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Advances in development of potato varieties resistant to abiotic stress
Abiotic stresses namely drought, salinity, high or low temperature, submergence, nutrient deficiency and so forth have an impact on potato yields. These suboptimal conditions restrict potato plant performance so that the plants do not reach their full genetic potential. This chapter examines diff...
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Organic cocoa cultivation
The last two decades have witnessed a dramatically increased demand for organically produced goods. As a crop, cocoa can be grown successfully using organic methods, and demand for organic chocolate has risen in line with the overall growth in the organic market. This chapter offers a summary of ...
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The potential of somatic embryogenesis for commercial-scale propagation of elite cacao varieties
Plant tissue culture can be used to speed up the development and deployment of genetically improved genotypes. Research conducted by multiple groups for over 25 years has led to the development of protocols for efficient somatic embryogenesis (SE) of cacao. This chapter provides a synthesis of pu...
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Climate change and cocoa cultivation
Climate change has been projected to impact cocoa production unless cultivation practices are adapted. Guiding effective adaptation is a challenging task because of the high model uncertainty for precipitation which is a vital consideration for cocoa producers. We focus on identifying preconditio...
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Potato production and breeding in china
China is the largest potato producer in the world, accounting for a quarter of total global production. The potato has become the fourth most important food crop in China, following corn, rice and wheat. The development of the potato industry has significantly helped to alleviate poverty, improve...
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Advances in pest- and disease-resistant cocoa varieties
Plant-parasitic nematodes cause cocoa yield losses, a sudden death of trees and retardation of seedling growth in nurseries. This chapter explains the hidden nature and the masking effects of these nematodes and how these have led to erroneous control measures. The chapter describes the nematode ...
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Supporting smallholder women farmers in potato cultivation
As the importance of potato cultivation among smallholder farmers increases, it is clear that women farmers have a vital role to play in shaping and maximising this growth, safeguarding potatoes as a primary food security crop. The present chapter offers a summary of the current state of potato c...
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Improving the breeding, cultivation and use of sweetpotato in africa
Sweetpotato is a low-input crop with significant potential for improving public health and nutrition and developing food security in sub-Saharan Africa. This chapter examines the nutritional contribution made by OFSP (orange-fleshed sweetpotato) in poor rural communities in Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria...
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Cocoa plant propagation techniques to supply farmers with improved planting materials
The availability of high-performance planting materials to cocoa farmers is an important part of a package of measures to improve the productivity of cocoa farms and thus the sustainability of the cocoa economy. This chapter reviews the methods, advantages and challenges of techniques of mass pro...
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Developing new sweet potato varieties with improved performance
Novel sweet potato varieties with improved traits are needed, especially for marginal lands and disease-prone regions. However, the high degree of heterozygosity, high levels of male sterility, and self- and interspecific incompatibility of the sweet potato plant results in strong segregation of ...
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Ensuring the genetic diversity of potatoes
Preserving genetic diversity lies at the heart of improvements in breeding and resilience in potato cultivation. This chapter discusses the challenges, opportunities and recent accomplishments of potato gene banks in the areas of acquisition, classification, preservation, evaluation and distribut...
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Improving best practice with regard to pesticide use in cocoa
Consumer concerns about food safety have been translated into policy in consuming countries, including pesticide residues in cocoa. Such policy changes have an impact on cocoa producers and other supply chain stakeholders, as they have to comply with legislation or risk losing lucrative markets. ...
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Improving soil and nutrient management for cacao cultivation
The results of early fertiliser trials on cacao showed that phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) always had positive effects, along with variable effects from calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg). The variability of yield responses to nutrients pointed to the need to link the nutrients with each other or ...
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Cocoa diseases: witches' broom
Witches' broom, caused by the hemibiotrophic basidiomycete Moniliophthora perniciosa, is one of the most important cocoa diseases. The pathogen co-evolved with cocoa in the Amazon River basin and is currently restricted to South and Central America. Other cocoa-producing regions of the world are ...
