Unpredictable rainfall makes farming in Marathwada even more durable

In Maharashtra’s Jalna district, Dada Rao Ghatode, a farmer from Babultara village, owns eight acres of land the place he grows soybean, cotton, and pigeon pea (tur) in the course of the kharif season (July to October). This season, he anticipated not less than ₹80,000 in return from 4 acres of soybean. Nonetheless, a single day of heavy rains in September ruined practically 80% of his crop.

This was not an remoted incident. Throughout Marathwada, farmers are grappling with unpredictable adjustments in rainfall distribution, that are threatening their livelihoods. Jalna, together with all different districts in Marathwada, has skilled a pointy improve in excessive rainfall occasions, disrupting conventional farming practices and water administration programs.

Rise in excessive rainfall occasions

By the final 20 years, the distribution of rainfall in Jalna has modified considerably, in keeping with our evaluation of day by day gridded rainfall knowledge from the India Meteorological Division. The area’s whole annual rainfall has been comparatively steady however the timing and depth of the rains have grow to be erratic. Already notorious for its droughts, Marathwada now oscillates between durations of little water and people of an excessive amount of, which additionally trigger extreme waterlogging in the course of the kharif season.

Historically, farmers develop water-intensive crops resembling paddy, maize, pulses, soybean, and groundnut in the course of the kharif cropping season, and count on good yields. However with an more and more unstable monsoon, the farmers have needed to fall again increasingly more on rabi season (November to April) crops resembling sorghum, chana, and wheat, which have decrease market costs. Although most farmers personal medium to massive land-holdings, they don’t seem to be prospering.

Information from 2001 to 2023 indicated that rains in July, August, and September accounted for 70% of Jalna’s annual rainfall, and that the monsoon arrived late in July and August in most of those years (Chart 1). Additional, the quantity of rain in July and August fell brief as a lot as 70% of the time, whereas there was a 50% probability of downpours deviating from regular patterns in September.

Chart 1 | A protracted interval common was calculated for the interval from 1961 to 2010, and every class of rainfall was estimated for that month for the final 22 years (as per the IMD methodology)

The higher trigger for alarm often is the variety of wet days: the frequency of these with greater than 3 mm of rain dropped by 30% in August, a crucial interval for crop progress. September had 18% extra wet days, which means the land was water-logged simply because the crops approached harvest (Chart 2 and three).

Chart 2 | The chart present the variety of wet days for the month of August. The frequency of these days with greater than 3 mm of rain dropped by 30% in August, a crucial interval for crop progress

Chart 3 | The variety of wet days for the month of September. September had 18% extra wet days, which implies that the land is water-logged simply because the crops method harvest

These patterns are disrupting farming cycles and placing farmers who rely on kharif-season crops at much more danger. Excessive rainfall occasions — outlined as a day with rain falling within the 99th percentile by amount — haven’t solely grow to be extra frequent but in addition extra intense. The depth on lately elevated from 59 mm/day in 1951-2000 to 70 mm/day in 2001-2023. There are comparable tendencies throughout central India, the place research have recorded a threefold improve within the frequency of utmost precipitation occasions.

Black soil and water-logging

Farmers, researchers, and policymakers usually talk about water shortage in relation to the affect of local weather change on agriculture, leaving the challenges of extra water to nonetheless be understudied. The Marathwada area’s black soil can maintain a considerable amount of water earlier than having to discharge it, and is thus vulnerable to waterlogging.

When this soil sort turns into saturated with water, it restricts drainage and prevents water from seeping into aquifers, leading to flooding even with regular rainfall. For farmers, waterlogging is the same as catastrophe as a result of it deprives the crops of oxygen, which results in rotting, wilting, and elevated susceptibility to pests and illnesses.

The hydrogeology of Marathwada additional complicates this example. Though farm ponds and wells fill shortly after the rains, the underlying basalt rocks usually are not conducive to long-term water storage. In different phrases, farmers can’t depend on these sources for irrigation all year long. The result’s a steady cycle of surplus water within the monsoon and shortage within the dry months — each of that are unhealthy for farming.

Evolving water administration

The adjustments in rainfall distribution in Jalna reveal a urgent want for brand spanking new agricultural water administration methods. Prevailing water administration practices in Marathwada are primarily based on storing extra water in farm ponds. These ponds do present some aid, however they don’t forestall waterlogging or retain water past a single season. This limits their usefulness.

For standard strategies to handle watersheds, specialists use historic rainfall knowledge to find out storage capability. However with the monsoons turning into much less predictable, Jalna and different comparable areas want watershed constructions that may face up to excessive runoff volumes from excessive rain occasions. One sustainable method can be to give attention to enhancing the area’s drainage networks and bettering floor water storage.

Transitioning from farm ponds that rely on groundwater to floor runoff seize programs may additionally cut back the stress on aquifers and stop groundwater depletion.

Moreover, shifting to extra water-tolerant types of crops can permit the water to percolate by the soil extra and assist maintain the panorama even when it’s inundated.

This mix of improved drainage infrastructure, floor water storage amenities, and resilient land use can foster a balanced water administration system able to withstanding the disruptive climate adjustments in Marathwada.

Supply : Day by day gridded rainfall knowledge of the Indian Meteorological Division

Ishita Jalan and Lakshmikantha NR are hydrologists on the Water, Surroundings, Land and Livelihoods (WELL) Labs.