A substantial part of this area (15 million ha) remains fallow during the rabi (post-rainy) season, primarily due to limited soil moisture availability in the topsoil layer for crop establishment (Subbarao eta!., Paddy fallow is the land used to grow paddy in the kharif season but is left uncropped during the following rabi season. Since paddy is grown on some of the most productive lands in this region, there is scope for increasing the cropping intensity by introducing a second crop during the rabi season using appropriate technologies. In South Asia, there are approximately 15 million ha of paddy fallow, which is nearly 30 percent of the paddy growing area.