Probability of occurrence of drought in relation to rainfed rice productivity in the old alluvial region of West Bengal

Abstract

Climate change makes conditions suitable or unsuitable for growing crops in different regions. The greatest threat posed by climate change is change in monsoon. A period of drought is defined by low average precipitation, poor rain or higher evaporation rates which reduces crop growth and yield. In this study, an attempt was made to characterize agricultural drought with the help of rainfed rice crop yield rate and rainfall. Rainfall data and rainfed rice or Aman rice yield rate data from 1978 to 2020 of Malda district in West Bengal were analyzed for determining the probability of rainfed rice specific drought in Malda. An amount of 36.3 mm rainfall for three consecutive weeks was identified as drought threshold value in the test location. The recurrence of drought for the study area has also been studied.