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Steps for raising productivity in dry farming

To boost the crop production under dry farming, we will have to efficiently manage our soil and water resources in the respective areas as dry land fanning gets more complex and intractable when droughts occur frequently. An efficient soil and water conservation system will playa vital role in boosting the crop yield in dry fanning. The different interdisciplinary approaches which are recommended for dry land fanning are categorized in to four major groups namely engineering, physiological, genetic and agronomic approaches.

A. Engineering approaches

These approaches are aimed at soil and moisture conservation through regulation of run-off, collection of surplus rain water checking evaporation and seepage losses of water. and recycling of collected water as irrigation in times of critical need.

1. Contouring across the slope

Contouring is practiced on the lands with 3-5% slope. This system consists of constructing earthen bunds and the distance between the two bunds ranges from 30-50 m depending on the degree of slope. This is carried out with an object to provide a check to the flow of run-off water which then gets accumulated in the bunded area and is absorbed by the soil. Thus, contour bunding conserves moisture and prevents soil erosion.

a. Smoothening of contour inter-bund areas

This is practiced only in those areas which have a slope of less than 1 per cent The smoothening may be achieved by running bullock drawn harrows or cultivators but small undulations are leveled during the process so that impounding of water may take place and maximum water absorption by the soil may be achieved.

b. Contour border strips method

This method is suitable for areas having a slope of 3-4 per cent In this case parallel strips across the slope ranging from 10-15 m in width are laid down on contours and the soil surface is leveled by scrapping and placing the soil according to the need of the spot It is done to reduce the run-off and to conserve soil and water from the field. It is, however, an expensive method as it requires culling and filling up the soil from higher spots to lower ones.

2. Scooping or land

In this practice, the land is generally scooped before the beginning of monsoon showers. By scooping, the soil is exposed for proper absorption and conservation of moisture. However, this is also a tedious as well as an expensive operation.

3. Opening or ridges and furrows

In this practice, the entire land is laid out into ridges and furrows across the slope. The ridges and furrows are opened before onset of monsoon so that the flow of water may be reduced and erosion may be controlled to the minimum. During rainy season, crops like maize, jowar, bajra, etc. may be grown in the furrows and legumes like soybean, arhar, urd, mung, cowpea, etc. may be grown on the ridges. After the monsoon is over the land is again leveled. This way the furrows are used to accumulate maximum water which will supply moisture for winter season crops.

4. Compartmental bunding

Areas having a slope of 1% or less are suitable for compartmental bunding. It helps in accumulation of more water and a uniform spread of water in the entire area. Leveling is also done with nominal or no additional expenditure.

5. Bedding system

In this system, small furrows are opened and the soil from the furrows is uniformly spread in space left between the furrows. Thus, inter furrow spaces form the raised beds of about 4-5 metres width. This method helps in the conservation of soil, moisture and checking the excess run-off of water.The raised beds, in this practice, are used for growing such crops which need less water like legumes and oil seed crops, while the furrows are used for the crops which need more water.

6. Broad-based bunding

This method is especially suitable for heavy black soil. Water is allowed to spread over a vast area by constructing a broad- based bund on a sloppy side. The water stays for a longer time because of high water holding capacity, lower leaching and seepage losses. The stored water may be used for fish culture and also for [ providing life saving irrigation grown in surrounding areas of catchment portion. These bunds are also called check dams and are I given a regulated drain or outlet for protecting the bunds from breaking.

7. Deep summer Ploughing followed by surface tilling

The field is ploughed deep by mould hard plough soon after harvesting rabi season crop with the objectives of (a) exposing the soil for perfect drying, (b) killing the disease pathogens, (c) destroying eggs of insect pests, and (d) controlling weeds by sun drying. The surface tilling during other seasons forms natural mulch and thereby reduces evaporation loss of water from soil.

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