New evidence that the ancient Mayas practiced intensive, often irrigated, agriculture on a massive scale has forced revision in current thinking about that civilization. Yet, little study has focused on the heirs of this agricultural tradition; in areas of highland Guatemala, Mayan farmers today carry on forms of intensive, irrigated horticulture t

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on fertiliser use in agriculture. The first chapter examines the role of biofertilizers and consortia of microorganisms to improve the effectiveness of organic fertilization, before moving on to consider the use of animal excrement, including manures, slurry and guano. The second chapter assesses the management of mineral fertilisers and organic manures in relation to its effects on soil health in terms of soil organic carbon and nitrogen, soil acidification and soil microbiology. The third chapter discusses the history, current status, and future needs of fertilizer developments in light of the goal of achieving global sustainability. It reviews developments in using efficient fertilizer sources to meet the needs of advancing yields of modern crop cultivars/hybrids. The fourth chapter reviews some of the approaches used by decision support systems to determine fertiliser application decisions. The chapter highlights direct methods and indirect techniques: simulation models, yield forecasts using data-driven approaches and yield forecasts based on water supply. The final chapter explores the implementation of foliar fertilizer sprays in agriculture for improving crop yield and quality, as well as improving plant performance under abiotic and/or biotic stress threats.

The prospects for the future are clear. Agriculture will have to respond to changing patterns of demand for food and combat food insecurity and poverty amongst marginalized communities. In so doing, agriculture will have to compete for scarce water with other users and reduce pressure on the water environment. Moreover, water managers have to unlock the potential of agricultural water management practices to raise productivity of water, spread equitable access to water, and conserve the natural productivity of the water resource base. This PhD thesis presents field tests combined with modelling work on the cultivation of irrigated Teff (Eragrostic Tef) in the Awash Rift Valley of Ethiopia. The field experiments were conducted during the dry season for two years. The results of these studies revealed that dealing with improvement of water productivity is closely related to the irrigation practice of regulated deficit irrigation and has a direct effect on yield, as the amount of water applied decreases intentionally the crop yield drops. Overall, this research has demonstrated the potential and the limitations of combining experimental fieldwork with modelling to optimize agricultural water productivity for Teff cultivation. Focusing on only experimental fieldwork is a single approach, and is hardly ever sufficient for achieving the best solutions to current water management problems. New guidelines on using the combined effort of experimental work in the field to produce field experimental data and using models are clearly needed. It is to these needs as well as to the required increase of Teff production under water scarce conditions that this research provides its main contribution.

Irrigated agriculture remains to be the main option to boost the economy in Sudan in general. It can rise the living standard of the majority of the population; particularly those who are attached to farming and livestock. With the expected increase in population in the next decades, water management of large irrigation systems will become a key issue to increase productivity and assure future food security. Sediment transport in irrigation canals makes water management very complicated. This study focuses on water management in Gezira Scheme, Sudan. This scheme is irrigated from the Blue Nile River, which is characterized by a high sediment concentration. The aim of the study was to reduce the impact of fine sediment deposition in irrigation canals by improving the operation and maintenance procedures. A numerical model has been developed to simulate the cohesive sediment transport in irrigation canals. This model is a useful tool for the operators and decision makers to assess different options of operation in terms of sediment transport. This study found that sediment deposition in the canals can be minimized if the operation based on crop water requirement is adjusted at a certain period during the flood season.

Fluctuation in rainfall in Ogun-Osun River Basin, Nigeria in the recent times is a challenge to crop production. Therefore, agronomic practices need to be designed to improve water productivity under rainfed conditions. Improving water productivity requires vapour shift or transfer whereby soil physical conditions, soil fertility, crop varieties and agronomy are applied in tandem and managed to shift the evaporation into useful transpiration by plants. Water conservation practices: Tied ridge, Mulch, Soil bund, Tied ridge plus Soil bund, Tied ridge plus Mulch, Mulch plus Soil bund and Direct sowing were used in cultivating Soybeans for two rainy seasons in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Full and deficit irrigation application during reproductive stages were used with in-line drip irrigation for two seasons. Seasonal rainfall influenced the water storage in the soil. Transpiration, seed yield and water productivity were related to Total Intercepted Photosynthetically Active Radiation. Yield and economic productivity increased under water conservation practices. Productivity decreased most when irrigation was skipped during seed filling and the production costs under drip system are high. Rainfed cultivation of soybeans when rainfall and solar radiation are optimum, is the best option. The AquaCrop model was calibrated and validated to predict canopy cover, aerial dry biomass, seed yield, soil water content, crop water use, and water productivity under full and deficit irrigation conditions. The model performed the best in simulating aerial dry biomass under full irrigation. The simulated and measured data compare adequately and the performance of the model was satisfactory.

