On farm water harvesting and reuse of rain water will be a critical intervention in rainfed farming will remain the main stay for the livelihood support of millions of small and marginal farmers across the country even after realizing the complete irrigation potential. Rainwater management is the most critical component of rainfed farming. The successful production of rainfed crops largely depends on how efficiently soil moisture is conserved in situ or the surplus runoff is harvested, stored and recycled for supplemental irrigation. Diversification of crops from the existing cropping system and adoption of related enterprise fetches more income to the farmer. System productivity can be made more than four times by increasing the cropping intensity of any farm. Despite these experiences, the adoption of farm ponds at the individual farm level has been very low, particularly for drought proofing through life saving irrigation of kharif crops. A number of technological and socio-economic constraints are cited for this poor adoption and up-scaling. With climate change posing a major challenge for rainfed agriculture and the constraints in further expansion of irrigated area in the country, rainwater harvesting and efficient water use are inevitable options to sustain rainfed agriculture in future.

Download this article as