View article

Considering the persistently growing pressure on finite freshwater and soil resources, it becomes increasingly clear that the challenge of feeding tomorrow's world population is, to a large extent, about improved water productivity within present land use. Rainfed agriculture plays a critical role in this respect. Eighty percent of the agricultural land worldwide is under rainfed agriculture, with generally low yield levels and high on-farm water losses. Ninety-five percent of current population growth occurs in developing countries and a significant proportion of these people still depend on a predominantly rainfed-based rural economy. This chapter presents the agrohydrological rationale for focusing on water productivity in rainfed agriculture, identifies key management challenges in attempts to upgrade rainfed agriculture and presents a set of field experiences on system options for increased water productivity in …