current  problems  of  rainfed  agriculture  but  also  prepare  and coordinate for the anticipated impacts of climate change at National and International level.
- V. Established  dryland  research  network  across  the  country  with  31  centers  of AICRPDA (All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture) located in 17  states  spread  over  diverse  dryland  production  systems.    Also,  developed agroecology-specific dryland technologies in rainwater management,  cropping systems,  crop  diversification,  nutrient  management,  carbon  sequestration,  farm mechanization, dryland horticulture, agroforestry systems. Many of these technologies have been integrated into many national/state/district schemes/programmes and scaled up.
- VI. All  India  Coordinated  Research  Project  on  Agrometeorology  (AICRPAM)  was initiated  by  ICAR  in  May  1983  and  having  25  cooperating  centers  located  at  25 different State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). The  centers are engaged  in conducting research on  five important research themes  namely;  agroclimatic characterization, crop-weather relationships, crop-weather modelling, effect of weather on pests and diseases and agromet advisory services. In  last three years, the project has made significant contribution viz., developed agroclimatic atlas of 11 states, prepared 23 crop weather calendars of major crops in India and developed the new concept on dynamic crop weather calendars.

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