---
title: "Dryland and Rainfed Farming: UPSC Notes | Model Diplomat"
description: "Dryland and rainfed farming relies on precipitation for crop cultivation in areas with less than 1,150 mm of rainfall, crucial for sustainable agriculture."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/dryland-and-rainfed-farming"
---

[New](https://modeldiplomat.com/)

#

Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Dryland and rainfed farming is crop cultivation dependent on precipitation rather than irrigation, practised in areas receiving below 1,150 mm of annual rainfall.
- What is the rainfall threshold distinguishing dry farming from rainfed farming in India?
- How much of India's agriculture is rainfed?
- Which government schemes support dryland and rainfed agriculture?
- What is contingency cropping in dryland systems?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Dryland and rainfed farming is crop cultivation dependent on precipitation rather than irrigation, practised in areas receiving below 1,150 mm of annual rainfall.

Go beyond the definition

## Research Dryland and Rainfed Farming like a delegate

Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students.

## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

Dryland and rainfed farming denotes crop production that relies on natural precipitation as the sole or principal source of soil moisture, without supplementary irrigation. In the Indian classification framework used by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA, established at Hyderabad in 1985), rainfed agriculture is the broad category of cultivation in areas receiving more than 750 mm but less than 1,150 mm of annual rainfall, while dryland or dry farming applies to the more arid sub-category receiving below 750 mm where moisture conservation is the binding constraint. The conceptual basis was consolidated through the All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA), launched in 1970, and the technology missions of the 1980s. Rainfed agriculture occupies roughly 51 per cent of India's net sown area and contributes about 40 per cent of total food production, supporting the majority of the country's coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cotton.

### Opponents

Several controversies and recent developments shape the field. Critics note that public investment per hectare in rainfed regions remains a fraction of that in irrigated commands, perpetuating yield gaps and rural distress in the very districts—Vidarbha, Marathwada, Anantapur—where agrarian crises are most acute. The push to extend Minimum Support Price procurement and crop insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to coarse cereals and pulses responds to this imbalance. Climate change introduces greater intra-seasonal rainfall variability, increasing the frequency of mid-season dry spells that conventional dryland calendars were not designed to absorb. The 2018 NITI Aayog framework on doubling farmers' income identified rainfed transformation, millet promotion (reinforced by the UN International Year of Millets, 2023) and natural farming as priority levers.

## Research it like a delegate

Research on modeldiplomat.com

## Ask a follow-up about Dryland and Rainfed Farming

Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers.

[Start research on Dryland and Rainfed Farming](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20Dryland%20and%20Rainfed%20Farming%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources)

Example

In 2023, the Government of India observed the UN International Year of Millets, promoting drought-tolerant coarse cereals across rainfed Deccan districts such as Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh under the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture.

Keep learning

## Go deeper than the definition

[Explore all Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams lessons](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services)[Test yourself with a quiz](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/quiz/civil-services)

## Take Dryland and Rainfed Farming beyond the glossary

Ask the AI research engine built for diplomacy — get briefings, position papers, and speeches with sources you can cite in committee.