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Photo credits: ICART
Mr Tippeswamy in his pigeon pea field, where soil tests showed strong crop growth
Balanced fertilization. Photo: G Chander, ICRISAT
Drylands of India’s Andhra Pradesh become greener through low-cost agricultural interventions and shared resources
Farmers in dryland areas of Andhra Pradesh, who previously struggled to maintain groundnut and pigeon pea crops during prolonged droughts, are now seeing a 30-40 percent increase in food production and a 10-30 percent increase in fodder production. They are also growing mangoes and vegetables. This has been achieved through low-cost agricultural interventions such as building farm ponds, replenishing degraded soils with micro- and secondary nutrients, and sharing agricultural resources such as machinery and pastures.
These experiences were shared at field days, where experts from the Innovation Platform engaged with around 300 farmers (100 of whom were women) from the Dryland System (DS) sites in Anantapur and Kurnool, which receive only 540 mm of rainfall per year. Topics discussed included water conservation, soil health, gender mainstreaming, fodder extension, small-scale vegetable farming, communal land management and mechanization.
Read the full article: ICART
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