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Analysis and design of the shade canopy of cocoa-based agroforestry systems
Cocoa-based agroforestry (AF) systems are a conspicuous element of agricultural landscapes worldwide. Shade canopy analysis and design is a key component of crop husbandry, and requires a good understanding of the interactions, synergies and trade-offs between shade, yield and environmental servi...
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Advances in conventional potato-breeding techniques
Potato is highly heterozygous. In order to maintain productivity, improved potato varieties are therefore developed by inter-mating desired parental lines and selecting superior clones from the progeny. Since potato is vegetatively propagated, any selected genotype can be fixed with all its intra...
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Advances in understanding potato plant physiology and growth
Potato physiology determines how genetically-encoded developmental attributes interact with local environmental conditions, as modified through agricultural practice, to produce the final crop. This chapter highlights how physiological responses of potato to management choices made by growers and...
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Developing early-maturing and stress-resistant potato varieties
Asian countries with a cereal-based cropping system face a tremendous food security challenge to feed their 4.3 billion people. Potato, being a complete food, can be a valid alternative. This chapter describes the selection of germplasm and traits for breeding early-maturing varieties of potato, ...
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Nematode pests of cocoa
Plant-parasitic nematodes cause cocoa yield losses, a sudden death of trees and retardation of seedling growth in nurseries. This chapter explains the hidden nature and the masking effects of these nematodes and how these have led to erroneous control measures. The chapter describes the nematode ...
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Developments in cacao breeding programmes in africa and the americas
This chapter explores the main developments in cacao breeding programmes in Trinidad, Brazil, Ecuador and Costa Rica in the Americas; and Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon in Africa. The different types of commercial cacao cultivars and breeding programme objectives are described. Heterosi...
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Cocoa sustainability initiatives: the impacts of cocoa sustainability initiatives in west africa
Sustainability initiatives, including associations, platforms and networks, voluntary sustainability standards, corporate and non-governmental and civil society initiatives, have all been developed as solutions to the multiple, long-running challenges facing cocoa growers and producers. Largely i...
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Understanding ageing processes in seed potatoes
The physiological quality of seed tubers is very important for the performance of the crop grown from them, and interacts strongly with seed tuber size. Physiological quality consists of two components: dormancy and physiological age. This chapter reviews the conditions which influence both dorma...
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Conserving and exploiting cocoa genetic resources: the key challenges
The future of the world cocoa economy depends on the availability of genetic diversity and the sustainable use of this broad genetic base to breed improved varieties. Decreasing cacao genetic diversity (in situ, on-farm and conserved in collections) is a serious problem, and all its many causes n...
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The role of gene banks in preserving the genetic diversity of cacao
Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important tree crop for millions of farmers and for the multi-billion dollar chocolate industry but is derived from a limited genetic diversity. The centre of diversity of cacao is being deforested, thereby increasing genetic erosion, but fortunately a wealth of g...
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Improving potato cultivation to promote food self-sufficiency in africa
Demand for potato in sub-Saharan Africa is growing, but the projected growth in demand is not matched by the projected growth rate in local potato production. An interplay of factors ensure the production gains achieved are small and slow. This chapter reviews the current state of potato producti...
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Taxonomy and classification of cacao
Theobroma cacao is one of the most important cash crops in the world and is native to the tropical, humid forests of South America. This chapter discusses its origin and the taxonomy and classification of the varieties of Theobroma. It then reviews the characteristics of the three general groups ...
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Frosty pod rot, caused by moniliophthora roreri
Frosty pod rot (FPR) of cacao (Theobroma cacao) is caused by Moniliophthora roreri. FPR commonly can reduce yields by over 80% and is extremely difficult to manage. This chapter reviews the origins, spread and impact of Moniliophthora roreri. It also discusses methods for managing FPR, from strat...
