Dryland farming and dry farming encompass specific agricultural techniques for the non-irrigated cultivation of

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

s. 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 A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

conditions, areas prone to

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

and those having scarce water resources.

Process

Large dust storm in parts of eastern Washington on October 4, 2009

Dryland farming has evolved as a set of techniques and management practices used by farmers to continually adapt to the presence or lack of moisture in a given crop cycle. In marginal regions, a farmer should be financially able to survive occasional crop failures, perhaps for several years in succession. Survival as a dryland farmer requires careful husbandry of the moisture available for the crop and aggressive management of expenses to minimize losses in poor years. Dryland farming involves the constant assessing of the amount of moisture present or lacking for any given crop cycle and planning accordingly. Dryland farmers know that to be financially successful they have to be aggressive during the good years in order to offset the dry years. Dryland farming is dependent on natural rainfall, which can leave the ground vulnerable to dust storms, particularly if poor farming techniques are used or if the storms strike at a particularly vulnerable time. The fact that a fallow period must be included in the

crop rotation Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...

means that fields cannot always be protected by a cover crop, which might otherwise offer protection against

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...

. Some of the theories of dryland farming developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries claimed to be scientific but were in reality pseudoscientific and did not stand up to empirical testing. For example, it was alleged that tillage would seal in moisture, but such "dust mulching" ideas are based on what people imagine ''should'' happen, or have been told, rather than what testing actually confirms. In actuality, it has been shown that tillage increases water losses to evaporation. The book '' Bad Land: An American Romance'' explores the effects that this had on people who were encouraged to homestead in an area with little rainfall; most

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

s failed after working miserably to cling on. Dry farming depends on making the best use of the "bank" of soil moisture that was created by winter rainfall. Some dry farming practices include: * Wider than normal spacing, to provide a larger bank of moisture for each plant. * Controlled Traffic. * Minimal tilling of land. * Strict weed control, to ensure that weeds do not consume soil moisture needed by the cultivated plants. * Cultivation of soil to produce a "dust mulch", thought to prevent the loss of water through capillary action. This practice is controversial, and is not universally advocated. * Selection of crops and cultivars suited for dry farming practices.

Locations

left, Wheat_Dryland_Farming_in_Behbahan,_Iran.html" ;"title="Behbahan.html" ;"title="Wheat Dryland Farming in Behbahan">Wheat Dryland Farming in Behbahan, Iran">Behbahan.html" ;"title="Wheat Dryland Farming in Behbahan">Wheat Dryland Farming in Behbahan, Iran Dry farming may be practiced in areas that have significant annual rainfall during a wet season, often in the winter. Crops are cultivated during the subsequent dry season, using practices that make use of the stored moisture in the soil. California, Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, in the United States, are a few states where dry farming is practiced for a variety of crops. Dryland farming is used in the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

, the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primar ...

plateau of Eastern Washington, and other arid regions of North America such as in the Southwestern United States and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

(see

Agriculture in the Southwestern United States Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and Agriculture in the prehistoric Southwest), the Middle East and in other

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

growing regions such as the

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate gras ...

s of Eurasia and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. Dryland farming was introduced to southern Russia and Ukraine by

Ukrainian Mennonites The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...

under the influence of Johann Cornies, making the region the breadbasket of Europe. In Australia, it is widely practiced in all states but the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

Crops

file:Palouse hills - 9591.jpg, Fields in the

, Washington State Dry farmed crops may include grapes, tomatoes, pumpkins, beans, and other summer crops. Dryland grain crops include wheat, corn, millet, rye, and other grasses that produce grains. These crops grow using the winter water stored in the soil, rather than depending on rainfall during the growing season. Dryland farmed crops may include

winter wheat Winter wheat (usually '' Triticum aestivum'') are strains of wheat that are planted in the autumn to germinate and develop into young plants that remain in the vegetative phase during the winter and resume growth in early spring. Classificatio ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

, beans, sunflowers or even watermelon. Successful dryland farming is possible with as little as of precipitation a year; higher rainfall increases the variety of crops. Native American tribes in the arid Southwest survived for thousands of years on dryland farming in areas with less than of rain. The choice of crop is influenced by the timing of the predominant rainfall in relation to the seasons. For example, winter wheat is more suited to regions with higher winter rainfall while areas with summer wet seasons may be more suited to summer growing crops such as sorghum, sunflowers or

