This study examines the water productivity of irrigated wheat and maize yields in Karkheh River Basin (KRB) in the semi-arid region of Iran using a coupled modeling approach consisting of the hydrological model (SWAT) and the river basin water allocation model (MODSIM). Dynamic irrigation requirements instead of constant time series of demand were considered. As the cereal production of KRB pla...

Careful management of plant nutrients is more important than ever because of volatile grain/fertilizer price ratios and public concerns about water quality impairment due to excess nutrient loss from fields. The management concepts most relevant to increase the efficacy of crop production while limiting water quality impairment are different for nitrogen (N) than for less mobile nutrients such ...

The cultivation of agricultural soils has until recently predominantly been achieved by inverting the soil using tools such as the plough. Soil tillage is one of the basic and important components of agricultural production technology. Various forms of tillage are practised throughout the world, ranging from the use of simple stick or jab to the sophisticated para-plough. The practices develope...

Ongoing expansion of large-scale agriculture critically threatens natural habitats and the pollination services they offer. Creating patches with high plant diversity within farmland is commonly suggested as a measure to benefit pollinators. However, farmers rarely adopt such practice, instead removing naturally occurring plants (weeds). By combining pollinator exclusion experiments with analys...

How effective adaptation practices in response to climate change are is a crucial question confronting farmers across the world. Using detailed plot-level data from a specifically designed survey conducted in 2013, this paper investigates whether there are productive benefits for farmers who adapt to climate change in Pakistan. The impact of implementing on-farm adaptation strategies is estimat...

continuing agricultural expansion and urban development in saudi arabia, (located in an arid climate), together with an increased demands for more water supplies, calls for more efficient irrigation practices, and an increase in crop water productivity (cwp). throughout the present study, a deficit irrigation system was investigated for its impact on soil salinity, crop response factor (ky), cw...

Ideas about how plant competition varies with productivity are rooted in classic theories that predict either increasing (Grime) or invariant (Tilman) competition with increasing productivity. Both predictions have received experimental support, although a decade-old meta-analysis supports neither. Attempts to reconcile the conflicting predictions and evidence include: expanding the theory to i...

Agriculture in rainfed dry areas is often challenged by inadequate water and nutrient supplies. Summerfallowing has been used to conserve rainwater and promote the release of nitrogen via the N mineralization of soil organic matter. However, summerfallowing leaves land without any crops planted for one entire growing season, creating lost production opportunity. Additionally, summerfallowing ha...

World food security is under challenge to a great extent due to effects of climate change, continued population growth and resource-depleting practices on agriculture (IAASTD, 2009). Presently poor farmers use either organic manure or inorganic fertilizers (Mando et al., 2005; Topoliantz et al., 2005) for maintaining soil fertility as they cannot afford to apply fertilizers as a nutrient source...