The 7.04 m ha Bundelkhand region in Central India is characterized by semi-arid tropical climate, undulating terrain, scare vegetation cover, scanty and uneven distribution of rainfall, lack of irrigation facilities and unfavourable edaphic conditions, rainfed agriculture, less than 100% cropping intensity and limited groundwater availability. The present study was undertaken to explore the possibilities of rain water harvesting and recycling for providing one life saving irrigation during dry spells to long duration kharif soybean and pre-sowing / life saving irrigation to rabi oil seed crops (toria and Indian mustard) for enhancing crop yield. The field experiment was conducted during 2002–03 to 2004–2005 in red soils (Alfisols). A dug out pond of 80 X 40 X 2 m size with 0.3 ha m capacity was excavated having a catchment area about 5.0 ha for rainwater harvesting. The collected water was used to provide irrigation to the crops with the help of an electric pump set. There were 7 treatment combinations [T1-soybean (rainfed), T2-soybean with supplemental irrigation at pod filling stage; T3-toria (rainfed), T4-toria with supplemental irrigation at 30 days after sowing, T5 -Indian mustard (rainfed), T6-Indian mustard with pre-sowing irrigation; T7-Indian mustard with pre-sowing irrigation + one supplemental irrigation at branching stage] which were tested in R. B. D set up in 3 replications. A measured quantity of 7.5 cm water was applied at each irrigation using the harvested rainwater. Mean results of 3 years indicated that yield in terms of soybean equivalent of all the crops increased significantly with supplemental irrigation. The yield of soybean increased by 31 % with irrigation at the pod filling stage. Yield of toria increased by 138% with one irrigation at 30 OAS. Yield of Indian mustard increased by 90 and 342% with presowing and pre-sowing + one irrigation at pranching stage, respectively, over control (no irrigation). It was concluded that rainwater harvesting and recycling could successfully and economically be practiced for providing supplemental irrigation to long duration rainy season crop such as soybean during reproductive stage, or giving pre-sowing / supplemental irrigation to post-rainy season oil seed crops such as toria or Indian mustard for obtaining the sustainable production under red soils under rainfed conditions.