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

. Everyone knows that plants need water, soil, oxygen and sunlight in order to grow strong and healthy, but what happens when water is scarce? Modern farming solutions to this problem include irrigation systems that can direct water to rows of crops in huge fields, but some farmers believe that a return to dry farming is the solution. What Is Involved In A Dry Farming Operation? Dry Farming is a natural technique that utilizes rainwater and water leached from the ground in dry

environments Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. Groundwater supply is often the result of melted snow and ice in climates that experience high precipitation in the winter and dry heat in the summer. Water from nearby watershed sources can also be used in dry farming, and some believe that the use of dry farms could solve not only food shortage challenges in small communities but also climate change concerns.

Other considerations

; Capturing and conservation of moisture: In regions such as Eastern Washington, the average annual precipitation available to a dryland farm may be as little as . In the Horse Heaven Hills in central Washington, wheat farming has been productive purportedly on an average annual rainfall approaching 6 inches. Consequently, moisture must be captured until the crop can utilize it. Techniques include

summer fallow Summer fallow, sometimes called fallow cropland, is cropland that is purposely kept out of production during a regular growing season. Resting the ground in this manner allows one crop to be grown using the moisture and nutrients of more than one c ...

rotation (in which one crop is grown on two seasons' precipitation, leaving standing stubble and crop residue to trap snow), and preventing

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

by terracing fields. "Terracing" is also practiced by farmers on a smaller scale by laying out the direction of furrows to slow water runoff downhill, usually by plowing along either contours or keylines. Moisture can be conserved by eliminating weeds and leaving crop residue to shade the soil. ; Effective use of available moisture: Once moisture is available for the crop to use, it must be used as effectively as possible. Seed planting depth and timing are carefully considered to place the seed at a depth at which sufficient moisture exists, or where it will exist when seasonal precipitation falls. Farmers tend to use crop varieties which are

drought-tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, detox ...

and heat-stress tolerant (even lower-yielding varieties). Thus the likelihood of a successful crop is hedged if seasonal precipitation fails. ; Soil conservation: The nature of dryland farming makes it particularly susceptible to erosion, especially wind erosion. Some techniques for conserving soil moisture (such as frequent tillage to kill weeds) are at odds with techniques for conserving topsoil. Since healthy topsoil is critical to sustainable agriculture, in particular within arid areas, its preservation is generally considered the most important long-term goal of a dryland farming operation.

Erosion control Erosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development, coastal areas, river banks and construction. Effective erosion controls handle surface runoff and are important techniques i ...

techniques such as windbreaks,

reduced tillage Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, ...

or no-till, spreading straw (or other mulch on particularly susceptible ground), and strip farming are used to minimize topsoil loss. ''Weedling '',Weedling is process of turning over 90 degree and exposing weed's root during tillage to prevent soil erosion by wind and desertification. At the same time, Direct absorption of nutrients from weeds and moisture provides suitable environment to floris biodiversity of organisms in soil. ; Control of input costs: Dryland farming is practiced in regions inherently marginal for non-irrigated agriculture. Because of this, there is an increased risk of crop failure and poor yields which may occur in a dry year (regardless of money or effort expended). Dryland farmers must evaluate the potential yield of a crop constantly throughout the growing season and be prepared to decrease inputs to the crop such as fertilizer and weed control if it appears that it is likely to have a poor yield due to insufficient moisture. Conversely, in years when moisture is abundant, farmers may increase their input efforts and budget to maximize yields and to offset poor harvests.

Arid-zone agriculture

An example of a dryland farming paddock As an area of research and development, arid-zone agriculture, or desert agriculture, includes studies of how to increase the agricultural productivity of lands dominated by lack of freshwater, an abundance of heat and sunlight, and usually one or more of: Extreme winter cold, short rainy season, saline soil or water, strong dry winds, poor soil structure, over-grazing, limited technological development, poverty, or political instability. The two basic approaches are: * View the given environmental and socioeconomic characteristics as negative obstacles to be overcome. * View as many as possible of them as positive resources to be used.

References

10
Dry Farming
Dry Farming Everyone knows that plants need water, soil, oxygen and sunlight in order to grow strong and healthy,

External links

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