Dryland Opportunities


Book Description

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.




Ecosystems and Human Well-being


Book Description

Ecosystems and Human Well-Being is the first product of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a four-year international work program designed to meet the needs of decisionmakers for scientific information on the links between ecosystem change and human well-being. The book offers an overview of the project, describing the conceptual framework that is being used, defining its scope, and providing a baseline of understanding that all participants need to move forward. The Millennium Assessment focuses on how humans have altered ecosystems, and how changes in ecosystem services have affected human well-being, how ecosystem changes may affect people in future decades, and what types of responses can be adopted at local, national, or global scales to improve ecosystem management and thereby contribute to human well-being and poverty alleviation. The program was launched by United National Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001, and the primary assessment reports will be released by Island Press in 2005. Leading scientists from more than 100 nations are conducting the assessment, which can aid countries, regions, or companies by: providing a clear, scientific picture of the current sta




Dryland Resources and Technology (Vol. 8)


Book Description

Drylands cover a vast area of earth. There is a growing awareness to have optimal exploitation of their resources and to ameliorate living conditions therein. This serial publication provides an international and multidisciplinary perspective of new ideas and technological developments relevant to drylands and their environment. Coverage widely includes topics such as natural resources, energy alternatives and applications; water management, resources development, desalination and usage (salinity, wastewater, etc.); land management and forestry; buildings and transporation; human and animal comfort; food and fodder; etc.




Geo-Informatics for Combating Land Degradation and Desertification


Book Description

’’Desertification’’ means land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. Combat Desertification advocates for the importance of inclusive cooperation to restore and rehabilitate degraded land and contribute towards achieving the overall Sustainable Development Goals. Land has been an overlooked component in sustainable development for years. Now, we view land as a vital link to provide solutions to cope with many other development challenges such as climate change, secure water and energy resources, promoting inclusive growth, and so on. It is widely accepted that satellite remote sensing and Geo-informatics system offers considerable advantages for land degradation and desertification assessments. With a comprehensive spatial coverage it is intrinsically synoptic, and provides objective, repetitive data which contribute to resource assessments and monitoring concepts of the process of desertification. However, if these observations can be coupled with GIS-based ecological modeling concepts, they may develop their full capacity to be used for modifying and adapting mitigation strategies.




Advances in Dryland Farming in the Inland Pacific Northwest


Book Description

The Pacific Northwest is an important wheat production region. In 2015, the National Agricultural Statistics Service indicated that Washington, Idaho, and Oregon harvested more than 240 million bushels of wheat, worth an estimated $1.3 billion. The major areas of production in the inland Pacific Northwest include three major land resource areas with distinctive geologic features and soils as defined by the US Department of Agriculture: the Columbia Basin, the Columbia Plateau, and the Palouse and Nez Perce Prairies, all of which are within the Northwestern Wheat and Range Region. It also includes a small portion of dryland cropping in the North Rocky Mountains major land resource area, adjacent to the eastern edge of the Palouse and Nez Perce Prairies. In the dryland areas, which are the focus of this book, wheat is grown in rotation with crop fallow and much smaller acreages of other small grains, legumes, and alternative crops. In light of ongoing and new challenges being faced by farmers in the region it is an opportune time to synthesize research-based advances in knowledge to support farmer decision-making and improve the long-term productive capacity of farmland in the region. This book should be viewed as a resource that launches further inquiry rather than an end point.




New Serial Titles


Book Description




Pastoral Nomadism in Arid Zones of India


Book Description

Contents: Introduction, Pastoral Nomadism in Arid Areas, Increasing Population Pressure and Pastoral Nomadism, Declining Grazing Resources and Pastoral Nomadism, Patterns of Pastoral Nomadism, Problems of Pastoral Nomadism, Summary and Conclusions.




Dryland Technology, 2nd Ed.


Book Description

This book, primarily designed to cater to the needs of undergraduate and post graduate students of Agricultural Engineering and Agriculture, research scholars, professionals and policy planners associated with dryland farming or rain fed farming covers major topics on land and water resources and their management aspects. Entire content has been divided into 22 chapters with solved examples and case studies. First 4 chapters are devoted mainly in explaining the basic dryland farming, dryland engineering, rainfall and water balance analysis and climate, weather forecasting with solved examples and case studies. 18 chapters on land and water resources management aspects, implements used in different field operations and also on storage, value addition of agricultural products, livelihood security of dryland farmers with communication facilities and resources centre and alternate landuse planning and Watershed Management. A sincere attempt has been made to compile and present the text in quickly understandable form. Well drawn diagrams, understanding the Dryland Technology and livelihood aspects of dryland farmers. This could be a good text book for undergraduate and post graduate students, a reference tool for professional and good teaching material for teachers in the field of land and water resources management under dryland ecosystem, and also for scientists working in the field of rain fed farming.




Artha Vijñāna


Book Description