The comprehensive and compact presentation in this book is the perfect format for a resource/textbook for undergraduate students in the areas of Agricultural Engineering, Biological Systems Engineering, Bio-Science Engineering, Water Resource Engineering, and Civil & Environmental Engineering. This book will also serve as a reference manual for researchers and extension workers in such diverse fields as agricultural engineering, agronomy, ecology, hydrology, and meteorology.

The comprehensive and compact presentation in this book is the perfect format for a resource/textbook for undergraduate students in the areas of Agricultural Engineering, Biological Systems Engineering, Bio-Science Engineering, Water Resource Engineering, and Civil & Environmental Engineering. This book will also serve as a reference manual for researchers and extension workers in such diverse fields as agricultural engineering, agronomy, ecology, hydrology, and meteorology.

This report contains a collection of papers from a workshopâ€"Strengthening Science-Based Decision-Making for Sustainable Management of Scarce Water Resources for Agricultural Production, held in Tunisia. Participants, including scientists, decision makers, representatives of non-profit organizations, and a farmer, came from the United States and several countries in North Africa and the Middle East. The papers examined constraints to agricultural production as it relates to water scarcity; focusing on 1) the state of the science regarding water management for agricultural purposes in the Middle East and North Africa 2) how science can be applied to better manage existing water supplies to optimize the domestic production of food and fiber. The cross-cutting themes of the workshop were the elements or principles of science-based decision making, the role of the scientific community in ensuring that science is an integral part of the decision making process, and ways to improve communications between scientists and decision makers.

Water is critical to all human activities, but access to this crucial resource is increasingly limited by competition and the effects of climate change. In agriculture, water management is key to ensuring good and sustained crop yields, maintaining soil health, and safeguarding the long-term viability of the land. Water management is especially challenging on smallholder farms in resource-poor areas, which tend to be primarily rainfed and thus highly dependent on unreliable rainfall patterns. Sustainable practices can help farmers promote the development of soils, plants and field surfaces to allow maximum retention of water between rains, and encourage the efficient use of each drop of water applied as irrigation. Especially useful for farmers' groups, agricultural extension workers, NGOs, students and researchers working with farmers in dryland areas, this comprehensive yet concise book is a practical and accessible resource for anyone interested in sustainable water management.

In many countries irrigated agriculture consumes a large proportion of the available water resources, often over 70% of the total. There is considerable pressure to release water for other uses and, as a sector, irrigated agriculture will have to increase the efficiency and productivity of its water use. This is particularly true for manually operated irrigation systems managed by government agencies, which provide water for a large number of users on small landholdings and represent 60% of the total irrigated area worldwide. Drawing on the author's 30 years of experience in some 28 countries, this book offers knowledge of the management of irrigation and drainage systems, including traditional technical areas of systems operation and maintenance, and expanding managerial, institutional and organizational aspects. Chapters provide guidelines to improve management, operation and maintenance processes, which move management thinking out of traditional public-sector mindsets to a more customer-focused, performance-oriented service delivery. As a practical guide to improve efficiency and productivity in irrigated agriculture, this book will be essential reading for irrigation managers and technicians as well as students and policy makers in water management, agriculture and sustainable development.

Management Strategies for Water Use Efficiency and Micro Irrigated Crops presents new research and technologies for making better use of water resources for agricultural purposes. The chapters focus on better management to improve allocation and irrigation water efficiency and look at performance factors as well. Chapters look at irrigation technology, environmental conditions, and scheduling of water application. One section of the book focuses on water management in the cultivation of sugarcane, a very important industrial crop used in many fields. Other sections are devoted to principles and challenging technologies, water use efficiency for drip-irrigated crops, performance of fertigated rice under micro irrigation, and evaluation of performance of drip-irrigated crops. This valuable book is a must for those struggling to find ways to address the need to maintain efficient crop production in the midst of water shortages. With chapters from hands-on experts in the field, the book will be an invaluable reference and guide to effective micro irrigation methods.

Conservation agriculture is a sustainable production model that not only optimizes crop yields, but also reaps economic and environmental benefits as well. The adoption of successful conservation agriculture methods has resulted in energy savings, higher organic matter content and biotic activity in soil, increased crop-water availability and thus resilience to drought, improved recharge of aquifers, less erosion, and reduced impacts from the weather associated with climate change in general. Applied Agricultural Practices for Mitigating Climate Change examines several important aspects of crop production, such as the use of microorganisms and biofertilizers as well as GIS and Remote Sensing applications. It presents the latest techniques in crop modeling, best practices for irrigation under water deficit conditions, and other approaches for sustainable conservation agriculture that consider the environmental effects of climate change. Features: Examines the effects of climate change on agriculture and the related strategies for mitigation through practical, real-world examples Explores innovative on-farm technology options to increase system efficiency resulting in improved water usage Presents examples of precision farming using climate-resilient technologies

Forages: The Science of Grassland Agriculture, 7th Edition, Volume II will extensively evaluate the current knowledge and information on forage agriculture. Chapters written by leading researchers and authorities in grassland agriculture are aggregated under section themes, each one representing a major topic within grassland science and agriculture. This 7th edition will include two new additional chapters covering all aspects of forage physiology in three separate chapters, instead of one in previous editions. Chapters will be updated throughout to include new information that has developed since the last edition. This new edition of the classic reference serves as a comprehensive supplement to An Introduction to Grassland Agriculture, Volume I.