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The economics of soil health
Soil health management practices and systems can be important tools for farmers to realize on-farm benefits associated with decreased erosion, improved levels of soil organic matter and improved soil structure and function. This chapter describes existing research on the economics of soil health ...
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Soil health assessment and maintenance in central and south-central brazil
Brazil has evolved from a food-insecure country in the early 1970s to one of the most important food producers and exporters in the world. Production has increased steadily and productivity gains have fostered a significant land-saving effect. However, wide variations in the landscape, soils, cli...
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Use of cover crops to promote soil health
Several principles are recommended for improving soil health, including keeping the soil covered, providing living roots as much of the year as possible, increasing biodiversity and reducing disturbance of the soil. Cover crops contribute to achieving all of these principles. In addition to their...
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Maintaining soil health in africa
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has a wide variety of natural ecosystem resources, including soils, vegetation, water and genetic diversity. However, land degradation in SSA is intensifying at an alarming rate, and this region has the lowest agriculture and livestock yields of any region in the world. T...
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Soil ecosystem services: an overview
Ecosystem services provided by soil can be supporting (e.g. providing primary production and biodiversity) or regulatory (e.g. erosion control, water infiltration, nutrient retention, atmospheric gas regulation and pest control). This chapter explains how ecosystem services benefit human welfare ...
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The role of soil fauna in soil health and delivery of ecosystem services
Soil fauna includes microscopic organisms such as nematodes (microfauna), mites and springtails (mesofauna), up to larger invertebrates such as worms, spiders, ants, termites and beetles (macrofauna) and vertebrates (megafauna) such as amphibians, reptiles and mammals. This chapter explains how t...
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Soil and soil health: an overview
Soil health is an urgent concern because of the need to manage soil resources better to meet food and other security imperatives. The different meanings of soil ‘quality’ and ‘health’ are explained. Soil health is defined as an integrative property of the biotic and abiotic components of the soil...
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Soil microorganisms: role in soil health
Soil is a complex environment that supports the largest, most diverse and resilient microbial community on the planet, essential for nutrient cycling and plant growth. The details of many soil microorganisms remain unknown, but the recent improvements in molecular methods for microbial ecology h...
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Effects of crop rotations and intercropping on soil health
There has been an increasing interest in evaluating the health of soil resources motivated by the growing cognizance that soil is a critically important component of the earth’s biosphere, playing an important functional role not only in producing food and fibre, but also in maintaining ecosystem...
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Supporting smallholders in maintaining soil health: key challenges and strategies
Smallholder farmers are important stewards of global soil resources with strong linkages between livelihoods, global poverty and soil health There is no single method to engage with smallholder farmers in managing soil health, as they are a diverse group scattered across multiple geographies, soi...
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Conservation grass hedges and soil health parameters
Grass hedges, narrow (<2 m) strips of tall and stiff-stemmed perennial grass planted within croplands, are an innovative conservation practice to improve the health of the soils. Integrating grass hedges with food crops is a potential strategy to reduce erosion, improve soil health and wildlif...
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Nutrient cycling in soils
Sustainable agricultural systems must enable profitable production of sufficient high-quality crops to meet human demands while simultaneously minimising off-site impacts. Though simple chemical equilibrium plays a part, nutrient cycling processes in soil are largely the outcome of biochemical pr...
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Managing soil health in organic cultivation
Although organic standards do not refer directly to soil health, organic agriculture has the potential to improve soil health and environmental services by promoting soil conservation and reducing greenhouse gases. This chapter presents findings from a field experiment which continuously monitore...
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Mechanisms of soil erosion/degradation
Soil degradation threatens soil health in terms of soils functioning as complex living biological systems, delivering multiple ecosystem goods and services. For example, soil erosion removes the most fertile topsoil, reducing soil depth and soil health, which leads to poor crop growth. This impac...
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Chemical composition of soils: role in soil health
Integrated nutrient management systems that use a holistic approach, using inorganic fertilizers as well as management practices aimed to increase soil organic matter, are needed to improve soil health. Management practices need to take into account differences in soil properties, climate and ava...
