Agriculture in Extreme Environments of Thar Region of South Asia

The Thar in South Asia is arid, hot, dusty, and environmentally hostile to crops. The Thar (i.e., “Great Indian Desert”) encompasses dunes, valleys, and flat plains in the State of Rajasthan in India. Fringes of Thar occur in Punjab (India) and Gujarat (Rann of Kutch) in the south. In Pakistan, the Thar desert is demarcated into the Thar, Cholistan, Nara, and Sindh deserts. The Thar is a natural repository of diverse native botanical species. The medium-sized Prosopis cineraria, Acacia senegal, Acacia nilotica, Azadirachta indica, Capparis decidua, Salvadora oleoides, Tamarix aphylla , and Tecomella undulata are common. Xerosols and alfisols low in organic carbon are predominant. Grains of gypsum called “kankar” occur in soils. Soil salinity could be a detriment. Hot ambient temperatures (45–53°C) occur in summer and cold (−2°C to +5°C), fogy/frosty conditions in winter. Water resources are meager. Precipitation is scanty. Farmers collect surface runoff into ponds and “diggis/tankas.” Major crops like pearl millet, cluster beans, and chickpeas are tolerant to drought, extreme temperature, low soil moisture-holding capacity, loose sandy soil profile, and hostile wind/dust storms. Crops have to resist biotic detriments like microbial diseases, insect pests, including locusts. The crop productivity is low or, at times, miserable.