Download or read book Agricultural Production and Groundwater Conservation written by Frank van Steenbergen and published by Asian Development Bank. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change and declining water resources threaten food production systems worldwide, increasing the need for efficient agricultural processes. The Shanxi Province of the People's Republic of China has been experiencing declining groundwater tables since 1956. This publication provides examples of how the Asian Development Bank's development support met the rising challenges in water security, food production, and climate change faced by communities in the Shanxi Province. It describes initiatives in four counties in the Shanxi Province selected as pilot areas, where traditional farmers learned modern methods of groundwater use and management. As a result, options for more sustainable use of groundwater were introduced, while farm labor was reduced, crop yields increased, and water was used more efficiently.
Download or read book Engineering Practices for Agricultural Production and Water Conservation written by Megh R. Goyal and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This informative new book takes an interdisciplinary look at agricultural and food production and how new engineering practices can be used to enhance production. With contributions from international experts from India, Russia, China, Serbia, and USA, this book presents a selection of chapters on some of these emerging practices, focusing on soil and water conservation and management; agricultural processing engineering; water quality and management; emerging agricultural crops; renewable energy use in agriculture; and applications of nanotechnology in agriculture.
Download or read book Agriculture and the Environment written by Noel D. Uri and published by Nova Publishers. This book was released on 2006 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agriculture in the United States is in the midst of a major transition motivated by economic and environmental factors. These include water quality and quantity, soil erosion, and the compatibility of agricultural production practices and the quality of the environment. Within the context of this change, US agricultural policy seeks to balance several objectives including an abundance of food and fibre at reasonable prices, economic security for agricultural producers, and conservation of natural resources. Agricultural chemical use and soil and water quality degradation associated with agricultural production are significant among the environmental problems confronting the United States. In fact, these are now perceived as environmental problems comparable to other environmental problems such as air quality deterioration and the release of toxic pollutants from industrial sources. While the growth of agricultural chemical use is an integral part of the technological revolution in agriculture that has generated major changes in production techniques, uncertainties about the health effects of agricultural chemicals are very important concerns. Severe soil degradation from erosion, compaction, or salinisation can destroy the productive capacity of the soil. It can also impair water quality from sediment and agricultural chemicals. This important new book looks at both of these significant issues - the relationship between agricultural chemical use and the environment and the relationship between soil and water quality degradation associated with agricultural production and the environment.
Download or read book Water and Sustainable Agriculture written by Iván Francisco García-Tejero and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-08-03 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Irrigated agriculture, a vital component of general agriculture, supplies fruits, vegetables, and cereals consumed by humans and grains fed to animals. Consequently, agriculture is the largest user of fresh water globally, and irrigation practices in many parts of the world are biologically, economically, and socially unsustainable. Water management should balance the need for agricultural water and the need for a sustainable environment. Water-use efficiency is the prime challenge in worldwide farming practices where problems of water shortages are widespread. Currently, agriculture is undergoing significant changes in innovative irrigation, fertilizer technology, and agronomic expertise. These elements constitute a vital platform for sustainable agricultural success and for preventing environmental damage. This review presents several processes linked to environmental irrigation, balancing environmental protection with improved agricultural production.
Download or read book Groundwater Governance and Agricultural Sustainability written by Zachary Matthew Goldstein and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change has exacerbated groundwater depletion globally, and policymakers have struggled to effectively manage groundwater resources. California enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014 to restore groundwater to sustainable levels. The first paper of this thesis examines the drivers associated with uptake of groundwater conservation practices in agriculture. While a rich body of research has explored farmers' conservation practice adoption, understanding of groundwater conservation practices is more limited. This study explores how information sources influence the actual and intended adoption of groundwater management practices in California. Using survey data from farmers (n = 553) in three largely agricultural counties of California, we examine the extent to which farmers' preferred and actual sources for information related to SGMA are associated with adoption of groundwater conservation practices while controlling for farm and farmer attributes. We find that farmer trust in groundwater policy information from informal sources such as other farmers, social media, and popular media is negatively associated with both current adoption and intended future adoption of groundwater conservation practices. These findings suggest that policymakers and extension agents seeking to spread conservation information could tap into peer-to-peer networks and partner with a diverse range of organizations to ensure that they send trusted information to farmers. The second paper of this thesis assesses local variation in SGMA implementation. The legislation is implemented by local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (or "Agencies"), which can be formed from different kinds of public institutions. Some types of Agencies, such as irrigation and reclamation districts, primarily represent the water interests of farmers, whereas others such as county and municipal governments represent a broader array of interests. We hypothesize that farmers in Agencies governed by farmer-oriented entities are on average more likely to participate in SGMA implementation and have more favorable perceptions of SGMA implementation and dispute resolution options via Agencies. We use mail survey data (n = 424) in three California counties and publicly available geospatial data from the US Department of Agriculture Cropland Data Layer to control for the prevalence of agriculture in an Agency or county. We run three ordered logistic regressions and find that Agency type is not significantly associated with farmer participation in SGMA implementation or perceptions of SGMA implementation or dispute resolution via Agencies. However, whether the farmer is a member of their local Farm Bureau does appear to be a significant positive predictor of participation in and favorable perceptions of SGMA implementation. This suggests that better-connected farmers may be more likely to participate in and benefit from SGMA implementation. Thus, policymakers should consider inequities in political capital both across and within stakeholder groups.
