%0 Report
%9 Monograph
%A Bhati, K T
%A Kumar, S
%A Haileslassie, A
%A Whitbread, A M
%C Patancheru, Hyderabad
%D 2017
%F icrisat:10837
%K Western Rajasthan, Arid zone, Livestock, dryland production systems, Case Study, Improved technologies, livestock husbandry, agroforestry, biophysical system, dryland production systems
%T Assessment of Agricultural Technologies for Dryland Systems in South Asia: A Case Study of Western Rajasthan, India
%U http://oar.icrisat.org/10837/
%X Western Rajasthan accounts for 61% of the total hot arid zone in India (31.7 m ha). The rest of the arid  area is spread over Gujarat (20%), Punjab and Haryana (9%), as well as small parts of Andhra Pradesh and  Karnataka (10%). The arid region receives <450 mm annual rainfall with 40-80% coefficient of variation.  With evapotranspiration (ET) four to five-fold higher than rainfall, aridity, deficit water balance, and  scarcity of water for drinking and other purposes are often severe. Natural resources such as water, land  and vegetation are very fragile and partly non-resilient, and hence the area is prone to irreversible land  degradation and desertification under excessive pressure from human and livestock populations. Arable  cropping alone is not a dependable proposition in these drylands. Animal wealth provides sustainable  support to livelihoods, but the sector is not yet well organized. Only one crop can be grown during a good  rainfall year, and on average, a year of good harvest is normal during a cycle of five years, while two are  expected to yield moderate crops and at least two failures are usual. The arid region offers limited scope  for water harvesting and recycling, particularly at a watershed scale. There is better scope for integrated  land resource development on the basis of village clusters, index catchments and dune-interdune complex.
%Z We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the CGIAR Research Program - Dryland Systems  and thank Dr Suhas Wani, for his comments on an earlier draft of this report. We sincerely acknowledge  the farmers, stakeholders, scientists from CAZRI and partners who participated in the PRA exercise, focus  group discussions and workshops held at the action sites and CAZRI, Jodhpur, for their valuable inputs in  shaping this document. The support received from GRAVIS, field staff,Ms Surbhi Jagrat,Mr Mahendra Vyas  and Mr Soumitra Pramanik is acknowledged.