Crop Production in the Arid Zone With Special Reference to Western Rajasthan

Abstract

An attempt has been made in the paper to examine the crop production potentialities of the arid districts of Rajasthan vis-a-vis those of the State as a whole and of India .. The net areas sown to crops annually in India, Rajasthan and the arid districts of Rajasthan are almost similar, being about 45 per cent of the total land areas of the respective regions. In the arid districts, pulses contribute I5.58 per cent of their total foodgrain production, while these districts contribute 1.7 and 4.8 per cent respectively to (India's total cereals and pulses production. 72.73 per cent of the bajra and 19 per cent of the rice produced in Rajasthan come from its arid districts. The arid districts also make sizeable contributions towards the oil seeds production of the state. The average yields per unit area of rice, rape and mustard obtained in the arid districts are comparatively higher than the corresponding average yields for Rajasthan and India. Irrigation facilities extend over only 0.8m hectares of land in the arid districts at present. The crop production potentialities of the region are likely to increase many folds with tile completion of the Rajasthan Canal Project. Although, viewed in the context of the yearly total fertilizer consumption in the country as a whole the share of the arid districts of Rajasthan is much too small, these refractory regions account for nearly a third of the fertilizes consumption of the State. Data have been presented to indicate that the dry farming technology evolved at the CAZRI Jodhpur, should make it possible to improve and stabilise crop production on drylands during years of normal and below normal rainfall. The importance of following a scientific land-soil-crop management policy for tile arid regions and of official support and encouragement for the efforts of the scientists has been stressed.