Download or read book Ogallala written by John Opie and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2018-08 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ogallala aquifer, a vast underground water reserve extending from South Dakota through Texas, is the product of eons of accumulated glacial melts, ancient Rocky Mountain snowmelts, and rainfall, all percolating slowly through gravel beds hundreds of feet thick. Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land is an environmental history and historical geography that tells the story of human defiance and human commitment within the Ogallala region. It describes the Great Plains' natural resources, the history of settlement and dryland farming, and the remarkable irrigation technologies that have industrialized farming in the region. This newly updated third edition discusses three main issues: long-term drought and its implications, the efforts of several key groundwater management districts to regulate the aquifer, and T. Boone Pickens's failed effort to capture water from the aquifer to supply major Texas urban areas. This edition also describes the fierce independence of Texas ranchers and farmers who reject any governmental or bureaucratic intervention in their use of water, and it updates information about the impact of climate change on the aquifer and agriculture. Read Char Miller's article on theconversation.com to learn more about the Ogallala Aquifer.
Download or read book Essays on Producer Profitability Strategies and Attitudes for Water Conservation in the Texas High Plains written by MariKate Crouch and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water is a vital resource for agricultural crop production in the Texas Panhandle and greater Texas High Plains Area. This semi-arid region relies almost solely on the Ogallala Aquifer as the primary source of water. Three studies were conducted to evaluated producer profitability, water management strategies, and producers' attitudes towards water conservation for the region. Study one focuses on the top 26 counties, known as the Texas Panhandle. Producers in the area are evaluating new strategies to diversify their operations. Vegetable and vegetable seed production are examined for potential impacts on producers' profitability. Analyzing the feasibility of specialty high-value crops will allow producers to make informed decision regarding the addition of vegetables and vegetable seed to their operations. Yields, costs, and revenue from high tunnel productions systems are compared to the standard open field systems. The study suggests high tunnels produce higher yields, but require a higher initial investment cost. With the support of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service's High Tunnel Initiative program, producers can decrease their initial investment costs to increase overall profit. Agricultural production dominates water use in the area and is projected to account for 92 percent of total water use by 2020. Since agriculture is such an essential sector of the regional economy, prolonging irrigation capability through improvements in crop production methods is warranted. The area of concern and evaluation in study two consists of Texas' northernmost 21 counties where groundwater withdrawal rates continue to exceed the aquifer's recharge rate, resulting in less available irrigation resources. Within the region, seven counties in the Panhandle Water Planning Area of Texas are projected to incur water shortages in the 2020-2070 planning horizon. A regional analysis evaluating several agricultural water conservation strategies and combinations to address the decline of water use in the region is presented. The analysis examines potential water savings and implementation costs associated with the alternative strategies to provide useful information to stakeholders such as producers, groundwater conservation districts, and regional water planning groups. Study number three evaluates the counties within the greater Texas High Plains. Twenty producers were surveyed to obtain information on their water conservation management practices and attitude towards such efforts. Results indicated producers are implementing multiple irrigation technologies and management practices. Respondents were all concerned with the future water availability in the area. This study provided researchers feedback to reassess the survey for future studies.
Download or read book Agriculture a River Runs Through it written by Paul D. Capel and published by Geological Survey. This book was released on 2018 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Format not distributed to depository libraries.
Download or read book Innovative approaches to agricultural water use for improving food security in Sub Saharan Africa written by A. Inocencio and published by IWMI. This book was released on 2003 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper provides an overview of innovative options for developing and using water for food production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in light of the growing scarcity and competition for water resources. These options include rainwater harvesting, selective development of wetlands for agriculture, exploitation of shallow groundwater, and recycling urban waste. The options are largely based on low-cost individualized technologies, which lend themselves to private-sector promotion.Water-demand management approaches are also discussed.
Download or read book Policies Drain the North China Plain written by Eloise Kendy and published by IWMI. This book was released on 2003 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The report examines the relationships between agricultural policies in the North China Plain, the approaches to water management that evolved from them, the quantity of water that was actually used, and the consequent groundwater depletion beneath Luancheng County, Hebei Province, from 1949 to 2000. To systematically address these relationships, we use a comprehensive water-balance approach. Our results indicate that a single, longstanding policy-that of using groundwater to meet the crop-water requirements not supplied by precipitation-is responsible for the steady rate of groundwater decline.
