Constraints Limiting Crop Production in Dry Land Areas

The productivity of agriculture in dry farming regions is low due to the cumulative effect of many constraints for crop production. The major constraints in crop production include: climatic constraints like rainfall, high atmospheric temperature, low relative humidity, hot dry winds, high atmospheric water demand; soil constraints like inadequate soil moisture availability, poor organic matter content, poor soil fertility, soil deterioration due to erosion (wind, water), soil crust problem, presence of hard layers and deep cracks; traditional cultivation practices; heavy problem of weed; lack of suitable varieties; and socioeconomic constraints like less access to inputs, non-availability of credit in time, the risk-bearing capacity of dryland farmer is very low, therefore, the dryland farmers resort to low input agriculture which results in poor yields.