Of the total cultivatable land in India, 92 million hectares is rainfed area and 51
million is irrigated area. This means nearly 2/3rd of cultivable land in India is rain-
fed and may not be fit for irrigated agriculture. Traditionally, a mix of crops suited
to the dryland conditions were grown in these areas. For example the dryland
agriculture of the Deccan plateau had a mixture of 16 crops sown at the same time.
These have varying maturity period which results in extended period of work and
continuous supply of incomes and/ or food gave. This also minimised the risk factor,
where at least one crop will give yield even in adverse climatic conditions. Mixed
cropping also reduced the chance of any insect becoming a major pest. The crops
were so chosen to provide balanced and nutritious food to the land (soil fertility),
human population and the livestock.
However, with the green revolution emphasis shifted to rice and wheat. These
were the crops that were also available through the ration shops under the PDS. The
main cereal cooked at home changed to rice and wheat. As the demand for local
foodgrains fell, over time many of the patches of dryland were left uncultivated.
You may recall that under the Green Revolution rice and wheat agriculture was
encouraged for food self-sufficiency through various government policies.
Cultivation of millets on the other hand was neither encouraged, nor supported.
There was not enough research on how to increase the yields of coarse cereals.
This is the main reason why the production of dryland crops like millets and oil
seeds suffered.
In Zaheerabad mandal of Medak district of Telangana, villagers have
reversed the dependence on purchased wheat and rice. It all began around the year 2000
as the women began to reflect on the loss of local food cultures. Millets were the
traditional staple of the region, which had been lost to rice. Rice is nutritionally
inferior compared to millets. Besides poor nutrition, people also realised that
they had lost control on what grew on their land. Many fields were now fallow.
Led by a voluntary organisation, Deccan Development Society, the villagers col-
lectively decided to cultivate the fallow land and the commons. Millets were the
obvious crop choice because of their suitability to the local environment. Millets
are hardy crops and nutritious.
      Cultivation of dryland gave people work. Further, instead of selling the
pro- duce outside, the community started community grain bank. This operated on
the principle of the PDS system (like people hold different ration cards and are
assigned fixed quoatas depending on the type of ration card). Only it was locally
managed, and the grain was the local grain. Instead of the grain travelling hun-
dreds of kilometers, locally produced food was now available to ensure food se-
curity in the village.