Download or read book Soil and Water Quality written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1993-02-01 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can the United States meet demands for agricultural production while solving the broader range of environmental problems attributed to farming practices? National policymakers who try to answer this question confront difficult trade-offs. This book offers four specific strategies that can serve as the basis for a national policy to protect soil and water quality while maintaining U.S. agricultural productivity and competitiveness. Timely and comprehensive, the volume has important implications for the Clean Air Act and the 1995 farm bill. Advocating a systems approach, the committee recommends specific farm practices and new approaches to prevention of soil degradation and water pollution for environmental agencies. The volume details methods of evaluating soil management systems and offers a wealth of information on improved management of nitrogen, phosphorus, manure, pesticides, sediments, salt, and trace elements. Landscape analysis of nonpoint source pollution is also detailed. Drawing together research findings, survey results, and case examples, the volume will be of interest to federal, state, and local policymakers; state and local environmental and agricultural officials and other environmental and agricultural specialists; scientists involved in soil and water issues; researchers; and agricultural producers.
Download or read book Water Scarcity written by Ernest A. Engelbert and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural production in the semi-arid western United States is dependent on irrigation. Population in the seventeen western states has been and is expected to continue increasing. Groundwater levels are declining throughout the region with long-term pumping and increased demands leading to greater pumping lifts and costs, land subsidence, and salt water intrusion into groundwater basins. Construction and operation costs of future water development in these states will be great, both in dollars and in economic and social effects. Competition for the available water supply due to increased demands in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors continues to increase. Although considerable attention has been given to some aspects of declining water supplies for irrigated agriculture in particular areas, this is the first volume to adress in a comprehensive manner the effects of scarce water supplies on agricultural production and the resultant impacts at regional, state, national, and international levels. Over seventy experts, representing all the major physical and social sciences as well as industries examine the issues and conclude that important decisions must be made at all levels of government and private enterprise if the prosperity and quality of life in the region are to be maintained. Specific technical, economic, institutional, and managerial solutions are recommended to forestall an impending water crisis. All segments of society--agriculturalists, urbanites, food processors, land developers, environmentalists, and others--have major stakes in the outcome of any action for future water supplies and distribution in the West. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1984.
Download or read book Water smart agriculture in East Africa written by Nicol, A. and published by IWMI. This book was released on 2015-03-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Agricultural Water Management written by Premjit Sharma and published by . This book was released on 2008-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural Water Management Is Not A Goal In Itself But Part Of A Process Of Resource Management That Provides A Key Input To Agricultural Production And Farmer Incomes. It Includes Irrigation And Drainage, Water Management In Rainfed Agriculture, Recycled Water Reuse, Water And Land Conservation, And Watershed Management. It Covers All Irrigated Agriculture, Whether Fed By Surface Water Or Groundwater, Including Both Public Schemes And Millions Of Private Individually Irrigated Farms, In A Wide Range Of Agro-Climatic Conditions, And In A Broad Set Of Production Systems And Water Management Contexts. This Book Highlights The Importance Of Agricultural Water Management And Describes The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Conventional And Innovative Systems For The Treatment And Disposal Of Agricultural Water. It Would Be A Useful Reference Tool For Policy Makers, Project Managers, Development Organisations, Researchers And Other Interest Groups Working For Effective Agricultural Water Management. Contents Chapter 1: Potentials Of Water In Agriculture; Chapter 2: On Farm Water Management; Chapter 3: Water Table Management; Chapter 4: Drainage Water Assessment; Chapter 5: Agricultural Water Reuse; Chapter 6: Capacity Assessment In Agricultural Water Management; Chapter 7: Drainage Water Management; Chapter 8: Economic Evaluation Of Agricultural Water Resources.
Download or read book Soil and Water Conservation Policies and Programs written by Ted L. Napier and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1999-11-24 with total page 654 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For as far into the future as we can see, governments will probably topple, power will continue to exchange hands, the climate will undergo continuous change, and the global economy will ebb and flow like the oceans. But for the world's many diverse countries-whether they be highly industrialized or third world-one thing will always remain constant: the need to solve the planet's pressing soil and water conservation problems, as well as implement effective policies. But why do some policy initiatives succeed while others fail? Soil and Water Conservation Policies and Programs: Successes and Failures addresses this very question. Based on an international conference held in Prague, this book debates the strengths and weaknesses of soil and water conservation initiatives implemented in North America, Europe, and Australia. Soil and water conservation policies in the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, and other countries are examined through the eyes of technical and soil scientists. And the book also addresses specialized topics, such as agricultural pollution abatement in Poland, and private farmers and contemporary conservation subsidy programs in the Czech Republic. With its thorough treatment of the subject matter, Soil and Water Conservation Policies and Programs: Successes and Failures contributes to resolving one of the world's most pressing conservation issues.
Download or read book Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes written by H. Scott Butterfield and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2021-04-08 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the world population grows, so does the demand for food, putting unprecedented pressure on agricultural lands. In many desert dryland regions, however, intensive cultivation is causing their productivity to decline precipitously. "Rewilding" the least productive of these landscapes offers a sensible way to reverse the damage, recover natural diversity, and ensure long-term sustainability of remaining farms and the communities they support. This accessibly written, groundbreaking contributed volume is the first to examine in detail what it would take to retire eligible farmland and restore functioning natural ecosystems. The lessons in Rewilding Agricultural Landscapes will be useful to conservation leaders, policymakers, groundwater agencies, and water managers looking for inspiration and practical advice for solving the complicated issues of agricultural sustainability and water management.
