Horticulture: Augmenting income in rainfed regions

Kandi represents a region that does not have any assured source of irrigation. Such regions depend upon rainfall for cultivation of crops. The major land and water management problems being faced in this Kandi belt include excessive runoff, soil erosion, land degradation and erratic rainwater distribution in space and time. All of them hamper agricultural production resulting in low productivity in these regions. Horticulture is a predominant sector contributing greatly to the rainfed economy. The article carries the story of a farmer from a village in Samba district of Jammu Kashmir UT who shifted to growing of different fruit crops and is getting handsome returns. By successfully managing his resources, today the farmer has become a brand in the region to which everybody looks for.