Agrohydrology _ Recent Developments

This book contains papers presented at the Symposium Agrohydrology, in which scientists from 20 countries participated. The objective of the symposium was the presentation and discussion of recent developments in agrohydrology, for which four central themes were chosen. As might be expected, approximately fifty percent of the papers deal with drainage, still the focal point of agrohydrology. A number of these papers treat in particular the effects of drainage on crops and farm management, whereas others are devoted to such aspects as preferential flow and drainage of special soils. Since water conservation is a very broad subject, the papers presented within this theme do not cover all aspects, but are limited to such areas as water harvesting, soil water conservation, irrigation scheduling, and changes in quality and quantity of groundwater. The hydrology of nature reserves is receiving more and more attention, since these reserves are often affected by qualitative and quantitative changes of the environment. There is a growing consensus that improvement of water management should not only serve agricultural purposes, but also aim at protecting nature reserves.