Dryland Horticulture
Course Overview
Official detailed syllabus from the ICAR Sixth Deans’ Committee curriculum.
Course Objectives
i. To acquaint the students with the soil and climatic features of the dry land areas ii. To impart the knowledge about the soil and water conservation technologies for dry land areas iii. To impart the knowledge about the production technologies for fruit crops of dry land areas
Theory Syllabus
Definition, importance and limitation of dry land horticulture, present status and future scope. Constraints encounter in dry lands. Agro-climatic features in rainfed areas, scarce water resources, high temperature, soil erosion, run-off losses etc. Techniques and management of dry land horticulture. Watershed development, soil and water conservation methods-terraces, contour bunds etc. Methods of control and impounding of run-off water-farm ponds, trenches, macro catch pits etc. In-situ water harvesting methods, micro catchment, different types of tree basins etc. Methods of reducing evapotranspiration, use of shelter belts, mulches, anti- transpirants, growth regulators, organic amendments etc. water use efficiency-need based, economic and conjunctive use of water, micro irrigation systems and fertigation etc. Water quality: characterization and use in horticultural crops. Selection of plants having drought resistance. Special techniques, planting and after care-use of seedling races, root stocks, in-situ grafting, deep pitting/planting, canopy management etc. Characters and special adaptation of crops: ber, aonla, annona, jamun, wood apple, bael, pomegranate, carissa, date palm, phalsa, fig, west Indian cherry and tamarind.
Practical Syllabus
Rainfall patterns. Contour bunding/trenching, micro catchments; rainfall erosivity and soil erodibility indices, measurement of runoff, soil loss and their control. Study of evapotranspiration, mulches and micro irrigation systems. Special techniques of planting and aftercare in dry lands. Morphological and anatomical features of drought tolerant fruit crops.
Suggested Readings
1. Chundawat B S. 1990. Arid Fruit Culture. Oxford and IBH, New Delhi.
2. Jatav M K, Saroj P L and Sharma B D. 2019. Dryland Horticulture. New India Publishing Agency. https://www.perlego.com/book/1975613/dryland-horticulture-pdf ISBN 10.1201/9781003245902.
3. Rathore R S, Singh R P, Singh P K and Singh P S 2020. Dryland Horticulture Cultivation and Management. Publisher AGROBIOS (INDIA) ISBNs: 978-81-943776-5-8. 340p.
4. Singh Jitendra. 2022. Drylands Horticulture, ISBN: 9789355400048. Kalyani Publishers.