Contents: Series editor's introduction/Rakesh Hooja. Volumes editors' introduction/Rakesh Hooja and R.K. Choubisa. I. Development of desert areas: 1. Scientific approach for arresting the desert/H.S. Mann. 2. Social aspects of desert development/S.P. Malhotra. 3. Monitoring of desertification/K.A. Shankarnarayan. 4. Integrative mechanism in the desert development administration in Rajasthan: a view from 1980/Ramesh K. Arora. 5. The development delivery system in a desert district in the 1980s/Rakesh Hooja. 6. A methodological note on area development programming: some reflections on Western Rajasthan, 1975/Harsh Sethi. 7. Combating desertification in drylands: a planned approach/R.P. Singh. 8. Grassland management for desert reclamation and rangeland development/L.D. Ahuja. 9. Public health problems in desert environment/B.S. Chauhan. II. Water and watershed development: 10. Water in the development of desert area and the origins of Rajasthan Canal Project: a view from 1980/Kanwar Sain. 11. Delivery systems for rural development: watershed development and the creation of a watershed department in Rajasthan/Anirudh Krishna. 12. Community-based organisations and Panchayats as instruments of governance in the sphere of watershed development/Rakesh Hooja and Rakshat Hooja. 13. Watershed plus in Rajasthan/M.K. Khanna. 14. Popular knowledge, participatory planning and creating a path to development: looking at the viability of methods used by Tarun Bharat Sangh for undertaking water harvesting projects in Rajasthan/Rakshat Hooja. III. Agricultural development in arid areas: 15. Some challenges and strategies of agricultural development and land water management for Rajasthan in the 1980s/Bhupendra Hooja. 16. Area development authorities conceptualised: designing area development programmes in agriculture and allied sectors/Nathu Ram Mirdha. 17. Planning priorities and development policies in agriculture/Bhupendra Hooja. 18. Problems of agricultural marketing in the desert areas of Rajasthan/S.P. Vishnoi. 19. Optimisation of crop production in desert land/A.N. Lahiri. 20. Forestry in the western Rajasthan/C.M. Mathur. Famines and droughts: 21. Prediction of drought in Arid Rajasthan folklore/Sanjay Sharma. 22. Famine code and its administration in nineteenth century Rajasthan/Kamala Jain. 23. Famines and droughts in Rajasthan/J.P. Kanawa. 24. Facing famine fearlessly: services way!/I.C. Shrivastava.
"The development of desert areas, administration of drought-prone regions, arid zone agriculture, watershed development and 'watershed plus', water use in arid and semi-arid areas, coping with drought--these are all of the vital importance for the rainfed or dry farming areas in the country. Their administration provides a special challenge as well as an exciting opportunity for innovative sustainable development.
From scientific and planned approaches to arresting or combating deserts and monitoring desertification to social aspects of desert development, the development delivery system in desert districts, integrative machinery for desert development administration, grassland management and health problems in deserts, area development programmes and area development authorities, various aspects of watershed development, including the role of the government watershed departments, community-based organizations and panchayats in watershed and 'watershed plus', the undertaking of water harvesting projects, water as a tool in desert development, agriculture and land water management in arid areas, optimizing crop production, agriculture marketing, forestry and predicting and facing drought as well as the famine code and drought administration virtually every gamut of administering desert and drought-prone arid areas as well as places restricted to dry farming and rainfed agriculture finds mention in this volume.
The 24 articles by experts and practitioners divided into four sections, along with the crispy editors' introduction, make this book of special relevance to those interested in the development of desert and drought prone arid areas in India." (jacket)
