eChapters

After the agricultural activities a number of by-products are obtained and these are known as agricultural waste. These include residues of different crops like stalks, straws, leaves, roots, husks and shells. The animal waste is in the form of manure. All these agricultural wastes are free of cost however; they can be utilized as an important resource (Lionel and Arnold, 1931). Agrawal (1998) has mentioned India as the final dumpyard. The wastes obtained from various resources can be converted into heat, steam, charcoal, methanol, ethanol, biofuel, compost, energy, biogas, construction and high valued chemical compounds. Many times these agri-industrial wastes are not completely utilized and either they rot in open areas or are burned in the fields.

In today’s times, a lot of innovation has come into agriculture. This very hard occupation requires an amalgation of farmers with the scientists. From the rural areas after education the technocrats are moving to the cities and this is creating a great loss to the agriculturists. As the population is growing so is the demand for food. Due to shortage in the storage systems the amount of wastage has increased a lot. It is an important aspect to be looked into. A lot of waste material is seen in the vegetable markets, city markets and near the slums. This causes a lot of pollution and spoils the environment. It is important to know why is it increasing and why the facilities for wastes do not exist.

Participation means different things to different people. They way participant is defined largely depends upon the context and back ground in which participation is applied. While the Economic Commission for Latin America (1973) considers contribution by the people to public programmes to the complete exclusion of any involvement in the decision making process as participation. Cohem and Uphoff (1977) maintain that participation tools includes the peoples involvement in the entire decision making process. Like Cohem & Uphoff, FAO (1982) emphasizes participation in all the decision making processes but by the people’s organization and through self organized action. Paul (1987) introduces the concept of enhancement of well-being in terms of values cherished by the communities as being the ultimate objective of participation.

Agriculture is world’s single largest employer and probably the most weather dependent of all human activities.  Climate and its variability have been and continue to be, the principal source of fluctuations in global food production. Throughout history, extreames of heat and cold, droughts and floods, and various form of violent weather have wretched havoc on the global agricultural production. With the unprecedented increase in population over past few decades, clearly the mankind faces undertaking task to ensure food and nutritional security for all, considering reduced per capita land, reduced availability of water, depleting biodiversity and need to preserve ecology and environment. In India, of the total geographical area of 328 m ha, about 175 m ha (53 % of total) are categorized as degraded land, of which 150 m ha are subjected to serious water and wind erosion (Singh et al. 1981). Crops are sown in about 180 m ha annually. Since it seems very much impossible to bring more area under cultivation we need to achieve greater efficiency in the natural resources use while conserving the environment by placing greater emphasis on understanding and exploiting climatic resources for the benefits of agriculture.

The Gujarat state is located on the north-west of India between 20^o6' N and 24^o42' N latitude and 60^o24' E to 74^o24' longitude. The climate of Gujarat is semi-arid tropical . the summers are very hot, the winter season is uncertain and irregular. The Arabian sea and Gulf of cambay have a moderating effect on the climate of the coastal areas of the state.

The state has a coastline of 1600 km (27% of the country) out of which Saurashtra and Kutch has about 1125 km long coastal line. The total coastal cropped area of the state is 8.75 lakh ha (9.11% of total cultivated area) spread over three agro-climatic regions of the state, out of which 91% comes under arid and semiarid climate type (Table 1). The important crops of the region are groundnut, bajara, sorghum, cotton, and wheat. The ground water availability is also scare. In the state recently the soil degradation through salinity has caught hold over 1.2 m ha of land, of which, about 0.3 m ha occurs in the coastal area. About 1125 km long coastal line is in Saurashtra and Kutch which comprises about 0.1079 m ha of saline land which needs to be treated for salinity reduction.
 

Importance

Drought is a climatic anomaly characterized by deficient supply of moisture, which may result from sub-normal, untimely and unevenly distributed rainfall. Among the various hazards of nature, drought is one of the major disasters because it brings innumerable miseries to the mankind. Almost every year some part or the other of the country suffers from such calamities. Drought is a recurring phenomena and its occurrence cannot be avoided. However, its impact can be minimized through application of science and technology by developing drought management plans.

For better yield irrigation water must be free from soluble salts and from concentration of specific chemical substances that may hazard to soil with respect to salinity, sodicity, alkalinity and toxicity. Water analytical data which helpful to predict the magnitude of the effect of irrigation water on soil and plant growth under specific environmental circumstances so irrigation water must be analyzed for EC, pH, Na+, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, Cl^-, CO₃–, HCO₃-  and SO₄.^– 

Agricultural land drainage is adopted for removal of excess surface and subsurface water, either from irrigation or rainfall in order to improve the profitability of land use.  Drainage also plays a role in removal of salts from the root zone. Therefore, land drainage is closely linked to irrigation in arid and semi arid regions. India has a long history of practicing irrigation and drainage in its semi arid irrigated regions. During the ancient times in the Indus Valley dams and drainage system were built for cultivation of different crops. The earlier experience of drainage was more concerned with surface drainage because from time immemorial India has been experiencing floods of varying magnitudes.

