Dry lands contribute 42% of the total food grain production of the country, out of
the 97 million farm holdings in India, about 76% come under dry land farming. Despite significant
improvements in the agriculture sector, as a country we struggle to be complacent with our dryland areas. In
Telangana, about 63% of the crops grown is rain-fed, making dryland agriculture a prime focus for the
Government. Dryland farmers suffer from low yields and crop losses due to poor resilience to climate
change, which has drastically affected this food system in the region.

Through this event RICH aims to promote an extensive community dialogue and empower collaborative
change to transform the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about dryland food systems.