"Drought

is a condition of moisture deficit sufficient to have an adverse effect on vegetation, animals, and man over a sizeable area."

Causes of drought
Natural / Physical causes:
- Weather: increased amount of anticyclone weather (hot + dry) means air holds less moisture so you get less rain - Global warming: weather patterns change (e.g. Sahel is becoming hotter + drier) - Hotter weather: more evaporation than precipitation - El Nino: random weather event that reverses normal weather patterns (e.g. Australia has years of drought + then years of flood)

Human causes:
Overpopulation: too many people living in an area using too much water Overcultivation: planting too many crops which use up too much water Overextraction: removing too much water from wells so they dry up Deforestation: cutting down trees which otherwise store water + hold soil together Politics: fighting over water, or companies being greedy + taking too much water to then sell on

IMPACTS OF DROUGHT

ECONOMIC

ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL

Deaths as a consequence of drought

Of all drought-related disasters from 1975-2000, 98% of deaths occur in just three countries: Ethiopia, Sudan & Mozambique 1975-2000: +560000 deaths worldwide from drought disasters

Ethiopia drought
(Drought of 1984-1985 = 1million deaths) Causes = natural climatic causes (low precipitation), human causes (deforestation, desertification, overpopulation, overcultivation) GDP per capita $110, life expectancy 43yrs 2006 = affected 2.7million people UNICEF donated $50million to water aid projects Consequences = famine, migration, disease, 46% of cattle died, debt

Australia drought
Extremely low rainfall season (lowest rain since 1900) across southern Australia River Murray dried up in places Triggered by El Nino weather event causes excessively low rainfall Human causes = poor use of water resources Consequences: 6million sheep died in 2years, temporary migrations, improvements to water resource use, eventual floods!
2006

 1. 2. 3. 4.
5.

Mitigating Drought:
Crop based strategies: Land planning system Land Soil management techniques planning Crop management techniques systems: Integrated watershed management Some lands Other water management can only technique

Intercropping practices:

Intercropping refers to growing more than one crop in the same land area in rows of definite proportion and pattern.e.g: Sorghum and Pigeonpea Pearl millet and Pigeonpea Pearl millet and Cowpea Sunflower and Horsegram

sustain limited cultivation because they are prone to drought. These are best used for alternate uses rather than normal food grain crops.

Cowpea crop

Mungbean crop

Soil management techniques:

Crop management techniques:

Avoid growing of drought prone crops like maize, cotton etc.
Growing drought resistant grain crops like sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, fox tail millet etc.

Tillage during the off-season or 1. in pre-rainy season, helps with rain water intake by breaking the hard soil and making the soil 2. surface more permeable.

Plant density

Surface mulching:

keep optimum plant 2. Reduces water runoffs from the cropped fields. population and row spacing

1. Reduce water evaporation from soil

3. Adds organic matter to the soil and imporves soil quality.