Bundelkhand Region Of Central India Research Articles

Drought and Underdevelopment in Bundelkhand: A Public Policty Analysis

This paper is an attempt to analyse the public policy for drought management in India in general and Bundelkhand region of Central India in particular. Bundelhand has been in news for farmers’ suicide, starvation deaths and increasing level of poverty. Despite having adequate water and natural resources the region has been suffering from acute poverty and hunger. This study argues that the Ministry of Agriculture’s present policy for drought, based upon the principle of ‘one-size fits all,’ is narrow in nature. In measuring drought only two factors are taken into account – first, the precipitation level during the Monsoon season and second, net sown area during a particular season. In addition to this, it focuses only on short term strategies for drought mitigation. It ignores the long term issues like environmental sustainability and inclusive development. In case of Bundelkhand it is visible that ignoring these issues has serious implications not only for the economy of the region but also on the society and climate. Above all it has serious impact on the political and civil unrest, which has never been analysed while understanding drought. This paper argues that there is an immediate need of rethinking on government of India’s drought management strategies. It should rather adopt a holistic framework. It should focus, on the one hand, region specific drought strategies taking into account country’s diverse geographic terrain, variety of types of soil, uneven rainfall, and economic diversity. On the other hand it should look into various implications of drought including economic, social, environmental and political.

Effects of deep tillage on dryland production of redgram ( Cajanus cajan L.) in central India

The effects of deep tillage on soil properties, weed control, root growth and yield of dryland redgram ( Cajanus cajan L.) were evaluated on a shallow, gravelly, sandy loam soil (alfisols) of the Bundelkhand region in Central India. Deep tillage, viz. mouldboard ploughing (0.20 m deep), discploughing (0.25 m deep) and sub-soiling (0.40 m deep), were compared with shallow tillage, viz. bullock-drawn country ploughing (0.075 m deep), bullock-drawn blade ploughing (0.10 m deep) and disc harrowing (0.125 m deep) for two different rainfall distribution seasons. Deep tillage operations were found superior to shallow tillage treatments. Disc ploughing and sub-soiling improved soil properties, suppressed weed growth, reduced water and nutrient losses through weed uptake and enhanced profile water storage compared with shallow tillage. Deep tillage with disc ploughing and sub-soiling also induced deeper root penetration by 34 and 39 cm resulting in 89 and 127%, respectively, more grain yield than the shallow tillage by country plough.