Sustainable and resilient livelihood options for rain-fed areas of India through an improved integrated crop livestock farming system

Strategic Objective 2: Make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable

Objectives: Increased farmer incomes and improved resilience through sustainable livelihood models developed for rural rain-fed areas through integrated crop-livestock farming systems.

Description: The widespread, serious and continuing degradation of India’s natural resource base has increasingly been recognised as a major challenge for India in achieving high growth rates in agriculture. The trajectory of agricultural growth in India will not be sustained without addressing the problems affecting the production systems of rainfed agriculture (areas that are primarily dependent on rainfall for meeting the agriculture related water needs, and have little or no irrigation sources). This kind of agriculture is currently being practiced in over 74 million hectares of cultivated area of the country. Rainfed areas span several agro-ecological regions of the country, and also have the largest concentration of poverty and backwardness.

Rainfed agriculture supports approximately 40% of the total Indian population (484 million) and has a large share of cropped area under rice (42%), pulses (77%), oilseeds (66%) and coarse cereals (85%). Harbouring about 78% of cattle, 64% of sheep and 75% of goats, rainfed areas cater to most part of the meat market in the country. The cumulative neglect of the rainfed areas over the years in terms of institutional development, support systems, availability of appropriate inputs, credit, market access, agricultural research and extension has caused widespread desperation amongst the farming community. Since the Green Revolution, the national agricultural policy is driven by the need to maximize crop yield, using irrigation and intensive use of high yield varieties, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Rainfed farming has received little attention. As a result, the natural resource base especially in rainfed areas has been badly degraded. In addition, climate change poses a vital challenge to natural resources. In rainfed production systems climate risks are likely to be more intense.

There is a need for a paradigm shift with increased focus on diverse local production systems that contribute substantially to food and nutrition, and income security. There is also a need to move away from the ‘single commodity intensification’ approach to a ‘location specific farming systems intensification’ approach. There is also a need to strengthen extensive livestock systems depending wholly or partly on commons and agriculture residues through intensive efforts in improving health care, feed, fodder, drinking water, shelter, and institutions etc. There needs to be an increasing focus on decentralised and local institutional capacities that enable a shift away from one-time planning to a ‘iterative planning-implementation-learning cycles’ anchored by local institutions.

Addressing problems of smallholder farmers, particularly in rainfed areas calls for much better understanding of the rainfed farming system and its constraints. The variety of agro-ecological zone within the rainfed areas of the country need therefore a strong component of characterizing and monitoring of these diverse farming systems. This information is fundamental to understand the need and the nature of technological interventions required for sustainable resource use. Many highly diverse and location-specific actors exist whose capacities to cater to the provision of key agricultural inputs and agricultural services have been proven. Many civil society organizations have improved the conservation of natural resources, revived and enhanced livelihood opportunities, improved the productivity of watersheds, and enabled a transformation of rainfed production systems, even while working with the poorest communities and addressing the most harsh and vulnerable ecosystems.

Based on the above rationale, the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India (NRAA) requested FAO’s technical support to develop effective, location-specific and locally accountable partnerships between the formal and informal actors in rain-fed area agriculture.

Donor: FAO

Expected Outputs:

• Sustainable and resilient livelihood models developed for each rain-fed area
• Improved capacity for wider adoption of resilient livelihood models
• Market access for sustainable commodities