Soil and Climatic Parameters with Special Emphasis on Rainfall Characteristics

Almost all the regions of the India constitutes dry land and the major soil types in these dry regions are red soils (Alfisols), black soils (Inceptisols and Vertisols), laterite soils (Ultisols), and desert soils (Aridisols). Moreover, in undulating lands of sub-Himalayan regions under coniferous forest sub-montane soils occur. Furthermore, the average annual precipitation is deficit in relation to evaporation in a dry climate which is of two types, arid and semi-arid climate. Arid climate is an extreme dry climate where the average annual precipitation is less than 500 mm, and the amount of precipitation is insufficient for crop production. However, in semi-arid climate, the average annual precipitation is more than 500 mm, and crop production is possible with dry farming methods or with supplemental irrigation. Among the different climatic parameters, rainfall is an important factor influencing the crop production in dry regions due to rainfall variability, intensity and distribution of rainfall, variations or aberrations in monsoon behavior like late onset of monsoon, early withdrawal of monsoon and prolonged dry spells.