Drought Resistant Crops: Farmers often have to deal with drought conditions. Heatwaves, droughts and floods, sudden increase in temperature, changes in rainfall patterns occur due to climate change. This poses a direct threat to food security not only in India but all over the world. Water scarcity is a serious and growing concern, which is rapidly dominating food and agriculture. This has also affected the yield of farmers. In view of this, the need for drought-resistant crops has started to be the greatest.
Farming in Drought Prone Areas?
Drought-Resistant Crops maintain food supply despite changing weather. In today’s time, the importance of drought-resistant crops is increasing all over the world. For this, scientists are also engaged in research to grow new varieties of crops and agricultural science is also making promising progress in this matter. Let us know about some such crops (Drought-Resistant Crops), which are considered right for drought-prone areas, which give high yield even in less water.
Barley
Barley is an important crop of India. This crop is mainly sown in November and harvested by the last week of March. Research shows that barley falls in the category of drought tolerance. Several genes involved in drought resistance have been identified in the barley crop. One of its major genes is HVA1, which shows a relationship with drought response.
Sorghum
Sorghum is an excellent variety in terms of yield. It is also resistant to a very dangerous pest, Hessian fly. Being a highly drought-tolerant crop, sorghum proves to be excellent for growing in those areas of the country where water problem is the most.
Guar
Guar is a drought-resistant legume crop. It is successfully cultivated in unirrigated and very drought-prone areas. Guar is mainly used as seed, vegetable, green fodder, manure and guar gum. Guar can be cultivated in all types of soil. The best time for sowing guar is the first week of July.
Chifa
Chifa is a variety of barley. It is a drought-resistant crop, as well as a better fiber diet against diabetes and ischemic diseases. It also has excellent resistance to net blotch disease.
Pusa JG 16
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, along with its partner institutes, has developed drought tolerant and high yielding gram variety ‘Pusa JG 16’. It overcomes the problem of terminal drought in drought prone areas of Madhya Pradesh, Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and parts of central region of Gujarat. The biggest problem here is that sometimes farmers have to bear 50 to 100 percent loss of yield. There this crop increases productivity.
Pearl Millet
Unlike wheat and paddy, millet thrives in drought prone areas and hilly areas. Millet is being promoted by the government as the superfood of the future. For this, the government is also running many types of schemes. At the same time, millet hardly requires pesticides and fertilizers. Millet is a basic grain in many countries of Asia including India. This crop can withstand extremes of hot weather.
UAS 446 Wheat Crop
UAS 446 is a new variety of wheat. This variety is very good for growing in dry places. It is also resistant to leaf rust and stem rust diseases.
Purslane (Kulfa)
A study has mentioned that ‘Portulaca Oleracea’ is a common weed which is also commonly called Purslane (Kulfa). This crop, which grows even in drought, is of great importance in the whole world surrounded by climate change.
Grapes
Grape vines can survive for a long time without water. They are planted in a place where there is six to eight hours of sunlight every day. Grapes prefer well-drained, sandy, loamy soil.
Bhindi)
Okra can withstand intense heat and will do well even without abundant water. Okra grows best in areas with strong sunlight. Plant it in sandy, well-drained soil that is high in organic matter.
Scarlet Globe Mallow
Scarlet globe mallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea) is a drought tolerant plant with natural drought tolerance. The plants retain a large amount of biomass under drought conditions.
International Research Projects
International research projects have been initiated to improve drought tolerance. Such as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). One such project by CGIAR involves introducing genes such as DREB1 into lowland rice, upland rice, and wheat to evaluate drought tolerance in the field.
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