Land Use Diversification for Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture

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Rainfed agriculture has a distinct place in Indian agriculture, occupying 68 per cent of the total cultivated area and supporting 40 per cent of human and 60 per cent of livestock population. Agriculture in rainfed areas continues to be a gamble because farmers in the rainfed region face many uncertainties. In the light of growing population and demand to increase the food production especially in the developing countries with arid and csemi-arid climate, this book mainly focuses on the land use diversification involving multi-disciplinary approaches for sustainability in the rainfed regions. The present book consists of twenty-three articles in all by experts from various Central & State Government Organisations, Agricultural Universities and Research Organisations concerned with rainfed agriculture. These articles, covering various aspects of Land Use Diversification for Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture, have been arranged into five sections: (a) Diversification: Need of the Hour, (b) Natural Resources Dynamics, (c) Alternate Land Uses, (d)xC2; Case Studies, and (e) Capacity Building. Each of the articles is highly informative and it is hoped that this book will give an interesting insight into the varied rainfed agriculture related problems in India. It highlights the possible measures--sustainable management of land and water resources, land use diversification, alternate land uses based on climate, soil and crop suitability, etc.--that would help increase the cropland as well as crop and fodder production in rainfed areas. The present book enriched with selected case studies will be particularly useful for students, teachers, researchers and scientists working in the area of rainfed agriculture and agricultural planning for sustainable development.

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K.D. Sharma, Ph.D. from IIT, Bombay, is the Director of National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee. Also, he is aVisiting Fellow to Chinese Academy of Sciences in Soil Erosion Research and to Winand Staring Centre, The Netherlands in Satellite Hydrology. A recipient of several national and international awards, Dr. Sharma is an author of great repute.***B. Soni, Ph.D. from IIT, Kharagpur, is Scientist. F and Head of Agricultural Hydrology Division at National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee. He accomplished his Post-Doctoral studies in Irrigation & Water Resources Management under the Austrian Govt. Fellowship and his advanced courses related to Water Resources Systems Engineering from Colorado State University, USA.