Question
What is the difference between dryland and wetland farming?
(NCERT class 12 geography, India People and Economy, Chapter-5. Land Resources and Agriculture)
Answer.
On the basis of the main source of soil moisture for crops, farming can be classified into two types – irrigated agriculture and rainfed (Barani).
Based on the adequacy of soil moisture during the harvest(rainy) season, rainfed farming is classified into two types – dry land farming and wetland farming.
Following are the differences between dryland and wetland farming:
- In India, dryland farming is usually done in areas with an annual rainfall of less than 75 cm, while wetland cultivation is done in areas with an annual rainfall of more than 75 cm.
- The dry land farming area has to face the problem of drought because in these areas there is a lack of moisture in the soil even during the rainy season whereas the wetland farming area has to face the problems of flood and soil erosion because the soil is wet during the rainy season and there is an abundance of water.
- In dryland farming, many methods are adopted for soil moisture conservation and efficient use of rainwater even in the rainy season, whereas it is not much required in wetland agriculture.
- Important areas of dry land are most part of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, rain shadow zone of Karnataka, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, while Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, etc. have significant areas of wetlands farming.
- In dryland farming, coarse and drought-resistant crops like ragi are grown whereas in wetland farming various water-intensive and fine crops like paddy and jute are grown.
- The important crops of dry land cultivation are ragi, Bajra, moong, gram, and guar (fodder crops) while rice, jute, and sugarcane are the crops prevalent in wetland farming.
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