Using a variety of case studies, this book provides an overview of how societies have gradually developed their water resources and furthers our understanding of how such resources can be managed successfully or unsuccessfully. Discussing how and why particular options are selected, and why a particular course of events eventually prevails, the book stresses the importance of context and a multidisciplinary approach in moving towards sustainable and equitable development.

2009 reprint of the 1956 second edition. This title made available for the first time an adequately organized, comprehensive analytical method for evaluating the stresses, reactions and deflections in an irregular piping system in space, unlimited as to the character, location or number of concentrated loadings or restraints. Profusely illustrated and meticulously detailed.

One teacher's long journey to a kind of enlightenment.
"This is the best piece I've read on teaching in years. Not only does Guy nail issue after issue with laser-like precision, but he manages to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted with humor and brief anecdotes, avoiding both the puffed-up academic pose and the grim earnestness of the wounded and the self-righteous. I really love it." Bill Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and author of "To Teach, The Journey of a Teacher," "Teaching Toward Freedom," and "Fugitive Days."

Irrigated agriculture remains the dominant use of freshwater in the United States, although its share of use is declining. Irrigated cropland area has expanded over 40 percent since 1969, while water application rates have declined about 20 percent. The total quantity of irrigation water applied increased about 10 percent since 1969. Nationally, the average variable cost of supplying water for irrigation was about $50 per acre in 2003; however, that amount does not reflect the full value of water. This book presents leading-edge research from around the world on this topic.

Tea is big business. After water, tea is believed to be the most widely consumed beverage in the world. And yet, as productivity increases, the real price of tea declines while labour costs continue to rise. Tea remains a labour intensive industry. With a distinguished career spanning over 50 years and rich experience in diverse crops, Mike Carr is eminently qualified to indulge in an intelligent discourse on tea agronomy. In addition to a comprehensive review of the principal tea growing regions worldwide in terms of structure, productivity and principal constraints, he has attempted to question and seeks to find the associated experimental evidence needed to support current and future crop management practices. The book will assist all those involved in the tea industry to become creative thinkers and to question accepted practices. International in content, it will appeal to practitioners and students from tea growing countries worldwide.

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

The author of this book has traveled extensively in many desert and semi-desert territories of the U.S.S.R., Morocco, Tunisia, the Egyptian region of the U.A.R., Pakistan and India where he realized the importance of water for the reclamation of vast areas of arid and semi-arid lands. During his visits the author became acquainted with the theory and practice of land irrigation in many countries of North Africa and Asia. The present book is the first attempt at generalizing the vast amount of material dealing with the hydrogeology of the irrigated lands of the arid zone of North Africa and Asia, stretching from the African coastline of the Atlantic Ocean to the central parts of Asia. Outlined in this book are the origin and distribution of saline lands in the deserts of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Iran Highlands, Middle Asia, China and Mongolia. A description is given of the surface waters in irrigated areas of the arid zone together with the sources, movement and draining, infiltration, condensation and evaporation of water in the desert and semi-desert territories. The book gives a sketch of the regime of free ground waters in irrigated areas and methods of studying it, problems of water balance and its forecasting, based on experimental research and simple theoretical calculations. Principles of the hydrogeological division of irrigated lands into districts and basic measures to prevent their salinization are also given. The book can serve as a textbook for engineer-hydrogeologists, melioration specialists and students at specialized hydrogeological and agricultural institutes and schools.

Zvishavane, in southern Zimbabwe, is an arid yet starkly beautiful terrain where small-scale farmers struggle with fragile soils and erratic rainfull for often fruitless returns. Yet it was here that Zephaniah Phiri had the wisdom, vision and strength of character to transform a resource-starved subsistence plot into a fertile smallholding. This book is Mr Phiri's story. It is more than a simple environmental story; it reveals the family survival strategies of a man with immense courage, wisdom and generosity. Distilled by Mr Phiri's sage reflection and told in his own words, the story is imbued with his idioms, his rhythms and his experience. One feels refreshed-inspired by this champion of human dignity; a man whose endurance enabled him to found one of the first indigenous NGOs in Zimbabwe - the Zvishavane Water Project. From here Mr Phiri is able to convey the power of self-reliance throughout the often neglected small-scale farming sector of southern Africa. Far beyond this broad community, the book invites readers to celebrate the boundless potential for human fulfilment.

