Erosion took a serious toll of prime topsoil from wheat fields in the Pacific Northwest United States since farming began in the 1870s. By the mid-1900s, it had become a serious environmental and economic threat to the region that produces world-record rainfed grain yields and almost 13% of the US wheat crop. Of significance is that 80% of the nation’s specialty soft white wheat is grown here f...

We propose the concept of ‘agri-vector water’ (AVW) to refer water allocated towns maintain urban-based agricultural services that support rainfed farming in surrounding areas. AVW captures idea highly scarce ‘blue can be productively used this way ‘green rather than applied as consumptive irrigation, especially when latter exacerbates shortages during drought and dry seasons arid semi-arid reg...

Rainfed agriculture is practised on 80% of the world’s agricultural area and generates 60–70% of the world’s staple food1 (FAOSTAT, 2005). In semi-arid and dry subhumid zones, rainfed agriculture dominates food production systems, and water is a key limiting factor to crop growth (SEI, 2005). Since approximately 70% of the world’s poor are women, the importance of rainfed sources of food weighs...

Changes in soil physical and chemical properties were evaluated in several on-farm studies located in rainfed, hardsetting red Al®sols (Ferric Luvisols) and in irrigated, self-mulching Vertisols (Chromic Vertisols) of eastern Australia. The objective of the studies was to evaluate changes in soil physical and chemical properties with time under commercial farming situations where changes had be...

The results of two field trials to determine the effect of ratoon stunting disease on the growth and yield of some widely grown and newly released sugarcane varieties are described. In the plant crop of a trial grown under full irrigation, the greatest reductions in yields of cane and sugar among six varieties, approximately 15%, occurred in N 14 and NC0376. In the first ratoon, the greatest re...

In the future the Mallee is going to be hot and dry. Farming in the Mallee is going to be very profitable sometimes, middling profitable in some years and not profitable at all at times as has always been the case. In 10 years time there will be less Mallee farmers; they will be farming a little differently to now; and most will earn a good living. The scale of operations will be greater. The r...

The growth status of winter wheat in irrigated field and rainfed field are obviously different and the field types may have an effect on the predictive accuracy of hyperspectral model. The objectives of the present study were to understand the difference of spectral sensitive wavelengths for leaf area index (LAI) in two field types and realize its hyperspectral prediction. In study, a total of ...