India is an agricultural country. The geographical area of India is about 328 mha out of which 147 mha of land under cultivation and 84-mha land is under irrigation. The population is increasing at an alarming rate that requires producing more food for the growing population. This problem can be solved either by increasing the land under irrigation or using different soil water conservation techniques. It is well known fact that during rainfall a considerable amount of water goes to sea due to high rate of runoff. It is highly needed to trap as much as water falling in the form of rainfall and recharge the groundwater so that it is made available for irrigation purposes.

Mulching

The technique of covering the soil with plastic films or natural crop left over (residues) for soil and water conservations is called mulching.

This technique was practiced by farmers using dry leaves straw, trash, stones etc to conserve water. Presently plastic film have come into use for the purpose of mulching due to inherent advantages.

Introduction

Salinity in India is a major issue affecting the sustainability of irrigated as well as non-irrigated areas particularly in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa. Salt affected soils are unproductive unless excess salts are reduced or removed. These soils occur most extensively in arid and semi-arid climates, but these soils are also found in coastal sea areas where soils are unundated by ocean or sea water. Soils are said to be saline if they contain an excess of soluble salts and sodic or alkali if they contain an excess of sodium salts. Again soils are said to be saline-sodic or saline-alkali if they contain appreciable amounts of both soluble salts and sodium. The impact of salinity manifests itself in several ways. As the salinity increases, not only does the productivity decline but sensitive crops also go out of cultivation and are replaced by salt-tolerant, low value crops and other plant species.

Soil Erosion As a Process
 
Soil erosion is a three stage process, namely (1) detachment, (2) transport, and (3) deposition of soil. Different energy source agents determine different types of erosion. There are four principal sources of energy: physical, such as wind and water, gravity, chemical reactions and anthropogenic, such as tillage. Soil erosion begins with detachment, which is caused by break down of aggregates by raindrop impact, sheering or drag force of water and wind. Detached particles are transported by flowing water (over-land flow and inter-flow) and wind, and deposited when the velocity of water or wind decreases by the effect of slope or ground cover. Processes like dispersion, compaction and crusting, accelerate the natural rate of soil erosion. These processes decrease structural stability, reduce soil strength, exacerbate erodibility and accentuate susceptibility to transport by overland flow, interflow, wind or gravity. These processes are accentuated by soil disturbance (by tillage, vehicular traffic), lack of ground cover (bare fallow, residue removal or burning) and harsh climate (high rainfall intensity and wind velocity).

Aquaculture is the cultivation of fish, molluscs, crustaceans (shell fish) and aquatic plants in controlled conditions, provides an increasingly significant proportion of food production globally. The sector has represented the greatest growth of all food production systems in the last two decades and an estimated 10% yearly increase in output is likely to bring productivity to a predicted 47 million tonnes in the year 2010 (Pedini and Shehadeh, 1997). Significantly, the greatest contribution to total production and the greatest rate of uptake of aquaculture activity is in the developing world. More than 82% of the total global yield in 1999 was produced by developing countries (GESAMP, 2000) and growth rates between 1984 and 1995 were six times higher than that from developed countries (Rana, 1997; Tacon, 1996).

Groundwater is a precious renewable resource which gets replenishment from the precipitation. Total water resources of the world are estimated at 1.37 x 10⁸ million ha-m. Of these, about 97.2% is salt water, mainly in oceans, and only 2.8% is available as fresh water. And, out of this 2.8%, about 2.2% is available as surface water (2.1% is fresh water in glaciers and icecaps, 0.1% is available in lakes and reservoirs, 0.0001% in streams) and 0.6% is available as groundwater. Only 50% of groundwater resource is economically extracted with available technology. Presently, 1.3 x 10⁴ million ha-m fresh water in reservoirs and 41.1x10⁴ million ha-m groundwater is theoretically available to provide usable water for drinking, domestic use, irrigation, etc., to mankind. Groundwater is the largest source of fresh water excluding the polar icecaps and glaciers. The amount of groundwater within 800 m from the ground surface is over 30 times the amount in all fresh water lakes and reservoirs, and about 3000 times the amount in stream channels, at any one time.

Experiment

An experiment is a planned inquiry to obtain new facts or confirm or deny the result of previous experiment. Such inquiry can aid in an administrative decision, such as recommending a variety, a feed, a cultural practices, a fertilizer, a pesticide or a fungicide etc.

Type of Experiments

    1.     Preliminary experiments : Here investigator tries out large number of treatments in order to obtain leads for future work. Here replications are not taken for such treatments tried e.g. number of pesticides for control of diseases - take single observation for each treatment and take decision that some of them worth trying for use.

