Rainfed agriculture plays an important role in Indian economy. In India 68 percent of total net sown area (136.8m.ha) comes under rainfed which spread over in 177 districts. Rainfed crops account for 48 per cent area under food crops and 68 per cent area under non-food crops. Nearly 50 percent of the total rural workforce and 60 percent of livestock in the country are concentrated in the dry districts. In Tamil Nadu, out of 7 m.ha cultivable area, 3.1 m.ha comes under rainfed agriculture. Besides the above-mentioned facts related to economic importance, rainfed farming is also important for the nation in terms of bio diversity and nutrition.

As the growth of irrigated agriculture has reached a plateau and the ground water sources are dwindling very fast, future lies with rainfed agriculture. Further, enhancing food security of the nation itself would depend a lot on enhancing rainfed farming in the long run. The issues faced by rainfed farmers due to disasters like drought are very difficult to manage. The complexity of issue gets multiplied due to emerging trends like climate change. There is a need for identifying and understanding various disasters faced by the rainfed farmers of and their attempts to evolve an effective model of disaster preparedness relevant to the agro-ecological and socio economic setting.

In Tuticorin district, most of the families depend on rainfed farming for their livelihood, especially in and around of Malaipatti village of Ottapidaram block. When compared to other farmers, the rainfed farmers of Malaipatti village face additional vulnerabilities due to lack of basic infrastructure related to transport, communication, inadequate access to many state services, sub-optimally developed financial markets, inadequate linkages to market, inadequate opportunities of diversification into non-farm economy and the resulting poverty situation.

• Understanding the cropping system followed in the black cotton soils of Tuticorin district.
• Understanding natural calamities such as drought and flood, which affects the crop yield in the rainfed areas of Tuticorin district.
• Documenting the drought mitigation strategies and coping mechanisms of the community.
• Identifying buffer activities to mitigate the drought and implementing trough farmers organisation.

• A report on various disasters faced by the rainfed farmers of Malaipatti village, various measures adopted by the farmers to manage the negative impact of various disasters, the gaps in these measures and details of an effective model of disaster preparedness relevant to the agro-ecological and socio economic setting.