ANN | New Delhi, 24 June 2022

World Bank has approved a project worth ₹1,000 crore for taking rain-fed farming to new heights in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand. The project named Uttarakhand Climate Responsive Rain-fed Farming Project will be implemented by the watershed department.

The State government had proposed the project which is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions for funding by the World Bank.

The project will also help in springshed management, boosting agricultural productivity, controlling migration and promoting cluster-based agriculture, an official release said.

It will also boost climate friendly activities in the agriculture sector so that it becomes an economically viable option for the youth and farmers.

According to union agriculture ministry website, rainfed agriculture occupies about 51 percent of country’s net sown area and accounts for nearly 40 percent of the total food production.  Rainfed agriculture is complex, highly diverse and risk prone. It is characterized by low levels of productivity and input usage coupled with vagaries of monsoon emanating from climate change; resulting in wide variation and instability in crop yields.
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