Dry and wet spells in dryland agriculture

Not AvailableAgriculture in dryland regions is largely determined by climatic and edaphic features. Development of an improved crop-production technology to increase and stabilize food production in these areas requires a complete and quantitative understanding of the time and spatial variation of the natural resources, and their influence on crop growth and productivity The distinctive characteristics of the tropical environment have major influence on the distribution of natural resources viz., soils, rainfall, and climate. These areas are well supplied with radiant energy; however, due to variations in the weather systems and orographic influences, a variety of rainfall patterns are produced. Because of the high evaporative demand during most of the growing season, variations in the timing and amount of precipitation are generally the key factors influencing the agricultural production potential of a given region. Several researchers have laid stress on the need for the quantification of the variability of climatic factors. For semi-arid tropical areas, the most commonly considered element is precipitation. These are characterized by seasonally wet and dry climates. The crop growing season, which usually coincides with the length of the humid period, is subject to great fluctuations. Therefore for agricultural development planning, knowledge of the reliability of the duration and characteristics of humid season are very essential.Not Availabl