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Pesticide use and biodiversity in soils
Pesticides are applied to agricultural systems in high quantities relative to other synthetic compounds and therefore have considerable effects on soil microbial communities and their functions. Although pesticides undergo considerable evaluation for efficacy in controlling target pests in agroec...
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Integrated soil health management: a framework for soil conservation and regeneration
Soil function is an interplay of physical, chemical and biological processes, and soil microbes play a direct role in driving soil chemical and physical processes important for overall ecosystem function. This chapter highlights some of the known impacts of management strategies on soil health, c...
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Managing irrigation for soil health in arid and semi-arid regions
Irrigated arid and semi-arid regions of the world account for more than 40% of the global crop production. Managing soil health while simultaneously increasing water use efficiency in these areas is challenging, but critical to future global food security. This chapter describes production practi...
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Soil sampling for soil health assessment
A successful soil health study or project requires thorough planning. Accurate results in soil health assessment can be difficult to obtain due to complications from spatial, temporal and managerial variability. A well-planned soil health sampling design will ensure that the resulting data are re...
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Modelling soil organic matter dynamics as a soil health indicator
The presence of soil organic matter (SOM) is seen as essential for soil health. Modelling SOM in soils helps researchers and farmers understand and predict the effects of different cultivation practices on changes in SOM. This chapter reviews key issues in SOM modelling and the development of inc...
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Maintaining soil health in dryland areas
Drylands cover 40% of the global terrestrial space and are home for 2 billion people, often the most vulnerable. Land use is dominated by rangelands and much less by croplands, while barren areas with sparse vegetation mixed with rock outcrops are widespread. In spite of their hostile nature, dry...
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Optimising fertiliser use to maintain soil health
Maintaining the health of soils, and therefore their capacity to carry out the ecosystem functions necessary for sustainable food production, is a complex and evolving area of science. This chapter examines management of mineral fertilisers and organic manures in relation to its effects on soil h...
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Soil health assessment and inventory: indices and databases
It is increasingly appreciated that the soil resource embodies significant natural capital supporting valuable ecosystem services, yet soil natural capital and ecosystem services are threatened by land degradation at the same time as they become more central to efforts to expand food production t...
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The impact of heavy metal contamination on soil health
Heavy metal pollution often results in the degradation of soil health. The term ‘soil health’ or ‘soil quality’ is used to express the status of the soil’s functional ability in the ecosystem, as indicated by its physical, chemical and biological properties. Contamination of heavy metals above th...
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Biological indicators of soil health in organic cultivation
This chapter reviews the range of physical, chemical and biological indicators of soil health and how they can be used in practice, in this case focussing on measuring soil health in organic vegetable cultivation and, in particular, the effects of adding organic amendments to soil. Measures inclu...
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Soil texture and structure: role in soil health
Soil texture is a major parameter in quantifying basic soil properties. Healthy soils are well aggregated and provide a continuous pore system with high surface accessibility. They are well aerated, contain sufficient plant available water and provide a reliable filter and buffer capacity. This c...
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Plant–soil interactions: an overview
Plant–soil interactions are the prime mechanism for integrating the impacts of the aerial environment, animals (including plant shoot symbionts and pathogens), plant shoot physiology, plant root physiology and structure, the soil microbiome and soil chemistry and structure into what is commonly t...
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Drainage requirements to maintain soil health
The effective management of soil water conditions is essential for ensuring healthy plant growth and optimum yield. Drainage is the primary technique by which producers keep soil water conditions at or near optimum for plant growth. A well-designed drainage system may result in a number of benefi...
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Manure and compost management to maintain soil health
This chapter discusses the role of manure and compost in maintaining soil health in relation to the use of inorganic fertilizer. It reviews best management practices in using manure and the effects of increased manure use, including resolving problems related to excess manure. The chapter reviews...
