Dryland farming 

and dry farming encompass specific agricultural techniques for the non-

irrigated cultivation of crops. Dryland farming is associated with drylands, areas characterized by
a cool wet season (which charges the soil with virtually all the moisture that the crops will receive
prior to harvest) followed by a warm dry season. They are also associated with arid conditions,
areas prone to drought and those having scarce water resources.

In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically produced to be incorporated into the soil while
still green.[1] Typically, the green manure's biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often
done with (brown) manure. The primary goal is to add organic matter to the soil for its benefits.
Green manuring is often used with legume crops to add nitrogen to the soil for following crops,
especially in organic farming, but is also used in conventional farming

Green manuring is the practice of turning into the soil undecomposed green plant tissue. The
function of a green manure crop is to add organic matter to the soil. As a result of the addition, the
nitrogen supply of the soil may be increased and certain nutrients made more readily available,
thereby increasing the productivity of the soil.

Benefits of Green Manure

The major benefits to the use of green manures in a crop rotation system include organic matter and
nitrogen addition, nutrient conservation, and protection of the soil surface du ring erosion-prone
periods of the year.

Plants Suitable as Green Manures

Generally, ideal green manure crops should: --be inexpensive to plant; --be easily established; --
produce succulent tops and roots rapidly; --generate good ground cover quickly; --be capable of
growing on poor soils (sands and clays benefit most).

Organic farming is the need of the hour & green manure is a perfect organic counterpart of nitrogen
rich fertilizers.

So what are the advantages of green manure?

1. As mentioned above, green manure can be a great substitute for chemical nitrogenous
fertilizers.

2. Once mixed in the soil, green manures slowly decompose & release other great micro &
macro nutrients as well.

3. This manure significantly improves the quality of soil by increasing its overall
humus/biomass content.

4. The addition of green manures strengthens the water holding capacity of soil.

5. Due to green manures population of friendly microorganism in soil increases.

Advantages

1. Green manuring improves soil structure, increases water holding capacity and decreases soil
loss by erosion.
2. Growing of green manure crops in the off season reduces weed proliferation and weed
growth.
3. Green manuring helps in reclamation of alkaline soils. Root knot nematodes can be controlled
by green manuring.

The System of Rice Intensification involves cultivating rice with as much organic manure as
possible, starting with young seedlings planted singly at wider spacing in a square pattern; and
with intermittent irrigation that keeps the soil moist but not inundated, and frequent inter
cultivation with weeder that actively aerates the soil.
SRI is not a standardised, fixed technological method. It is rather a set of ideas, a methodology
for comprehensively managing and conserving resources by changing the way that land, seeds,
water, nutrients, and human labour are used to increase productivity from a small but well-tended
number of seeds. 
SRI is an amalgamation of multiple beneficial practices.

In SRI paddy cultivation, less quantity of seeds

SRI is initially labour intensive

 Needs 50% more man-days for transplanting and weeding.

 Mobilises labour to work for profit.

 It offers an alternative to the resource poor, who put in their family labour.

 Once the right skills are learnt and implemented, the labour costs will be lesser.

Do-s and Don’t-s in SRI

1. Early Transplanting: Transplant 8-12 day old seedlings, with only two small leaves,
( More tillering potential and root growth potential)
2. Careful Transplanting:Minimise trauma in transplanting. Remove plant from nursery
with the seed, soil and roots carefully and place it in the field without plunging too deep
into soil (More tillering potential)
3. Wide Spacing: plant single seedlings, not in clumps, and in a square pattern 25cm x
25cm apart or wider. Do not plant in rows. (More root growth potential)
4. Weeding and Aeration: use simple mechanical "rotating hoe" that churns up soil; 2
weedings required, (More root growth, due to reduced weed competition, and aeration of
soil, giving roots more Oxygen and Nitrogen due to increased microbial activity) Each
additional weeding after two rounds results in increased productivity up to 2 t/ha /
weeding.
5. Water Management:regular water application to keep soil moist but not saturated, with
intermittent dryings, alternating aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions (More root growth
because it avoids root degeneration, enables better abosrption of nutrients from the soil).
6. Compost / FYM applied instead of or in addition to chemical fertilizer; 10 tons/ha (More
plant growth because of better soil health and structure, and more balanced nutrient
supply)

Benefits of SRI

 Higher yields - Both grain and straw

  Reduced duration (by 10 days)

 Lesser chemical inputs

 Less water requirement

 Less chaffy grain %

 Grain weight increased without change in grain size

 Higher head rice recovery

 Withstand cyclonic gales

 Cold tolerance

 Soil health improves through biological activity

Disadvantages

 Higher labour costs in the initial years

 Difficulties in acquiring the necessary skills

 Not suitable when no irrigation source available

It aims at making extension system farmer driven and farmer accountable by way of new
institutional arrangements for technology dissemination in the form of an Agricultural Technology
Management Agency (ATMA) at district level to operationalize the extension reforms. ATMA has
active participation of farmers/farmer-groups, NGOs,KrishiVigyanKendras (KVKs), Panchayati Raj
Institutions and other stakeholders operating at district level and below. Release of funds under
ATMA scheme is based on State Extension Work Plans (SEWPs) prepared by the State Governments.
Allocation of resources for activities related to extension is linked to number of farm households and
Blocks. At present, the Scheme is under implementation in 614 districts in 28 States and 3 UTs in the
country.