Soil And Water Conservation In Semi Arid Areas

The problems of agriculture in the semi-arid regions; Assessing the possibilities for improving agriculture; Soil conservation; Water conservation; Water harvesting and use; Applications of water conservation.

In this volume, the erosion and conservation measures discussed are, for the most part, those under unirrigated agriculture. The use of irrigation could cause significant changes in the growing seasons, and in the agricultural calendar, especially in the warmer climates where temperature is not a limiting factor. It is further noted that much of the material in this volume has been prepared with the developing countries of the so-called Third World in mind. In many of these countries there is a dearth of basic data, such as long-term hydrological records, detailed soil and topographic surveys, and experimental results for various types of erosion control measures. Some design procedures cannot be imitated or copied directly from those of the technologically more advanced countries. Consequently, emphasis will be placed, wherever possible, upon simple empirical methods of design, and approximate solutions within the limitations of the available data, technical possibilities, and financial resources of the Third World countries. Much of the numerical data and calculations will be presented in the metric system.

Watershed management. Human resource development and traditional technologies of conservation. Peoples's participation in conservation programme. Resource management and tillage. Rehabilitation of degraded lands. Agroforestry and biodiversity in relation to conservation. Economic evaluation and politics.

Have agricultural management efforts begun in the desperation of the Dust Bowl brought us to where we need to be tomorrow? Questions about the environmental footprint of farming make this book required reading. Approximately 62% of the total U.S. land area is used for agriculture, and this land also provides critical ecosystem functions. Authors from each region of the continental United States describe the progress of soil and water conservation to date and visualize how agricultural production practices must change in future years to address the newest challenges.

Human needs like food and clean water are directly related to good maintenance of healthy and productive soils. A good understanding of human impact on the natural environment is therefore necessary to preserve and manage soil and water resources. This knowledge is particularly important in semi-arid and arid regions, where the increasing demands on limited water supplies require urgent efforts to improve water quality and water use efficiency. It is important to keep in mind that both soil and water are limited resources. Thus, wise use of these natural resources is a fundamental prerequisite for the sustainability of human societies. This book collects 15 original scientific contributions addressing the state of the art of soil and water conservation research. Contributions cover a wide range of topics, including (1) recovery of soil hydraulic properties; (2) erosion risk; (3) novel modeling, monitoring and experimental approaches for soil hydraulic characterization; (4) improvement of crop yields; (5) water availability; and (6) soil salinity. This collection provides more insights into conservation strategies for effective and sustainable soil and water management.

This publication contains guidelines to sustain irrigated agriculture and protect water resources from the negative impacts of agricultural drainage water disposal. Using case studies from Central Asia, Egypt, India, Pakistan and the US, this study highlights four broad groups of drainage water management options and provides information to enable assessment of their impact and contribution towards development goals and to facilitate the preparation of drainage water management plans and designs. The options are: water conservation, drainage water re-use, drainage water disposal and drainage water treatment. The full texts of the case studies can be found on the attached CD-ROM.