Rainfed Agriculture problems Following are the major problems of rainfed agriculture: I. Climatic problems 1.

Scarcity of rain water (low unpredictable with respect to intensity and distribution) 2. High value to (49 C Average 18 C) 3. High ET (3650 mm annually 300-1400 mm ppt) 4. High solar incidence (450-500 cal cm day ) 5. Low relative humidity 6. High wind velocity 7. Causing: 8. Desiccating winds 9. High evapo- transpiration 10. Wind Erosion 11. Extensive climatic hazards 12. Weather aberrations 13. Drought 14. Frost 15. Burning winds II. Edaphic factors 1. Poor marginal lands 2. Uneven topography 3. difficulty in workability particularly in vertisols 4. Shallow or very deep in depth (with high permeability) 5. Low moisture storage and release particularly in alfisols 6. Presence of dissolved salts in spread water 7. Problem soil with respect to pH and high concentration of soluble solids in the surface soil 8. Water logging in leveled fields and flooding and breaking small bunds resulting in poor conservation of soil and water 9. High surface crusting, that leads to i. Poor crop stand ii. High cracking ( in vertisols) on drying results in iii. High evapo- transpiration iv. Mechanical injury to roots III. Technological Problems 1. Limited choice of crop varieties matching the short period suitable for cropping e.g. 60% of the area has 2-4.5 months and 19% of the area has <2 wet months/year.

2. .Difficulty in designing a suitable cropping system, crop mixtures and crop geometry considering soil type and other flexible components such as moisture availability index (MAI) and duration of Monsoon. 3. Difficulty in evolving static and adaptable technology putting into the prevailing and anticipating rainfall conditions on region basis. The use of high input based technology is risky. 4. .Difficulty in seed production and multiplication especially in an on-farm basis. 5. Limited use of fertilizers, poor response of biofertilizers and poor availability of organic manures. 6. Farming is entirely human and animal power based which is labor intensive and land saving but costly and time consuming resulting in difficulty in covering the entire arable area under * favorable weather conditions. 7. Poor land capacity and the scope to improve it is very limited. 8. Difficulty in conserving moisture for proper and timely use by crop. 9. `Difficulty in reclaiming problem soils. 10. Lacking light and speedy implements with cheap sources of energy. 11. Abundant weeds, pests, pathogens and parasite infestation. 12. Unpredicted heavy showers resulting in accumulation of more than optimum moisture, thus restricting the field operations such as sowing, intercultures and harvesting etc. 13. Limited scope of land improvement. 14. Water harvesting and recycling is the high investment preposition at the initial level. 15. Water damage (18000-20000 acre commonly) and run off 50% of the incident rainfall causing loss of soil (7-10 ton/ha) and causing degradation and unsuitable for arable cropping. IV. Socio-economic problems 1. Peculiar ecological and socioeconomic setting 2. Frequent failure of crops and unstable production rendering farmers power 3. Low cropping intensity, low farm income, malnutrition and poor quality of irrigation water 4. Small size of holding and high population pressure (0.17 ha/capita) 5. Poor quality of produce fetching low price 6. Lack of marketing facilities and market incentives 7. Low level of literacy and poor resource base of the farmers though they are economical minded and rational. 8. Unemployment for most of the period of year 9. Farmers are to depend on the of Monsoon and financing institutions which are relevant to provide assistance because of risk of recovery. 10. Farmers of these regions are deprived of innovations, incentives, inspirations, initiatives and they want, watch and worry over their future.