The importance of rainfed areas and animal agriculture on productivity enhancement and food security for economic rural growth in Asia is discussed in the context of opportunities for increasing potential contribution from them. The extent of the rainfed area of about 223 million hectares and the biophysical attributes are described. They have been variously referred to inter alia as fragile, m...

Interspecific interactions and recovery growth play an important role in crop growth, development ultimately yield intercropping systems. However, the impact of different water nitrogen levels on production, interspecific between intercrops, late-maturing crops is still unclear. A two-year field experiment was conducted Yangling, Shaanxi province, to investigate dynamics interactions, effects y...

The problem of concern in this project is that in the dry season following a lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) crop, yields of post-rice crops are generally low, despite adequate water commonly being available in the soil pro®le to grow a potentially high yielding dry season (DS) crop without irrigation. Maize (Zea mays L.) yields are as low as 1 Mg haÿ1 or less, soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and...

Traditional agriculture in rainfed uplands of India has been experiencing low agricultural productivity as the lands suffer from poor soil fertility, susceptibility to water erosion and other external pressures of development and climate change. A shift toward more sustainable cropping systems such as conservation agriculture production systems (CAPSs) may help in maintaining soil quality as we...

Many sustainable agronomical practices can be adopted to contain environmental risks of crop production and, at the same time, sustain yield and quality. In this framework, the aim of this research was to study the effects of continuous cropping (CC) and crop rotation, tillage and fertilization strategies on durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) production. The responses of soil properties we...

Emphasis and interest in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage (sequestration) in soils has greatly increased in the last few years, especially C with its’ potential to help alleviate or offset some of the negative effects of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Several questions still exist with regard to what management practices optimize C storage in the soil profile. A long-ter...

in the vast rainfed regions, diminishing returns from the public irrigation systems, climate change induced chaotic fluctuations in the hydrologic regimes and a large demand-supply gap in non-cereal food items are all compelling reasons for the need to realise the production potential of rainfed farming areas. Little control over the rainfall and absence of suitable mechanisms for storing or co...