Major Fields of Specialisation

Dry Land Farming
The need for optimum utilisation of the limited land resources for agriculture has evolved in the practice of dry land farming for areas deficient in rainfall and deprived of adequate irrigation facilities. India has a geographical area of 328 million ha of which an area of 51 million ha in 13 states is arid. These arid areas are characterised by low rainfall, high temperatures and low moisture retention capacity of the lands. These areas receive less than 75 percent of normal rainfall in more than 20 per cent of the years and are therefore catagorised as drought prone. Immediate adverse impact of drought is loss of crop production, which in turn affects gainful employment of farm labour, resulting in loss of income. Presently these drylands are conspicuous by their low food grain productivity of about 1 tonne per ha and in many critical areas the productivity is as low as 0.5 to 0.7 tonne per ha. In the early 1930's the crop yield was only 0.3 to 0.5 tonne/ha. It was through sustained research in various aspects of crop production and crop husbandry that the yields from dry lands have since more than doubled. Besides, various land and water management techniques have been developed for different agro-climatic conditions for long term security of food and livelihood of the local people together with adequate environmental safeguards.

In most of drylands in India monsoon is erratic and as a result, farm incomes vary considerably and in case of monsoon failure the farmers cannot sustain themselves on farm produce alone. They, therefore, supplement their income through animal husbandry, agro-forestry and horticulture. Based on sustained research and development, fodder crops and legumes are being increasingly grown in appropriate sequence. Since these are short duration crops, two or three crops are grown which is beneficial in augmenting income from animal husbandry. Agro forestry includes Fodder crops (legumes, cow peas, millets, etc.) and Plantations for fuel and fodder. Native fruit varieties in different dry lands of the country have been improved in quality and yield. This has also helped in augmenting the income of the farmers through horticulture.

WAPCOS provides consultancy services in the field of dryland farming using state-of-the-art-know-how on soil surveys, land treatment, hydro-meteorological studies, cropping pattern, crop calender, soil-nutrient loss prevention, water application technologies, crop husbandry, moisture stress mitigation, mid season corrections and emergency measures, agro-forestry, fodder production, horticulture etc.