Dryland Farming: A Systems Approach

Written for students of agriculture and its related disciplines, as well as farmers, this book deals with farming systems in dryland areas, that is, where moisture limits production for at least one part of the growing season. Dryland agriculture based on integrated sheep and cropping farms is important in most mainland states of Australia and examples are also taken from North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The traditional textbooks on agriculture tend to be compartmentalized along discipline lines, for example soils, climate, crop production, pastures, livestock, farm machinery, and economics. However this innovative book approaches agriculture as the farmer must in terms of the various system components, how the operation and management of each affects the others, and how it affects the resource base of soil, water and biological assets. Farming should be both profitable and sustainable; this book, dealing with principles and practice, explains how.