The overriding lesson from history is that most irrigation-based civilizations fail. As we enter the third millennium the question arises: Will ours be any different?

For 6,000 years, irrigation has ranked among the most powerful tools of human advancement. The story of settled agriculture, the growth of cities, and the rise of early empires is, to no small degree, a story of controlling water to make the land more prosperous and habitable. Pillar of Sand examines the history, challenges, and pitfalls of irrigated agriculture — from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to twentieth-century India and the United States. By unmasking the risks faced by irrigation-based societies — including water scarcity, soil salinization, and conflicts over rivers — water specialist Sandra Postel connects the lessons of the past with the challenge of making irrigation thrive into the twenty-first century and beyond.

Protecting rivers and vital ecosystems as the world aims to feed 8 billion people will require a doubling of water productivity — getting twice as much benefit from each gallon removed from rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Pillar of Sand points the way toward managing the growing competition for scarce water. And it lays out a strategy for correcting a startling flaw of the modern irrigation age — its failure to better the lives of the majority of the world's poorest farmers.

The countries that make up the MENA region display wide diversity. One of the poorest countries in the world sits alongside two of the wealthiest, whilst the region's natural resources range from immeasurable oil and gas reserves to some of the scantiest natural endowments anywhere in the world. Yet through this diversity runs a common thread: water scarcity. Now, through the impact of human development and climate change, the water resource itself is changing,bringing new risks and increasing the vulnerability of all those dependent on water. Chris Ward and Sandra Ruckstuhl assess the increased challenges now facing the countries of the region, placing particular emphasis on water scarcity and the resultant risks to livelihoods, food security and the environment. They evaluate the risks and reality of climate change in the region, and offer an assessment of the vulnerability of agriculture and livelihoods. In a final section, they explore the options for responding to the new challenges, including policy, institutional, economic and technical measures.

Many countries around the world are struggling with the challenges of water scarcity, including water for crops. Micro irrigation methods are an effective means to make the most efficient use of available water. This volume, Micro Irrigation Scheduling and Practices, continues the efforts of the book series Innovations and Challenges in Micro Irrigation to provide informative and comprehensive knowledge on micro irrigation methods and practices. This new book presents some of the latest information and research on micro irrigation and covers the area of performance, practices, and design, focusing particularly on the performance of vegetable, fruit and row crops in conjunction with different scheduling and practices. Irrigation scheduling is an important water management strategy, and this book addresses scheduling methods and issues. Design aspects of micro irrigation systems have also been discussed in the book. The authors present their research and studies on scheduling practices and design micro irrigation systems with a variety of fruits and vegetables, including peppers, chili, watermelon, oranges, banana, litchi, rice, sugarcane, sorghum, and marigolds. Micro Irrigation Scheduling and Practices will serve as a valuable reference for researchers, water resources professionals, agricultural extension agencies, farmers, and faculty and students.

This book presents a variety of policy adoption methods, irrigation scheduling, and design procedures in micro irrigation engineering for horticultural crops. The chapters range from policy interventions to applications of systems for different crops and under different land conditions. Compiling valuable information and research, the book is divided into three main sections: Policy Options: Drip Irrigation Among Adopters Irrigation Scheduling of Horticultural Crops Design of Drip Irrigation Systems The editors present valuable research and information on micro irrigation methods in an effort to focus on innovation and evolving new paradigms for efficient utilization of water resources. The adoption of micro irrigation systems can be a panacea for irrigation related problems and can help to increase the yield and area under cultivation, especially for small farmers without abundant technological resources. Micro Irrigation Engineering for Horticultural Crops: Policy Options, Scheduling, and Design will be valuable for agricultural engineering students, irrigation engineers, and scientists/professors in engineering.