Drought Research Priorities for the Dryland Tropics

Abstract

This book is the product of a consultants' meeting held at the International Crops Researech Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Patancheru, India, on 17-20 Nov 1986. The meeting brought together specialists from a number of disciplines to discuss priorities for applied research on improving crop production in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The invitees were asked to focus on research topics with a high degree of promise for the short to medium term, with a particular emphasis on the application of existing knowledge or technology to the problems of the dry tropics. The meeting was organized into four separate sessions, which have been retained as the four parts of this book. Parts 1 and 2 deal with more effective means of analyzing the climate of dry environments and of selecting technologies to f i t the expected moisture patterns. Part 1 considers methodologies for using climate data in conjunction with soil, atmospheric, and crop data to provide a quantitative picture of crop-available moisture in dry environments. Part 2 looks at the basis of, and at methods for, fitting crops, crop and soil management systems, and crop varieties to the specific environments in which they are the most productive and/or provide the greatest stability of production