Challenges and Strategies of Dryland Agriculture

Challenges and Strategies of Dryland Agriculture
Author: S.C. Rao
Publisher: Scientific Publishers
Total Pages: 458
Release: 2011-01-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9387991091

The world has made remarkable progress in maintaining adequate food supplies during the past quarter century by introducing yield-increasing technologies such as better genetics, crop protection products, and more efficient use of fertilizers and irrigations. Far more people depend on irrigation in the modern world than during the times of ancient Sumeria. The spread of irrigation has been the key factor in increasing global crop yields. But future scarcity present the single biggest threat to future food production. The shift of water from agriculture to the growing cities and industry almost certainly will impact global food production. This means that dryland agriculture will be increasingly important in meeting food requirement for the growing population. Advaces in plant genetics and agronomic conservation technologies, when considered in concert, continue to provide the greatest opportunities to achieve sustainability and profitability in dryland agriculture and will continue to be the focus of the ARS research program. The ARS is please to join the crop Science Society of America and international center for Agriculture Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) in sponsoring a symposium “Challenges and strategies for Dryland Agriculture” at the Trisocieties Annual Meeting in November 2002 at Indianapolis, IN. This special publication contains an impressive series of paper by international group of experts on dryland agricultural production, conservation, and policy. The principles, philosophies, and technologies presented in this publication have the potential to contribute to improve food security and livelihoods for the people in dryland regions of the world.

Challenges and Strategies for Dryland Agriculture

Challenges and Strategies for Dryland Agriculture
Author: Srinivas C. Rao
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004
Genre: Arid regions agriculture
ISBN: 9789990938517

Papers presented at the Symposium: Challenges and Strategies for Dryland Agriculture, held at Indianapolis in November 2002.

Dryland Opportunities

Dryland Opportunities
Author: Michael Mortimore
Publisher: World Conservation Union
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Drylands cover 41 percent of the earth' s terrestrial surface. The urgency of and international response to climate change have given a new place to drylands in terms both of their vulnerability to predicted climate change impacts and their potential contribution to climate change mitigation. This book aims to apply the new scientific insights on complex dryland systems to practical options for development. A new dryland paradigm is built on the resources and capacities of dryland peoples, on new and emergent economic opportunities, on inward investment, and on the best support that dryland science can offer.

Innovations in Dryland Agriculture

Innovations in Dryland Agriculture
Author: Muhammad Farooq
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 574
Release: 2017-01-05
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3319479288

This book is a ready reference on recent innovations in dryland agriculture and reinforces the understanding for its utilization to develop environmentally sustainable and profitable food production systems. It covers the basic concepts and history, components and elements, breeding and modelling efforts, and potential benefits, experiences, challenges and innovations relevant to agriculture in dryland areas around world.

Conservation Agriculture

Conservation Agriculture
Author: Ram A. Jat
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2013-12-13
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1780642598

The book covers the spread of conservation agriculture (CA) to regions including Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Australia, Europe and emerging CA destinations in Asia and Africa. ÿTopics covered include the various components of CA, and how their individual and combined implementation influence productivity, soil health and environmental quality under diverse edaphic and climatic conditions. The book will be useful to teachers, researchers, extensionists, farmers, and students interested in environmental quality.

Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems

Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems
Author: Rattan Lal
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 571
Release: 2013-06-10
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1466513462

With the use of high-level soil management technology, Africa could feed several billion people, yet food production has generally stagnated since the 1960s. No matter how powerful the seed technology, the seedling emerging from it can flourish only in a healthy soil. Accordingly, crop yields in Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean could be doubled or tripled through adoption of technologies based on laws of sustainable soil management. Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems describes the application of these laws to enhance ecosystem services while restoring degraded soils and promoting sustainable use. With chapters contributed by world-class soil scientists, ecologists, and social scientists, this book outlines critical changes in management of agricultural soils necessary to achieve food security and meet the food demands of the present and projected future population. These changes include conversion to no-till and conservation agriculture; adoption of strategies of integrated nutrient management, water harvesting, and use of drip sub-irrigation; complex cropping/farming systems such as cover cropping and agroforestry; and use of nano-enhanced fertilizers. The book is based on the premise that it is not possible to extract more from a soil than what is put into it without degrading its quality. The strategy is to replace what is removed, respond wisely to what is changed, and be pro-active to what may happen because of natural and anthropogenic perturbations. The chapters, which exemplify these ideas, cover a range of topics including organic farming, soil fertility, crop-symbiotic soil microbiota, human-driven soil degradation, soil degradation and restoration, carbon sink capacity of soils, soil renewal and sustainability, and the marginality principle.

Rainfed Agriculture

Rainfed Agriculture
Author: Suhas Pralhad Wani
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1845933893

This book, which contains 14 chapters, covers all aspects of rainfed agriculture, starting with its potential, current status, rainwater harvesting and supplementary irrigation, to policies, approaches, institutions for upscaling, and impacts of integrated water management programmes in rainfed areas.