(a) whether the Ministry supports dry land agriculture in the country and if so, details thereof with particular reference to Telangana; and
(b)the details of innovative and scientific initiatives taken up by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) in the country and the achievements made by them?
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rainfed Area Development (RAD) Programme under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture which focuses on Integrated Farming System to benefit farmers of rainfed areas across the Country including Telangana.Since inception and up-to 2020-21, an amount of Rs. 1434.73 Crore was provided as Central Assistance to States across the country including Rs. 51.40 Crore to the State of Telangana to adopt various interventions of Integrated Farming System. During 2021-22, an amount of Rs. 180.00 Crore has been allocated for RAD programme including Rs. 2.00 Crore to Telangana.
(b) Various innovative and scientific initiatives taken up by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) across the country are given below:
I. A voluntary center of All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) is initiated in 2018 by Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (ICAR-CRIDA) at Agriculture Research Station, Adilabad, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University(PJTSAU) to develop improved dryland technologies for northern Telangana zone. This center is also supporting Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) programme of CRIDA in Adilabad district.
II. CRIDA has pioneered the concept of watershed-based development in rainfed regions of the country and now focusing on adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope with climate change and variability. Many technologies like rain water management (in-situ and ex-situ), efficient and profitable intercropping systems, improved soil health and energy management practices perfected by CRIDA and its network have been widely adopted by the farmers across the country. This has imparted stability in productivity and production in rainfed areas.
III. The institute in collaboration with National Agricultural Research Extension & Education System (NAREES) has prepared 650 District Agricultural Contingency Plans (DACP’s) and 24 districts drought proofing plans for addressing the weather aberrations in agriculture and allied sectors. Further efforts are being made for operationalization of these plans including their updation. The Institute has come up with vulnerability atlas of India for identifying hotspots of extreme weather events across various districts/areas and has also prioritized the rainfed districts of the country.
IV. The Institute has created state of the art facilities for carrying out climate change studies. The institute has strong linkages and collaboration with various National and International agencies to further the cause of dryland agriculture. The Institute is providing technical backstopping to several State and Central Government schemes and also actively involved in capacity building of primary and secondary stakeholders. The Institute is poised to play an important role in coming years not only to address the current problems of rainfed agriculture but also prepare and coordinate for the anticipated impacts of climate change at National and International level.
V. Established dryland research network across the country with 31 centers of AICRPDA (All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture) located in 17 states spread over diverse dryland production systems. Also, developed agroecology-specific dryland technologies in rainwater management, cropping systems, crop diversification, nutrient management, carbon sequestration, farm mechanization, dryland horticulture, agroforestry systems. Many of these technologies have been integrated into many national/state/district schemes/programmes and scaled up.
VI. All India Coordinated Research Project on Agro meteorology (AICRPAM) was initiated by ICAR in May 1983 and having 25 cooperating centers located at 25 different State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). The centers are engaged in conducting research on five important research themes namely; agroclimatic characterization, crop-weather relationships, crop-weather modelling, effect of weather on pests and diseases and agromet advisory services. In last three years, the project has made significant contribution viz., developed agroclimatic atlas of 11 states, prepared 23 crop weather calendars of major crops in India and developed the new concept on dynamic crop weather calendars.
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