EFFECT OF DROUGHT ON KHARIF FOODGRAINS PRODUCTION - A RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

The effect of drought on food grains production has been assessed on t he national scale as well as for individual crops, taking state as a u nit. But these are post cropping analyses. An early warning system was developed by Steyaert et al (1981) to assess the effect of drought on foodgrains production. The model evolved by Doorenbos and Kassam (197 9) on ''Yield response to water'' can be used for assessing the propor tionate of the potential achievable based on the rainfall as it progre sses in relation to the phenology of the crop. In the monsoon foodgrai ns production, the percieptible effect of drought is more visible with rice and coarse cereals grown under better endownments. Some suggesti ons on tackling the high variability and almost plateauing that is tak ing place in foodgrains production in kharif season are made based on the responses available with the interventions (long and short term) a t the goverment, farmer and researchers levels.