Rainfed Farming Systems

While a good grasp of the many separate aspects of agriculture is important, it is equally essential for all those involved in agriculture to understand the functioning of the farming system as a whole and how it can be best managed. It is necessary to re-assess and understand rain-fed farming systems around the world and to find ways to improve the selection, design and operation of such systems for long term productivity, profitability and sustainability. The components of the system must operate together efficiently; yet many of the relationships and interactions are not clearly understood. Appreciation of these matters and how they are affected by external influences or inputs are important for decision making and for achieving desirable outcomes for the farm as a whole. This book analyses common rain-fed farming systems and defines the principles and practices important to their effective functioning and management. This involves an understanding of the relationships between the system components and between the systems and their environment, as well as the practices involved. It is done in the context of many challenges for agriculture: climatic variability and long term climatic change; degradation of most agricultural soils; spread of diseases, pests and weeds; rapid innovation in technology in some countries; and the interaction of market and political forces at both local and global levels.