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Soil health and climate change: a critical nexus
A healthy soil has the capacity to sustain biological activity, maintain environmental quality and promote plant and animal health. This chapter reviews the impact of climate change on the key components of soil health, including soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Holistically, un...
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The role of soil hydrology in soil health
Soil hydrology stands at the forefront of soil health due to its critical importance in regulating physical, chemical and biological processes in soils. Soil–water interactions are closely related to and create both positive and negative feedbacks with soil characteristics, landscape features and...
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Organic amendments to improve soil health and crop productivity: a case study in china
This chapter focuses on three long-term fertilization experiments with a temperature and precipitation gradient from China, which aim to improve soil fertility, maintain soil health and increase crop productivity. After outlining the approaches adopted in long-term experiments in fertilization ma...
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Advances in remote sensing for monitoring grassland and forage production
Obtaining cheap, appropriate and timely information on vegetation will be essential for sustainable and economically viable management of grassland and forage swards in the future. Remote sensing (RS) offers new possibilities to monitor vegetation repeatedly and at large scale, but so far, only a...
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The role of pasture in the diet of ruminant livestock
Grazed pasture is the single most important forage feed for ruminants due to its low unit cost and widespread global availability. However, there is a growing use of arable crops in ruminant rations, which may exceed that used by humans by 2050. This chapter describes the ways in which grazed pa...
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Biological weed control in temperate grasslands
This chapter provides a critical review of international research on biological weed control as it applies to weeds of temperate grasslands. The chapter outlines the ways in which ‘classical’ biocontrol agents, due to their natural ability to spread and find their host plant, are appropriate for ...
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Plant-animal interactions in grazing systems
This chapter reviews the interactions between plants and animals that govern the production efficiency of temperate pasture-based livestock production systems. These interactions operate at different temporal and spatial scales, and are highly variable. We take as our case study the dry matter in...
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Planning and sowing grasslands
To be truly sustainable, forage-livestock systems must be well matched to the soils, geophysical and climate factors, and expected level of management available. This chapter provides an overview of the pasture renovation or establishment process, including a comprehensive planning process, selec...
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Persistence and yield stability of temperate grassland legumes for sustainable animal production
Forage legumes are essential for sustainable production systems, but their positive environmental and economic effects cannot be realized unless they also show persistence and yield stability. These are complex traits which depend on the interaction of different biotic and abiotic environmental f...
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Organic grassland
Organic farming makes up an increasing share of agricultural and food systems. Within organic agriculture, grasslands are of particular importance because of their multiple benefits to soils, crops, livestock and ecosystems. In this chapter, we review the multifunctionality of grasslands in the c...
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Managing grassland for forage production: an overview
In temperate agriculture, grasslands play an important role in the provision of forage for livestock. Management of these grasslands is vital in order to ensure that high-quality feed is available. This chapter reviews the short-, medium- and long-term management of grasslands, including stocking...
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Research challenges in adapting grasslands to climate change
Climate change poses many challenges to European grasslands, from droughts, heat waves and changing precipitation patterns in the south, to warmer winters and wetter summers in the north and increasing frequency of extreme weather events. This chapter reviews the probable impacts of climate chang...
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Use of grassland for bioenergy and biorefining
High-yielding, intensively managed, agriculturally improved grasslands provide biomass with qualities suitable for anaerobic fermentation and biorefining. Biomass from semi-natural grasslands or from landscape conservation areas has higher lignin content. It is suitable for combustion or pyrolysi...
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Management of water resources for grasslands
Grasslands support essential food and fibre production, biodiversity, and water function and other ecosystem services. Planted or native grasslands are typically located on drier, steeper or less fertile areas of any region. This chapter discusses water requirements of temperate pastures, monit...
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Restoring degraded grasslands
Grazed grasslands are complex ecosystems, and careful and responsible management is essential for their growth and maintenance. This chapter examines the inter-relationship of species, microbial activity, nutrients and environmental factors in restoring and maintaining their health, sustainabilit...
