Key facts

  • The arid western plain alone covers 4.74 million hectares in the Agriculture Department's agro-climatic zone frame.
  • In 2024-25, 53.02 per cent of Rajasthan's reporting area was net sown area, showing the large cultivated base of the state.
  • In 2023-24, Rajasthan contributed 41.34 per cent of India's bajra production and held first position in bajra.
  • In 2023-24, Rajasthan was first in rapeseed and mustard with 43.43 per cent of national production.
  • PMKSY began nationally on 1 July 2015 and supports assured irrigation, water-use efficiency, drip and sprinkler systems.

Key Points at a Glance

  1. 1

    Rajasthan's agriculture follows the official ten agro-climatic zones, where rainfall, soil, relief and irrigation decide crop choice.

  2. 2

    The arid western plain alone covers 4.74 million hectares in the Agriculture Department's agro-climatic zone frame.

  3. 3

    In 2024-25, 53.02 per cent of Rajasthan's reporting area was net sown area, showing the large cultivated base of the state.

  4. 4

    In 2023-24, Rajasthan contributed 41.34 per cent of India's bajra production and held first position in bajra.

  5. 5

    In 2023-24, Rajasthan was first in rapeseed and mustard with 43.43 per cent of national production.

  6. 6

    PMKSY began nationally on 1 July 2015 and supports assured irrigation, water-use efficiency, drip and sprinkler systems.

  7. 7

    PMFBY has been implemented since Kharif 2016, with farmer premium rates of 2 per cent for kharif food crops and oilseeds, 1.5 per cent for rabi crops and 5 per cent for annual commercial or horticultural crops.

  8. 8

    CAZRI, Jodhpur began as a desert afforestation station in 1952 and became the Central Arid Zone Research Institute in 1959.

PTI study hubView study packs

Agro-Climatic Base of Rajasthan Agriculture

Rajasthan cannot be read as one uniform desert farming region. The official ten agro-climatic zones divide the state by rainfall, soil type, topography and cropping pattern. This zone approach is useful for objective questions because the same crop may be common in one belt and exceptional in another. The arid western plain covers 4.74 million hectares and, in the official zone table, is tied to Barmer and part of Jodhpur; it depends on hardy kharif crops such as bajra, moth and sesame, while wheat, mustard and cumin appear where winter moisture or irrigation permits.

The irrigated north-western plain of Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh shows the opposite pattern: canal water allows cotton, wheat, mustard, guar and gram. The internal-drainage dry zone of Nagaur, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and parts of Churu favours bajra, guar, pulses, mustard and gram. The Luni basin around Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore and parts of Sirohi remains dryland-oriented, while eastern plains and the Hadoti belt add alluvial, flood-prone, humid and command-farming conditions.

Exam use: match district, season and water source before selecting the crop.

Open the complete note

This public page shows the first available section. The study pack opens the complete topic with all revision material.

7 more sections in the complete note

Open study pack