The aim of this report is to examine the problem of changing climate patterns in dry land areas and its effect on rural populations and offer some practical solutions, as input the Conference of Conference of the Parties (COP18) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Rainfed agriculture constitutes 55% of net sown area in the country. The annual average rainfall of the country varies from 400 to more than 2000mm varying in both space and time. In low to medium rainfall rainfed regions, the occurrence of high intense rainfall events with the short duration are very common causing the soil erosion.

Conserving Dryland Biodiversity is intended to raise awareness amongst all stakeholders and galvanise wider action to boost drylands conservation and development. It is a call to action as well as a guide to how dryland conservation and development can be equitably pursued.

The report aims to provide a conceptual framework to address food security under conditions of water scarcity in agriculture.

The article reviews and summarizes the climate change mitigation and adaptation work undertaken by ICRISAT. The effects of climate change are already being experienced in several parts of the world. Even though the effects of climate change will be felt over all kinds of agricultural production systems, they will be more pronounced in dryland areas

This article deals with how Chuktia Bhunjia tribe of Orissa negotiates with their ecosystem to ensure that agricultural production and livelihood are sustainable. This study shows that the reasons behind continuation of traditional agriculture are the life experience with the traditional methods and cultural acceptance that not only make them economical but help in managing the ecosystem and natural resources management, and in procuring good production.

Numerous reports have emphasized the need for major changes in the global food system: agriculture must meet the twin challenge of feeding a growing population, with rising demand for meat and high-calorie diets, while simultaneously minimizing its global environmental impacts. Organic farming—a system aimed at producing food with minimal harm to ecosystems, animals or humans—is often proposed as a solution.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest among three major carbon pools of global ecosystems. During the past few years, global warming and forcible land-use changes have resulted in a huge loss of this major carbon pool and as a consequence, concentration of atmospheric CO2 has increased. To mitigate the potential risks arising from atmospheric abundance of CO2, adoption of carbon sequestration strategies at different landscape scales is a major option. For this

Carrying capacity (CC) in the context of Indian agriculture, denotes the number of people and livestock an area can support on a sustainable basis. CC is dynamic in nature, varying from time to time based on utilization of resources, technology application and
management. In India, rainfed agriculture occupies nearly 58% of the cultivated area, contributes 40% of country’s food production, and supports 40% of the human and 60% of the livestock population.

Rainfed areas currently constitute 55 per cent of the net sown area of the country and are home to two-thirds of livestock and 40 per cent of human population. Even after realizing the full irrigation potential, about 50 per cent of the cultivated area will remain rainfed.

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