Contents: Preface. 1. Shelterbelt studies in Thar desert of India/R.S. Mertia. 2. Grape research in north India/Atul Chandra and Anju Chandra. 3. The genus Cymbopogon : significance and utilisation/A.K. Shahi. 4. Crop production in hot desert of India/N.D. Yadava and I.C. Gupta. 5. Fertiliser management in sodic soils/L.L. Somani, M.C. Mundra, P.C. Kanthaliya and R.A. Singhania. 6. Retrospects and prospects of vegetation mapping with special reference to Indian arid zone/Suresh Kumar.

"For over a century, the arid lands in the world had been struggling hard to extricate themselves from the deficit of moisture and nutrition and the owner formers from the absymal troughs of poverty and squalor to emerge out of the undulated terrains of lopsided growth and unequal distribution. Efforts of the soil scientists, agronomists, plant breeders, plant physiologists and agricultural engineers have been afoot to diagnose and rectify the limps and shrinks of the problematic lands all over the world. The accurate and precise identification of the problems facing the arid zones is very important because the right and useful treatment accruing practical results depends on that. The new serial publication is an attempt to evaluate critically the present knowledge on the management of 'Arid Zones' with respect to agriculture. It is hoped that bringing information together in different volumes will not only contribute to the advancement of knowledge but also help to solve the food problem of the world through better management of arid lands under desertification." (jacket)

[I.C. Gupta is working as Principal Scientist at Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur.] No. 7122

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