Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
[300
Figure 23.3 The variation in total food grain production in India for the period from 1966-
67 to 1998-99 (from India, 2001).
Line
——
1.2
——
Long
PgEn
su bstances such as fluoride and nitrate often reached toxic levels (Narain
et al., 2000).
Venkateswarlu (1987) analyzed the yield fluctuations of different crops
and found that rice was affected to a greater extent by drought because
60% of the rice crop is rain-fed, whereas wheat crop production is affected
less because 65% of wheat is irrigated. During certain years, drought con-
tinued for more than one year and had multiple effects on natural resources
as well as on humans and livestock. Assessment of drought effects on food
gr ains production in the country showed that sorghum was affected only
in Rajasthan and Gujarat, while pearl millet was affected in Gujarat, Uttar
Pr adesh, and Maharashtra states (Venkateswarlu, 1993).
During some of the worst drought years, the monsoon rainfall was
sig nificantly below normal: -26% in 1918, -25% in 1972, and -19% in
19 87. In 1987, agricultural operations were affected in 43% (58.6 million
ha ) of cropped area in 263 districts in 15 states and 6 Union Territories. In
R ajasthan and Gujarat, which were worst affected, the rainfall was less
th an 50% of the normal. In these states, the drought of 1987 was the
th ird or fourth in succession and caused distress of an unprecedented level.
N early 54,000 villages faced acute drinking water problems. India also
ex perienced extreme drought conditions during 1998-2000, as shown in
ta ble 23.2.
[300
M ain Causes of Drought
Droughts in India occur due to late onset, early withdrawal, or failure of
active monsoon, resulting in insufficient precipitation (or dry spells) with
uneven temporal distribution during crop growing season (Kumar, 1986).
High interannual and spatial variability in the monsoon rainfall (except in
some areas, such as western coast and northeastern India) also influences
crop production adversely.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search