This book forms the proceedings of the 18th European ICID conference on irrigation and drainage. Water is not a free commodity and demand is becoming more and more intense for its allocation. This book focuses on the role of irrigation and drainage in the debate on water and should be of interest to planners, designers, policy makers in the water industry, national and local government, academic researchers and environment agencies.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on decision support systems (DSS) in agriculture. The first chapter provides a review of DSS in agriculture, whilst addressing the key questions surrounding their use for farm soil and crop management. The different aspects of agricultural DSS design, implementation and operation are also discussed. The second chapter assesses the role of DSS for pest monitoring and management through information technology such as, remote sensing, GIS, spectral indices, image-based diagnostics, and phenology-based degree day models. The third chapter discusses the potential of implementing DSS within the growing mechanisation in greenhouses. It examines differences in development and application of deterministic explanatory and data-based models for real-time control and DSS. The fourth chapter explores the key issues associated with deploying DSS in precision agriculture, whilst also considering their human and social aspects. The chapter also considers how future research on DSS can be moulded to improve productivity in a precision agriculture setting. The final chapter outlines the importance of a participatory approach in DSS development, whilst also offering examples of climate-based DSS for crop and land management, pest and disease management, and livestock (dairy) management.

Sub-Saharan Africa has an irrigation potential of about 42 million hectares of which only 17% is developed. Despite several investments in irrigation the growth is slow. This study aims at helping to achieve sustainable irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa, through gaining a better understanding of productive irrigation water use and effective management of irrigation development. The study is conducted in the White Volta sub-basin specifically in Northern Ghana and Southern Burkina Faso which have been experiencing rapid irrigation development since the mid 1990s. The study identified growing markets for irrigated products as an important driving force behind the expansion of irrigation which has given rise to new technologies. The new technologies have spread because they gave farmers direct control over water sources. These new technologies allow relatively small farm sizes which can be adequately managed by the surveyed farmers. As a result high productivities are achieved. The hydrological impact of upscaling irrigation in the sub-basin is sustainable and will maximize the overall benefits derived from water resources in the Volta Basin.

The book presents documentary evidence of the insufficiency of rehabilitation works to close the gap between the irrigation service and actual area irrigated of publicly funded national irrigation systems in the Philippines. It outlines a methodology for formulating a modernisation plan for national irrigation systems with focus on the mostly ungauged, medium to small canal irrigation systems. The proposed methodology adaptively modified some known modernisation concepts and techniques and integrated them in a more holistic framework in the context of changing weather patterns and river flow regimes. It includes in-depth review of rehabilitation works; system diagnosis; revalidation of design assumptions on percolation and water supply; characterisation of system management, irrigation service and demand; and drawing up of options and a vision for the modernised irrigation systems. Central to the proposed modernisation strategy is the logical coherence among the design of physical structures, system operation and water supply so that improvements of irrigation service are possible. The book discusses the development of the proposed methodology and demonstrates its utility in two case study irrigation systems.

This collection features six peer-reviewed reviews on advances and in detecting and forecasting crop pests and diseases. The first chapter introduces the concept of machine learning to identify and diagnose crop diseases, focussing on the deep learning concept. The second chapter discusses recent advances in crop disease forecasting models, focussing on the application of precision agriculture technologies and Earth observation satellites to identify areas at risk of possible disease outbreaks. The third chapter explores the contribution of remote sensing in improving the ways in which plant health is monitored in response to exposure to biotic stresses, such as disease. The fourth chapter reviews how sensor technologies in combination with informatics and modern application technologies can contribute to more effective pest control. The fifth chapter assesses the role of decision support systems for pest monitoring and management through information technology, such as spectral indices and image-based diagnostics. The final chapter addresses key issues and challenges in pest monitoring and forecasting models, such as the limitation of some traps in attracting insects through the use of sex pheromones.

The third edition of this book exposes the reader to a wide array of engineering principles and their application to agriculture. It presents an array of more or less independent topics to facilitate daily assessments or quizzes, and aims to enhance the students' problem solving ability. Each chapter contains objectives, worked examples and sample problems are included at the end of each chapter. This book was first published in the late 60's by AVI. It remains relevant for post secondary classes in Agricultural Engineering Technology and Agricultural Mechanics, and secondary agriculture teachers.

