Contingent crop planning for aberrant weather conditions in dryland agriculture

Unfavourable deviated weather from the normally expected one is called aberrant weather. Aberrant weather is a common feature of dryland agriculture. Crop production in dryland areas is mainly dependent upon rainfall, which is received during the south west monsoon. The rainfall is seasonal, erratic and highly variable with space & time. The deviations in rainfall pattern commonly met with include delayed onset, early withdrawal and intermediary dry spells during rainy season.Suitable manipulations in crop management practices are needed to minimize such adverse effects of abnormal rainfall. These management decision, constitute contingency planning. The major challenge in dryland agriculture is to minimize yearly variations in crop yields due to aberrant weather conditions and to stabilize production at a reasonably acceptable level.