[Nethra K Putti]

DEVIL DROUGHT
any lack of water to satisfy the normal needs of agricultural, livestock, industry / human population may be termed as a drought.

Types of Drought :
1.Meteorological drought :
indian meteorological department has identified drought as a suitation occuring in a area where the mean annual rainfall is less than 75% of the normall rainfall.
a) Svere drought :
when the deficiency of rainfall exceeds 50% of the normal rainfall it is called severe drought.

b) Moderate drought :
when the deficiency of rainfall is between 25 & 50% of the normal rainfall then it is called moderate drought.

2. Hydrological Drought :
a) Surface-water drought :
it concerns with drying up of surface water resources such as rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, tank, reservoir etc., it is called surface-water drought.

b) Ground-water drought :
it is associated with the fall in the ground water level.

3. Agricultural drought :

• when soil moisture & arinfall conditions are not adequate enough to support a healthy crop growth to maturity thereby causing extreme moisture stress & wilting of major crop area it leads to agricultural drought.

• it is a relative catagory depending upon the value of plant & soil. ex: rice cultivation (which requires 100cm of rainfall) in area receiving average rainfall of 50-75cm may lead to agricultural drought.

• chaning in croping pattern is also cause of agricultural drought.

Drought Prone areas :
it is defined as one in which the probability of a drought year is greater than 20%. a chronic drought prone area is one in which the probability of a drought year is greater than 40%.

Drought Management :
~ the first famine commission was appointed for orissa famine of 1866 under Sir George Campball.

Drought Prone Area Programmes : 1974 :
it aimed at drought proofing through adoption of an integrated area development approach as long term measure for restoration of ecological balance by conserving, developing & harvesting land, water, livestock, human resources.

Integrated watershed Management :
it holds the promise of conservation of land & water resources & their optimal utilisation in reality. under the national watershed programme for rainfed areas, a large number of watersheds have been established.