Irrigated agriculture remains to be the main option to boost the economy in Sudan in general. It can rise the living standard of the majority of the population; particularly those who are attached to farming and livestock. With the expected increase in population in the next decades, water management of large irrigation systems will become a key issue to increase productivity and assure future food security. Sediment transport in irrigation canals makes water management very complicated. This study focuses on water management in Gezira Scheme, Sudan. This scheme is irrigated from the Blue Nile River, which is characterized by a high sediment concentration. The aim of the study was to reduce the impact of fine sediment deposition in irrigation canals by improving the operation and maintenance procedures. A numerical model has been developed to simulate the cohesive sediment transport in irrigation canals. This model is a useful tool for the operators and decision makers to assess different options of operation in terms of sediment transport. This study found that sediment deposition in the canals can be minimized if the operation based on crop water requirement is adjusted at a certain period during the flood season.

This title, originally published in 1982, examines the importance of western irrigation to U.S. agriculture and the impacts of the changing water supply situation on the development of western irrigation. Past trends, water supply conditions, water institutions, economic forces, technological alternatives, and environmental factors are examined for their impacts on the course of western irrigation. Water for Western Agriculture will be of particular interest for students studying environmental issues.

This important volume, the ninth in the Research Advances in Sustainable Micro Irrigation book series, provides an invaluable addition to the literature and knowledge on the ever-growing need for sustainable irrigation for agricultural crops in many water-scarce parts of the world. The book specifically covers advances in fertigation for water management in general as well as for specific crops, such as peaches, maize, and citrus crops. Specific topics include: * The design of various surface and subsurface water emitters * Using information from weather stations for irrigation purposes * Ultra low drip irrigation technology * The management of weeds in crops using micro irrigation * New technology and advances in fertigation With chapters from researchers and practitioners in agricultural engineering, water research and technology, soil conservation, and other fields, this compendium provides a wealth of useful information that can be put into practice to enhance crop production.

From Basic Fundamentals to Advanced Design Applications A culmination of the author's more than 20 years of research efforts, academic papers, and lecture notes, Combine Harvesters: Theory, Modeling, and Design outlines the key concepts of combine harvester process theory and provides you with a complete and thorough understanding of combine harvester processes. Utilizing a wealth of experimental data to promote validated mathematical models, this book presents the latest stochastic and deterministic modeling methods, evolutionary computational techniques, and practical applications. Highly focused on engineering and mathematics, it incorporates the use of simulation software (including MATLAB (R)) throughout the text and introduces a unified approach that can be used for any combine harvester functional structure. The book addresses modeling, simulation, evolutionary optimization, and combine process design. Breadth of coverage includes general technical specifications, developing machine layout as defined by engineering calculations, and design considerations for major subassembly processes. Comprised of 15 chapters, this text: Provides examples of current combine systems/elements design throughout the book Incorporates applications/exercises inspired by the author's engineering and research experience Uses both SI (metric) and imperial/U.S. measuring units throughout Combine Harvesters: Theory, Modeling, and Design contains principles, calculations, and examples that can aid you in combine process modeling and simulation, the development of combine process and driving task-based control systems by considering a top-to-bottom design of combine assembly and components.

This book discusses the methods for determination of data on thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, unit surface conductance or the heat transfer coefficient of foods and agricultural materials. It includes the applications of thermal properties in relation to cooling and thermal expansion.

Sub-Saharan Africa has an irrigation potential of about 42 million hectares of which only 17% is developed. Despite several investments in irrigation the growth is slow. This study aims at helping to achieve sustainable irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa, through gaining a better understanding of productive irrigation water use and effective management of irrigation development. The study is conducted in the White Volta sub-basin specifically in Northern Ghana and Southern Burkina Faso which have been experiencing rapid irrigation development since the mid 1990s. The study identified growing markets for irrigated products as an important driving force behind the expansion of irrigation which has given rise to new technologies. The new technologies have spread because they gave farmers direct control over water sources. These new technologies allow relatively small farm sizes which can be adequately managed by the surveyed farmers. As a result high productivities are achieved. The hydrological impact of upscaling irrigation in the sub-basin is sustainable and will maximize the overall benefits derived from water resources in the Volta Basin.

The incentive of watershed programs is to increase the return on investment with over 20% for 65% of the projects that are currently underperforming. This book provides a comprehensive presentation of the realization of improved rain fed agriculture yield in semi-arid and dry land areas. Besides techniques to improve the livelihood of the many small-scale farmers in developing countries, it includes examples and case studies for further support. The methods discussed have recently shown to be successful and economically remunerative in India and in various African countries. Intended for professionals (investors, policy makers), researchers and (post)graduate students working on dry land and sustainable agriculture and water and natural resources management. Suited for courses in dry land agriculture, soil and water management and watershed development.