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Protecting biodiversity in grasslands
Grasslands in Europe are critically important to the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes. This chapter summarizes the conditions that facilitate biodiversity in permanent and semi-natural (i.e. managed) grasslands in temperate climate, with a particular focus on phytodiversity. The chapter ex...
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Managing soil health for grassland
Soil health is a holistic concept that includes all the processes affecting the ability of soil to provide the ecosystem services we require from grassland. The primary ‘service’ provided by grassland is forage for livestock, but additional secondary ‘services’ can include benefits such as enviro...
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Grazing management for sustainable grazing systems
Grasslands play a key role in soil, water and biodiversity conservation and deliver numerous other ecosystem and cultural services. This chapter defines key terms associated with grassland grazing systems, with a particular emphasis on the meaning of grazing management and sustainable intensifica...
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Advances in feeding grass silage
Grass silage is the main forage source during indoor feeding periods in many temperate regions. The digestibility and energy concentration of silage are mainly determined by the maturity at harvest, but changes in carbohydrate and nitrogen fractions during fermentation process can markedly modify...
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The role of grasslands in biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity conservation
Grasslands have a multifunctional role in producing forage for animal production systems while providing a wide array of ecosystem services, including the regulation of biogeochemical cycles and the maintenance of biodiversity which are of utmost importance for agriculture and society as a whole....
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Balancing pasture productivity with environmental and animal health requirements
Plant breeders face the significant challenge of developing high-performing pasture and supplementary feed crops that maintain the profitability of temperate grassland farming systems while reducing the environmental footprint and animal health issues. This chapter provides examples of where new ...
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Managing grassland systems to optimise livestock production
High prices of milk have encouraged intensive dairying systems using high inputs of chemical fertilisers, indoor feeding with high amounts of concentrate and imported protein at the expense of grazing. Consequently grassland acreage decreased considerably over the last 30 years, and the European ...
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Fusarium diseases: biology and management perspectives
World cereal production faces the challenge of increasing productivity while reducing its environmental footprint. Diseases like Fusarium head blight that reduce yield and quality of the harvest are controlled mainly with agricultural practices and fungicides. These measures have been shown to be...
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Regional strategies in sustainable water management for irrigation: the eco-efficiency approach
This chapter addresses a variety of challenges associated with regional water management, including the resolution of conflicts between sectors in order to resolve ‘demand versus availability’ equation and the symbiosis needed between agronomy and engineering in order to optimize the performance ...
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Drainage systems to support sustainable water use
In arid and semi-arid regions of the world, rainfall is supplemented by irrigation, and drainage is needed to prevent irrigation-induced waterlogging and soil salinization. Drainage systems are man-made systems that are only implemented when natural drainage is insufficient for a satisfactory for...
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Trickle irrigation systems
Trickle irrigation is the practice of dripping water into soil at very low rates, using outlets placed closed to the plant to ensure targeted application to the root zone. Since the 1950s, trickle irrigation technology has become increasingly advanced and widespread. It is believed that the techn...
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An integrated approach for the estimation of crop water requirements based on soil, plant and atmospheric measurements
Measuring crop water requirements is an essential part of managing agricultural water in crop fields. In this chapter, we propose a research approach for the determination of crop water requirements that integrates soil, plant and atmospheric measurements. Selected methods for estimating crop wat...
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Deficit irrigation and site-specific irrigation scheduling techniques to minimize water use
Today, more than ever, efficient use of water by the agricultural sector is critical to sustaining national and global food security in both irrigated and rainfed regions. Implementing deficit irrigation (DI) strategies and site-specific irrigation management can improve crop water productivity w...
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The economics of groundwater development and governance
The last century has seen a dramatic increase in the demand for groundwater, first as a source of drinking water, and more recently for agricultural use in arid and semi-arid regions. This sudden surge in demand can be explained by several attractive properties of this resource: it is free, avail...
