New Technologies For Soil Reclamation And Desert Greenery

The papers assembled here cover topics such as technological advances in soil salinity mapping and monitoring, management and reclamation of salt-affected soils, use of marginal quality water for crop production, salt-tolerance mechanisms in plants, biosaline agriculture and agroforestry, microbiological interventions for marginal soils, opportunities and challenges in using marginal waters, and soil and water management in irrigated agriculture.

This book arises from a 2011 international conference entitled Climate Change, Agri-Food, Fisheries and Ecosystems: Reinventing Research, Innovation, and Policy Agendas for an Environmentally and Socially-Balanced Growth (ICCAFFE2011), organized by the North-South Center for Social Sciences (NRCS) in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany and the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), France. Coverage focuses on the agricultural sector and helps improve understanding of the relationships between agriculture and the environment and between human communities and nature, so as to sustainably manage agricultural development. The contributors analyze the interdependence between sustainable agricultural development and environmental, economic and social dynamics; assess the impacts of soil degradation on agricultural productivity; present ways to enhance livestock production and recommend mechanisms for managing links between agro-biodiversity, climate change and livelihoods. Part I examines sustainable agriculture development and environmental, economic and social dynamics, addressing topics such as global climate change, agriculture and challenges including socio-economic factors, adaptation, poverty reduction and water management. Part II covers the impacts of soil degradation on agricultural productivity and discusses the use of expert systems to assess and manage degraded lands, agricultural productivity, land suitability and rehabilitation. Part III focuses on livestock production enhancements, such as feed resources and supplemental feeds for animals and capacity building for women in dairy management. Part IV shares the outcomes of research in agro-biodiversity, climate change and livelihoods, addressing topics such as co-management of forests, carbon consumption models, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration and scarce mangrove forests. Current environmental and agro-ecological research focuses on understanding the cause-consequence relationships between specific agricultural practices and land use and the responses at different levels of ecosystems. This book is intended to contribute to this discussion.

Abiotic stresses are known to adversely impact agricultural productivity on millions of hectares globally, and it is projected that these problems are likely to increase, primarily due to anthropogenic interventions as well as climatic changes. Understanding abiotic stresses—especially salt stress on soil—calls for an interdisciplinary approach because salt-stressed soils need hydro-technical, chemical, and agronomic interventions as well as an understanding of plant response when exposed to these stresses. This volume explores and conveys the latest information on emerging technologies in the management of abiotic salt stress and their field applications. It brings together experts from various fields (academia, technology, and engineering) to provide the latest information and knowledge on this important challenge.

Climate change is a complex phenomenon with a wide range of impacts on the environment. Biotic and abiotic stress are a result of climate change. Abiotic stress is caused by primary and secondary stresses which are an impediment to plant productivity. Prolonged exposure to these stresses results in altered metabolism and damage to biomolecules. Plants evolve defense mechanisms to withstand these stresses, e.g. synthesis of osmolytes, osmoprotectants, and antioxidants. Stress responsive genes and gene products including expressed proteins are implicated in conferring tolerance to the plant. This volume will provide the reader with a wide spectrum of information, including vital references. It also provides information as to how phytoconstituents, hormones and plant associated microbes help the plants to tolerate the stress. This volume also highlights the use of plant resources for ameliorating soil contaminants such as heavy metals. Dr. Parvaiz is Assistant professor in Botany at A.S. College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. He has completed his post-graduation in Botany in 2000 from Jamia Hamdard New Delhi India. After his Ph.D from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, India in 2007 he joined the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi. He has published more than 20 research papers in peer reviewed journals and 4 book chapters. He has also edited a volume which is in press with Studium Press Pvt. India Ltd., New Delhi, India. Dr. Parvaiz is actively engaged in studying the molecular and physio-biochemical responses of different plants (mulberry, pea, Indian mustard) under environmental stress. Prof. M.N.V. Prasad is a Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Hyderabad, India. He received B.Sc. (1973) and M.Sc. (1975) degrees from Andhra University, India, and the Ph.D. degree (1979) in botany from the University of Lucknow, India. Prasad had published 216 articles in peer reviewed journals and 82 book chapters and conference proceedings in the broad area of environmental botany and heavy metal stress in plants. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor for eight books. He is the recipient of Pitamber Pant national Environment Fellowship of 2007 awarded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

"Remote Sensing of Urban and Suburban Areas" provides instructors with a text reference that has a logical and easy-to-follow flow of topics around which they can structure the syllabi of their urban remote sensing courses. Topics have been chosen to bridge the gap between remote sensing and urban studies through a better understanding of the science that underlies both fields. In so doing, the book includes 17 chapters written by leading international experts in respected fields to provide a balanced coverage of fundamental issues in both remote sensing and urban studies. Emphasis is placed on: theoretical and practical issues in contemporary urban studies and remote sensing; the spectral, spatial and temporal requirements of remotely sensed data in relation to various urban phenomena; methods and techniques for analyzing and integrating remotely sensed data and image processing with geographic information systems to address urban problems; and examples of applications in which applying remote sensing to tackle urban problems is deemed useful and important.

Soil contamination represents a serious environmental problem and requires an immediate action plan to be prepared for typical and emergent contaminants. This book provides an overview of some remediation technologies, both traditional and emergent, as well as case studies based on the contribution from academia and service providers. Several soil and groundwater remediation technologies such as electrokinetic remediation, biological treatments (including phytoremediation), and chemical remediation are presented. Innovative technologies such as nanoremediation and the application of life cycle assessment as a decision tool for soil remediation technologies are also considered in this book. This book serves as a reference source for soil remediation as it includes applications, technologies, and valuable tools that can help in decision making during remediation actions. It can be used by students, researchers, service providers, and industry practitioners.

Sustainable development is the key for the survival in 21st century. The natural resources are finite and cannot be used with impunity because we are the custodian of these resources and have responsibility to pass these to the next generation. This monumental task requires several major commitments and most important of them is to arrest population explosion which has already reached seven billion. Natural resources like air to breath, food to eat, and water to drink, and fossil fuel to maintain this life style are being overexploited. Unrestrained consuming culture will accelerate undesired situation. This situation will have more dire consequences in resource limited ecosystems like dry lands. Given the severe scarcity of water, ever increasing population and soil salinization out of the box solutions for the provision of food and clean energy is required to spare meager fresh water resources for conventional agriculture. This volume contains a number of articles dealing with halophyte ecology, bio-geography, ecophysiology, hyper-saline soils, biofuels, biosaline agriculture, biosaline landscaping, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity. It also contains the communication of innovative ideas, such as the research into floating mangroves, seagrass terraces, as well as a World Halophyte Garden containing all known salt-tolerant plant species. It is hoped that the information provided will not only advance vegetation science, but that it will truly generate more interdisciplinarity, networking, awareness, and inspire farmers, and agricultural and landscaping stakeholders to seriously engage in halophyte cash crop production in coastal hyper-saline areas.