Rivers are important agents of change that shape the Earth's surface and evolve through time in response to fluctuations in climate and other environmental conditions. They are fundamental in landscape development, and essential for water supply, irrigation, and transportation. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the geomorphological processes that shape rivers and that produce change in the form of rivers. It explores how the dynamics of rivers are being affected by anthropogenic change, including climate change, dam construction, and modification of rivers for flood control and land drainage. It discusses how concern about environmental degradation of rivers has led to the emergence of management strategies to restore and naturalize these systems, and how river management techniques work best when coordinated with the natural dynamics of rivers. This textbook provides an excellent resource for students, researchers, and professionals in fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, river science, and environmental policy.

In 1947, British India-the part of South Asia that is today's India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh-emerged from the colonial era with the world's largest centrally managed canal irrigation infrastructure. However, as vividly illustrated by Tushaar Shah, the orderly irrigation economy that saved millions of rural poor from droughts and famines is now a vast atomistic system of widely dispersed tube-wells that are drawing groundwater without permits or hindrances. Taming the Anarchy is about the development of this chaos and the prospects to bring it under control. It is about both the massive benefit that the irrigation economy has created and the ill-fare it threatens through depleted aquifers and pollution. Tushaar Shah brings exceptional insight into a socio-ecological phenomenon that has befuddled scientists and policymakers alike. In systematic fashion, he investigates the forces behind the transformation of South Asian irrigation and considers its social, economic, and ecological impacts. He considers what is unique to South Asia and what is in common with other developing regions. He argues that, without effective governance, the resulting groundwater stress threatens the sustenance of the agrarian system and therefore the well being of the nearly one and a half billion people who live in South Asia. Yet, finding solutions is a formidable challenge. The way forward in the short run, Shah suggests, lies in indirect, adaptive strategies that change the conduct of water users. From antiquity until the 1960's, agricultural water management in South Asia was predominantly the affair of village communities and/or the state. Today, the region depends on irrigation from some 25 million individually owned groundwater wells. Tushaar Shah provides a fascinating economic, political, and cultural history of the development and use of technology that is also a history of a society in transition. His book provides powerful ideas and lessons for researchers, historians, and policymakers interested in South Asia, as well as readers who are interested in the water and agricultural futures of other developing countries and regions, including China and Africa.

This book shares the latest findings on this topic, systematically introduces readers to advances made in robotic harvesting around the globe, and explores the relations between the development of robotic harvesting and the respective social/economic conditions and agricultural business patterns in various countries/regions. Due to the unstructured setting it is used in, and to the significant differences between individual fruit and vegetable targets, robotic harvesting is currently considered to be one of the most challenging robotics technologies. Accordingly, research into this area involves the integration of various aspects, including biomechanics, optimization design, advanced perception and intelligent control. In addition to rapid and damage-free robotic harvesting, which reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the topic, further aspects addressed include gripping collisions with viscoelastic objects, using lasers to cut plant material, plant-fruit response to vacuum sucking and pulling, and performance probability distribution. Highlighting outstanding innovations and reflecting the latest advances in intelligent agricultural equipment in China, the book offers a unique and valuable resource.

• First collection of expert chapters focusing on flood management in developing countries • Considers unique contexts within the developing countries and consideration of themes such as exploding population, fragile economies and weak infrastructural systems which are unique to the areas

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on soil erosion in agriculture. The first chapter identifies different types of soil degradation, focussing primarily on soil erosion by water. The chapter explores the impact of soil erosion processes on soil properties that relate directly to crop growth, including soil depth, water-holding capacity, carbon content and nutrient reserves. The second chapter reviews advances in techniques used to assess and measure soil erodibility by water, such as computer aided tomography. The chapter considers the role of static and dynamic soil properties in the erosion process, as well as the challenges that have developed as a result of climate change. The third chapter assesses the impact of heavy metal contamination on soil and its consequent role in the degradation of soil health. The chapter describes the sources, impacts, indicators and remediation of heavy metal contamination, as well as the development of improved soil management practices, including effective pollution control strategies. The final chapter discusses the implementation of integrated strategies under Conservation Agriculture (CA) farming systems to restore soil productivity in degraded agricultural lands in tropical and subtropical regions in Brazil. The chapter additionally considers the adoption of CA as a tool to prevent and reverse instances of soil degradation.