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Managing surface water for irrigation
As the world’s population increases, so does the pressure on water resources to ensure that agriculture continues to meet global food demand. One way of coping with this increased pressure is to improve the management of surface water resources for irrigation, for instance to reduce water losses ...
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Developments in surface irrigation techniques
Surface irrigation has long been an important tool for farmers. This chapter will review the development of surface irrigation techniques. Section 2 provides a brief historical overview, and then Sections 3 and 4 consider the development of furrow, basin and border irrigation in detail. Sections ...
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The challenge of sustainable water resources management under water scarcity
Historically, water control developments were mostly small-scale, locally managed and hydrologically independent, with annual rainfall, runoff and recharge setting the limits to annual use. In recent decades, the vast expansion of irrigation (the largest water user with about 70% withdrawal world...
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Understanding and measuring plant water use
Plant water use is inextricably linked to both agricultural productivity and sustainable water resource management. Unlike plants in natural ecosystems, crops and horticultural species benefit from the active management of their growing environments. Tremendous advancements have been made towards...
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Increasing water productivity in agriculture: an overview
There is good evidence that improvements in crop productively have come from increases in yield rather than from decreases in total water use. In irrigated agriculture, there are increasing attempts to decrease the unproductive losses of water from storage, through distribution systems and onto f...
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An overview of subsurface irrigation techniques
Water is a scarce resource which plays a crucial role in agriculture. As climate change and population growth increase the strain on water supplies, involved actors are forced to look for water-saving irrigation methods for food production. This chapter reviews four key subsurface irrigation tech...
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Improving water use in tropical rain-fed systems: the situation in india
The quantity of available water and land has not increased since 1950, but the availability of water and land per capita has declined significantly due to an increased global human population. Global food security for this growing population requires careful management of water resources. In this...
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Rainwater and floodwater harvesting for crop irrigation
Rainwater and floodwater harvesting are environmentally-friendly ways to utilize rainwater and surface runoff for irrigation, water storage and groundwater recharge. Water harvesting (WH) can also reduce flooding and soil erosion risk and can diminish impacts of climate change. This chapter discu...
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Improving water productivity in rainfed agriculture: challenges and opportunities for small-scale farmers in dry lands
There is growing global recognition of the need to improve agricultural water management if we are to achieve sustainable food production systems which ensure future food security whilst maintaining ecosystem services, strengthening capacity for adaptation to climate change and averting degradati...
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Fertigation techniques for efficient water and nutrient use in agriculture
Irrigated agriculture constitutes about 20% of the total cultivated land in the world, has much higher crop productivity compared to rainfed agriculture and contributes significantly to meeting the challenge of feeding the world. However, water resources are very limited, especially in the arid a...
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Assessing the cost of supplying water for agriculture: the food supply cost curve
As part of a ‘Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region’, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been proposing a practical tool for the assessment of investment projects called the Food Supply Cost Curve (FSCC). This chapter describes the c...
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Use of brackish and marginal water for irrigation in water-scarce areas
The lack of freshwater in arid and semi-arid regions makes brackish/marginal water a valuable alternative source of water for irrigation. The use of brackish water in irrigation could ensure high-yield, good quality, efficient and sustainable agricultural development if appropriate management str...
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Climate change and water resources for agriculture
Population growth and climate change increasingly challenge water supply systems, and population dynamics, growing demands, pollution, land use changes and other factors frequently produce the failure of some water supply systems. Climate change is believed to augment the existing pressure on wat...
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Dynamics of water storage and retention in soil
Water storage and retention is one of the most important ecological and agricultural properties of soil, since soil is the main water source for most plants. The present chapter discusses different ways of defining, measuring and modelling soil water retention capability, which varies according t...
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Modelling water use on farms
This chapter presents computation and modelling approaches of crop water use and irrigation water requirements and discusses concepts of water use performance and productivity. The chapter also describes the main features of soil water balance and irrigation scheduling models. It focuses on the S...
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