Amrita Rangaswami The drought periodicity chart that appears at the very beginning of the report of the Planning Commission's task force on the integrated agricultural development of drought-prone areas shows drought occurrence once in five years for eight regions (the major portion of the country), once in three for seven regions, and once in 25 years for arid Rajasthan. The report warns that "the country should be prepared for conditions of drought over large areas once in 4-5 years''.