Increasing Water Productivity in Rainfed Areas - Options and Prospects

The challenge of producing food for a rapidly increasing population is daunting. In spite of the huge investment in the irrigation sector, rainfed areas contribute the highest in the agricultural production of the country. As the entire cultivable land cannot be brought down under irrigation due to practical limitations, there is an urgent need to improve the productivity of these areas. In the present paper, problems, prospects and options available to improve productivity of rainfed areas have been discussed. Research areas which may be taken up for experimentation in the rainfed farming development and thereby improving the total factor productivity of rainfed farming have also been delineated.