Agriculture: More Water and Better Farming for Improved Food Security (original) (raw)
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Dryland agriculture research issues
2006
One section of this monograph described the diversity of dryland cropping systems of the world in terms of their environments and constraints. Common managemen t themes which emerged from the various chapters include weather variability, crop diversity, tillage, erosion, and preservation of soil organic matter and nutrients. This chapter briefly summarizes these themes in relation to dryland agriculture and long-termsustainahilitY.
Rainfed Agriculture in India extends over 91.5 million ha across diverse agro-climates, ecological situations and socio-economics settings. In order to address the location-specific problems, the All India coordinated research Project on Dryland Agriculture (AICRPDA) initiated research on rainfed agriculture with 22 network centers and 8 Operational Research Projects (ORPs) for the last three decades. This project is continuing the efforts to generate site-specific technologies in the areas of rainwater management, soil and water conservation, cropping systems, drought tolerant varieties, integrated nutrient, pest and energy management strategies, alternate land use options and farming systems for stabilized productivity and income. In addition, the ORPs located in different environments are involved in participatory development and evaluation of the rainfed technologies for wider adoption.
Improved Crop Productivity for Africa’s Drylands
2016
World Bank Studies are published to communicate the results of the Bank's work to the development community with the least possible delay. The manuscript of this book therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formally edited texts. This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved.
2000
Dryland agriculture under rainfed conditions is found mainly in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. In the harsh environments of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and West Asia and North Africa (WANA), water is the principal factor limiting crop yield. A review has been carried out on soil and crop management research that can increase the water use efficiency. The WANA production systems are dominated by cereals, primarily wheat in the wetter and barley in the drier areas, in rotation with mainly food legumes such as chickpea, lentil and forage legumes. The SSA production systems are generally characterized by cereal! legume mixed-cropping dominated by maize, millet, sorghum, and wheat. The major constraints in both regions to crop production are low soil fertility, insecure rainfall, low-productive genotypes, low adoption of improved soil and crop management practices, and lack of appropriate institutional support. Different cropping systems and accompanying technologies are discussed as well as selected examples of impact of these technologies. Results indicate that there is an advantage to apply these technologies but being function of socioeconomic and bio-physical conditions. It is recommended that future research focuses on integrated technology development while taking into account also different levels of scale such as field, village, and watershed.
Problem and Solution for the Dryland Agriculture in India.pdf
Dryland agriculture is the practice of crop production entirely with rain-water received during the crop season and on conserved soil moisture in low rainfall areas of arid and semi-arid climates and the crop may face mild to very severe moisture stress during their life cycle. Dry land agriculture is characterized by some points, viz. Rainfall limited (less than 800 mm), less Crop growing season (less than 200 days), low availability of moisture Concentration, monocropping System (intercropping system), and high constrains of wind and water erosion.
JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURE, 2014
Drylands which cover one third of the earth’s land surface and almost 80% of Kenya’s land surface are being used to grow dryland crops such as maize, beans, sorghum, millets and livestock. Studies show that refined farming systems can be used in enhancing ecosystem sustainability, through the promotion of species and crop diversity. For example, cropping patterns involving intercropping legumes and cereals have demonstrated varying success in maintenance of crop diversity in the Kenyan drylands showing land equivalent ratios (LER) > 1.0, although such benefits are often lost during low rainfall seasons. Research show that some genotypes can be used to reduce soil erosion, enhance nutrient availability, soil moisture retention, microbial earthworm activities and land use efficiency. Thus critical examination of farming systems for dryland areas suggests that long term multiple effects of the ecosystem, rather than the short term benefits not only increases yields but sustains the ...
Opportunities and Challenges of Irrigated Crop Production in Dry Land Areas. Review
International Journal of African and Asian Studies, 2021
Irrigation development is very much needed in developing countries as it enhances land, water and labour productivity and improves use of agricultural inputs. Irrigated agriculture shows significant improvement over rainfed agriculture productivity it provides improved resilience against climate variability improves food security and enhances intensification. Also, with a depleting resource base and with stagnating productivity in irrigated areas, improving the productivity of dryland agriculture is necessary to maintain food security at the national scale.To improve the conditions for agricultural production, investments are needed in soil and water conservation to improve soil fertility, increase soil moisture and allow for supplemental irrigation in critical stages of growth.Generally, over 40 percent of the world area is categorized as dry-land developing countries where its accommodate 2.3 billion people mostly in Africa and Asia, and in these regions about one billion people rely on dry-land ecosystem services through rain-fed, irrigated farming and pastoralism. Dry-land areas are categorized by a scarcity of water, which has an impact on food production. Efficiency in irrigation system would help food production sustain especially in dry-land developing countries. Improvement in irrigation could be extended over an additional 110 million ha in dry-land developing countries, producing enough grain for millions of people where more than half of future increases in crop production are expected to come from irrigated land. There are two types of known irrigation systems, namely large-scale and small-scale irrigation. Most of the dryland developing countries are engaging in small-scale irrigation systems, as they are more affordable than those of large-scale systems, but are still capable of increasing food production. Water harvesting is one of the small-scale techniques of collecting runoff rain water for irrigation purposes and has significantly improved both the yield and reliability of agricultural production. The objective of this review is to examine the Opportunities and challenges of irrigated crop production in dry land developing countries. Ethiopia's dryland agriculture is a high-risk, low-input enterprise for resource-poor farmers, who frequently use poor quality seed, inadequate and imbalanced fertilizers, and poor crop management practices. Consequently, crop yields are much below their demonstrated achievable potentials. Remedial measures for improving crop productivity include effective rainwater harvesting, land consolidation, improved credit facilities, better soil and water conservation, use of good quality seed, balanced nutrient management, and weed control.