is the process of man-made reclamation of deserts for ecological reasons (biodiversity), farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other Life support systems.
Get a water source,get irrigational facilities,cultivate the land,add manure to the land,plant drought resistant crops,practice water conservation techniques like mulching,do early harvesting of crop.Thanks
Preparing desert land for agriculture involves several factors...stakeholder approval is key. But the techniques for doing this conversion have been cleverly discussed by Dr. Abiodun and Dr. Muthana. Best regards
The desert lands are reclaimed by choosing the best irrigation method, secondly selecting crops that bear environmental conditions, and adding organic matter to the soil as it is poor soil with nutrients
Well until and unless govt. Support is there,it is a difficult to achieve target.However, Israel has proved this exercise to be successful and remunerative.
First find water from depth if possible and then get fertilizers, gypsum, limestone, etc. Water is number one priority and it can be found underground.
It is so hard in this type of environment (hot,SALINITY and drought STRESSES),I think we don't have enough water to plant more areas in the desert and water management is old and bad
Strategic planning to start on a small piece of land seems to be better which can be gradually enhanced as ecosystem around cultivated area change to favourable environment.
first of all you have to check the water availablity from two points :quantity and wter quality acording to this point you will draw part of your plan, then you have to test the soil to find soil texture ,soil salinty ,soil ec, organic containt ratio, after these primary tests we may plan how to cultivate this land, bearing in mind that feseby study of the operation over all
Climate change is a reality. Long term projection for traditional farming is alarming due the the risks associated by climate change. Last year 2017 crop losses in the Asia Pacific area was greater than US$28 billion due to climate change
I am working on promoting farming in shipping containers which removes the risks for the farmer by providing predictable outcomes whilst using very little water.
My point is that since water resources are already dwindling over the globe for agrarian purpose.In that contest do you think addition of desert land for agrarian purpose will get any priority over maintaining the existing arable land with limited water available for irrigation ? let us deliberate to reach to a conclusive inference.
Agriculture already uses >60% of the world's fresh water. It is irresponsible to use more of this valuable resource on agriculture areas which are not suitable for agriculture. Time and money would be best spent on how to produce crops conserving/using the the water more efficiently.
Peru has an excellent record, experience and research cultivating in the 'Desert. The Peruvian Institute of the Desert can be a good contact (in Spanish: Instituto Peruano de Desierto). Check some images: https://www.google.com/search?q=agricultura+en+el+desierto+peruano&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH2YePstrYAhWuRN8KHRFqDZEQsAQIOg&biw=911&bih=431&dpr=1.5
I live in South Africa which is a dry country with only 12% arable land.
Agriculture uses 60% of the water available in South Africa.
Due to climate change and weather climate cycles, the Western Cape which is one of South Africa's main agriculture production areas is facing a 3rd year of ruinous production due to below rainfall. The storage dams which supply the city of Cape Town only have 20% usable water left. Many other towns in the Western Cape, water from storage dams has dried up.
The point I am making is that water is a scarce resource and cannot be indiscriminately wasted.
A hectare of field lettuce requires a 4 million litres of water. If the lettuce is farmed in a controlled environment using hydroponic methods the water use can be reduced to 100 000 liters with a predictable outcome.
For a farmer which is a risky venture, knowing input costs and a predictable yield makes farming a more attractive business.