Identification of Various Drought Characteristics for the Dahod District of Gujarat

Drought is one of the most serious problems for human society and ecosystem from climate variability. Although, it does not affect through sudden events such as flood and storms but it is considered as the world's costliest natural disaster, causing on an average $6-$8 billion in global damages annually and collectively affecting more people than any other form of natural disaster (Wilhite, 2000). The National Commission on Agriculture (MOA, 1976) identified 74 drought prone districts located in 13 states of India. Gujarat is one of the most drought prone areas of India wherein eleven districts of the state are in arid regions including Dahod region which is one of most backward districts. Dahod region is characterized by agriculture based livelihood income and faces frequent droughts due to delayed or little rainfall. Therefore, the present study was carried out to determine hydrological and agriculture panorama of drought in 7 Talukas of Dahod district. It was found that average annual rainfall in Dahod district varied from a minimum of 690 mm at Garwada to a maximum of 847 mm at Limkheda with the average annual rainfall of 833 mm. The average drought frequency in Dahod district varied between 1 in 5 years at Devgarh, 1 in 4 years at Jalod and 1 in 3 years at Limkheda, Garbada, Dhanpur, and Fatepura talukas. It was also concluded from annual departure analysis that severe drought condition were seldom experienced in Dahod town but many of the talukas in the district experienced moderate drought situation for number of years.