1st Edition

Soil Water and Agronomic Productivity

Edited By Rattan Lal, B.A. Stewart Copyright 2012
    594 Pages 203 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Crop water use can be increased by management of surface runoff, groundwater, irrigation, and soil water. Technological innovations to enhance availability of water for agricultural crops depend on soil and site-specific conditions. Devoted to the principles and practices of enhancing water use efficiency, Soil Water and Agronomic Productivity addresses current problems associated with water supplies required for agricultural purposes and food production.

    Written for professionals and students in agricultural fields, the book focuses on innovative technologies for improving soil water availability, enhancing water use efficiency, and using productive irrigation systems. It also presents techniques to conserve water in the root zone as well as remote sensing techniques to assess soil water regime and predict drought on a regional scale.

    Soil water management is crucial to reducing the vulnerability to agronomic drought. There are numerous examples of aquifers that have been severely depleted by misuse and mismanagement. Soil Water and Agronomic Productivity explains the factors and causes of the mismanagement of soil water and proposes options for sustainable and efficient use of scarce water resources. Meeting the global food demand will require careful worldwide management of soil and water resources, and this can only be done by sharing information and knowledge.

    Part of the Advances in Soil Science Series

    Water and Agronomic Productivity
    Global Water Balance and Agronomic Production in Relation to Food Security
    Raveendra Kumar Rai and Vijay P. Singh
    Soil Water and Agronomic Production
    Rattan Lal

    Water Resources and Agriculture
    Changes in Precipitation During the Twentieth Century Across a Latitude Gradient in the United States
    Anjali Dubey and Rattan Lal
    Desired Future Conditions for Groundwater Availability in the High Plains Aquifer System
    Z. Sheng, C. Wang, J. Gastelum, S. Zhao, and J. Bordovsky
    Competition Between Environmental, Urban, and Rural Groundwater Demands and the Impacts on Agriculture in Edwards Aquifer Area, Texas
    Venkatesh Uddameri and Vijay P. Singh
    Sustaining Groundwater Use in South Asia
    Meharban Singh Kahlon, Rattan Lal, and Pritpal Singh Lubana
    Water Resources and Agronomic Productivity in West Asia and North Africa Region
    Mostafa Ibrahim, Rattan Lal, ElSayed Abdel Bary, and Atef Swelam
    Water Management for Crop Production in Arid Lands
    A.J. Clemmens, K.F. Bronson, D.J. Hunsaker, and E. Bautista

    Irrigation and Soil Water Management
    Site-Specific Irrigation Management: Precision Agriculture for Improved Water-Use Efficiency
    Susan A. O’Shaughnessy, Steve R. Evett, Paul D. Colaizzi, Terry A. Howell, and Robert G. Evans
    Sustainable Soil Water Management Systems
    G. Basch, A. Kassam, T. Friedrich, F.L. Santos, P.I. Gubiani, A. Calegari, J.M. Reichert, and D.R. dos Santos
    Sustainable Management of Brackish Water Agriculture
    P.S. Minhas
    China’s Food Security and Soil Water Management: A Green-Water and Blue-Water Approach
    Li Baoguo and Huang Feng

    Agronomic Management of Soil and Crop
    Sustainable Management of Scarce Water Resource in Tropical Rainfed Agriculture
    Suhas P. Wani, Kaushal K. Garg, Anil Kumar Singh, and Johan Rockström
    Manipulating Crop Geometries to Increase Yields in Dryland Areas
    B.A. Stewart and Rattan Lal
    Mulch Tillage for Conserving Soil Water
    Paul W. Unger, R. Louis Baumhardt, and Francisco J. Arriaga
    Enhancing Precipitation Use Efficiency in the World’s Dryland Agroecosystems
    G.A. Peterson, D.G. Westfall, and N.C. Hansen
    Historical and Present Usage of Shatian Gravel Mulch for Crop Production in Arid and Semiarid Regions of Northwestern China
    Liang Wei-li, Gao Wang-sheng, Xu Qiang, and Huang Gao-bao
    Improving Wheat Yield and Water-Use Efficiency under Semiarid Environment: The US Southern Great Plains and China’s Loess Plateau
    Qingwu Xue, Wenzhao Liu, and B.A. Stewart

    Policy and Economics
    Sustainable Land and Water Management Policies
    Claudia Ringler and Ephraim Nkonya

    Tools of Watershed Management
    Watershed Management for Erosion and Sedimentation Control Case Study: Goodwin Creek, Panola County, MS
    Seth M. Dabney, F. Doug Shields, Ronald L. Bingner, Roger A. Kuhnle, and James R. Rigby

    Research and Development Priorities
    Toward Enhancing Storage of Soil Water and Agronomic Productivity
    Rattan Lal

    Biography

    Rattan Lal is a professor of soil physics in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, FAES/OARDC at the Ohio State University.

    B.A. Stewart is Distinguished Professor of Soil Science at West Texas A & M University, in Canyon. He is also Director of the Dryland Agriculture Institute.