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Improved rainfed farming for semiarid tropics-implications for soil and water conservation

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/4114/
 
Title Improved rainfed farming for semiarid tropics-implications for soil and water conservation
 
Creator Pathak, P
Miranda, S M
El-Swaify, S A
 
Subject Soil Science
 
Description Alfisols and Vertisols are major soil orders found in the semiarid
tropics. In most semiarid regions, the average annual rainfall would seem
to be enough to produce one or two crops per year; however, rainfall patterns
are erratic with frequent dry periods within the rainy season. The
uncertainties have kept farmers from investing substantially in the development
of the land resource base and in the use of high yielding varieties,
fertilizers, and other inputs (4). Increased population has resulted in a
need for fundamental changes in production systems. Shifting cultivation
is being replaced by permanent agriculture, and farmers' attempts to further
increase production have caused an extension of agriculture to marginal
lands subject to frequent crop failure, primarily because of inadequate
moisture. Intensified land use under existing systems may become
self-defeating because it results in increased runoff and soil erosion, reduced
groundwater recharge and downstream flooding of agricultural
lands. As a result, the land resource base is shrinking and its productive
capacity is diminishing. Thus, a scheme of resource management combining
effective conservation and utilization of soil and water with crop production
systems that maintain productivity and assure dependable harvest
is urgently required (5).
 
Publisher Soil Conservation Society of America
 
Date 1985
 
Type Book Section
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/4114/1/CP_156.pdf
Pathak, P and Miranda, S M and El-Swaify, S A (1985) Improved rainfed farming for semiarid tropics-implications for soil and water conservation. In: Soil erosion and conservation. Soil Conservation Society of America, Ankeny, Iowa , pp. 338-354. ISBN 09-357-34117