For an area to be excluded from the drought-prone category, what percentage of its gross cropped area should be under irrigation?
- (a)10 per cent or more
- (b)20 per cent or more
- (c)25 per cent or more
- (d)30 per cent or more
Correct — D, 30 per cent or more. Under the working criterion associated with the Irrigation Commission (1972), an area is taken out of the 'drought-prone' category once 30 per cent or more of its gross cropped area is under assured irrigation. Irrigation at that level buffers the area against monsoon failure, so it is no longer treated as chronically drought-prone.
- (a)10 per cent or more — Too low a share of irrigation to shield an area from recurring drought.
- (b)20 per cent or more — About 20 per cent is closer to the probability cut-off used to label an area drought-prone, not the irrigation share that removes it from the category.
- (c)25 per cent or more — Not the accepted figure; the recognised threshold is 30 per cent of the gross cropped area under irrigation.
India identifies drought-prone areas to target programmes such as the Drought-Prone Areas Programme (DPAP). One working rule (Irrigation Commission, 1972) treats a region as drought-prone when it has a high probability of drought years and less than 30 per cent of its cropped area irrigated; once irrigation reaches 30 per cent or more, the area is excluded from the category.
Two different percentages float around this topic — the probability of a drought year (often quoted as about 20 per cent) and the irrigation share that removes an area from the drought-prone list (30 per cent). The question asks for the second: 30 per cent.
- An area is excluded from the drought-prone category when 30 per cent or more of its gross cropped area is irrigated.
- The Irrigation Commission (1972) framed this working criterion.
- The Drought-Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), 1973, targets such areas with soil and water conservation.
- Assured irrigation reduces dependence on an erratic monsoon, the root cause of drought.
Reaching 30% irrigation of the gross cropped area lifts an area out of the drought-prone class.
- Confusing the 30 per cent irrigation cut-off with the roughly 20 per cent drought-probability cut-off.
- Assuming any irrigation ends drought-proneness — the threshold is 30 per cent of the gross cropped area.
Asked as the irrigation percentage that excludes an area from the drought-prone category, or by matching drought programmes to their aims.
Consider the following pairs: Programme/Project — Ministry 1. Drought-Prone Area Programme : Ministry of Agriculture 2. Desert Development Programme : Ministry of Environment and Forests 3. National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas : Ministry of Rural Development Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 3 only
- (c) 1, 2 and 3
- (d) None
Answer(d) None
Related — India's drought-prone-area management. UPSC tests which ministry runs the Drought-Prone Areas Programme; this NDA item tests the irrigation share (30%) that removes an area from the drought-prone category.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Drought-Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) mainly aims at
- (a)urban water supply
- (b)soil and water conservation in drought-prone areas
- (c)flood control in deltas
- (d)afforestation of coastal belts
Answer(b) soil and water conservation in drought-prone areas.
- practice — not a real PYQ
An agricultural drought is best described as
- (a)failure of industrial water supply
- (b)a shortage of soil moisture that harms crops
- (c)a fall in groundwater used by cities
- (d)a cyclone-driven flood
Answer(b) a shortage of soil moisture that harms crops.