The coastal agro ecosystem is very important among the different agro ecosystems of our country both economically and environmentally. It spans over a length of 8129 sq. km. covering 9 states and 2 Island ecosystems. Agriculture and allied activities constitute the single largest component of India’s economy, contributing nearly 27 per cent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the year 1999-2000 (TERI, 2002). Agriculture exports accounts for 13 to 18 per cent of total annual exports of the country (MoF, 2002). However, given that 62 per cent of the cropped area is still dependent on rainfall (MoEF, 2002). Coastal agricultural region comprises of hinterland, which has a varied geometric and topographical features of mountains valley, coastal plains, riverine systems, climatic conditions, different soils and water bodies, vegetation ranging from rich tropical rain forests to coastal mangroves and a wide range of crops that are cultivated in this region (Table 1). The agro climatic conditions of the coastal zones are congenial for growing various field and horticultural crops.

Introduction

Indian agriculture was contributing 70% to total GDP of the country at pre-independent time, but it decreased drastically year by year and contributed 66.8% in 1960, 55.6% in 1994, 27.1% in 1997 and now a days, it reached only to 25% in 2001. With the advancement of civilization our population is increased, whereas, the cultivable lands is decreased side by side, thus, on an average income of agriculture is decreased.

Gujarat is the leading state to concern with the productivity, production and the area of the some crops like Groundnut, Castor, Cotton, etc. in India. The major part of the state is surrounded by sea coast border, which is 1600 km. Gujarat is popular for production of oilseed crops like groundnut, cotton ; horticultural crops like mango, chiku, coconut, banana, papaya, citrus; spices crops like chili, cumin, funnel etc.

Introduction

The globally growing demand for water has ushered the need for its efficient and judicial utilizations in all fields, and agriculture in particular being a single largest consumer of water. The majority of irrigation projects in India perform at a very low efficiency, which calls for application of efficient water management technologies for meeting the increasing water demands. Estimation of soil moisture or crop evapotranspiration from climatic parameters provides objective criteria for irrigation management. Methods to estimate evapotranspiration require huge climatic data, which are seldom available and not applied by common crop growers. Determining crop water requirement through soil moisture measurement at several locations is time consuming, destructive exercise, and may not give proper assessment of crop water need. The plant based indicator approach considers the plant water status for scheduling irrigation. This might be considered as the ideal criterion because the plant water is a good integrator of the soil, water and climatic parameters.

Introduction

Water is a precious natural resource vital, for sustaining all life on the earth. It is in a continuous circulatory movement - hydrologic cycle. It is not uniformly distributed in time and space. Due to its multiple benefits and the problems created by its excesses, shortages and quality deterioration, water as a resource requires special attention. On a global scale, total quantity of water available is about 1600 million cubic km. The hydrological cycle moves enormous quantities of water about the globe. However, much of the world’s water has little potential for human use because 97.5% of all water on earth is saline water. Out of remaining 2.5% fresh water, most of which lies deep and frozen in Antarctica and Greenland, only about 0.26% flows in rivers, lakes and in the soils and shallow aquifers which can be readily used. Sustainable water management in India is fast becoming a necessity, with the looming crisis over water resources in the country threatening the security and livelihood of the population and the environment over the coming decades. Managing water resources, river catchments, and coastal zones are outstanding challenges of today and tomorrow’s. Global changes ask for a comprehensive scientific approach, an international multi-disciplinary orientation and require a new mind-set towards water and coastal management problems.

Introduction

Famous French postmodern philosopher Jean Baudrillard commented on information once. “Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked, and which doubtless don’t even arise.” This seemingly paradox observation fits contemporary Internet age perfectly. Internet is a vast repository of information of all kinds and is bursting on its seams. The seeker needs to search with monumental grit and determination to have a full handle on the range of information available for any particular search. A search string for GIS returns more than 1185000 results, in a mere 0.26 seconds. Recommending a comprehensive resource list is not possible as new material gets continually added by way of additions and updates. However for a beginner the list given below will be handy. The flip side is GIS has innumerable resources and a broad range of content. Software vendors, organizations, individuals, universities and companies have provided a wealth of information. The readers are exhorted to make use of the materials to improve their understanding of the subject.

Introduction

The term geographic information systems (GIS) has come to mean, variously, an industry, a product, a technology, and a science. As such, the term invokes different perceptions dependent on whether the viewpoint is that of the software developer, the system marketer, the data provider, the application specialist, or the academic researcher, among others. A newcomer to the field is likely to be bewildered by the multiple uses of the same term, or, seen alternatively, different definitions of the same term. For instance some find it distasteful to use of the conventional acronym GIS and prefer Geospatial Technology. With all the variety of perceptions predicting the future of GIS is a cumbersome business. The most certain inference we can gain from the available trends is, it is growing and is poised for further growth. Geotechnology along with Nanotechnology and Biotechnology is considered as of the three most promising growth industries for the near future.

Topology building

Boolean operations

Query and model building

Customization

Introduction

At human scales, the world consists of objects, events, processes, and a background environment. Cognition is about knowledge: its acquisition, storage and retrieval, manipulation, and use by humans and other intelligent creatures. Cognition includes sensation and perception, thinking, imagery, reasoning and problem-solving, memory, learning, and language. Cognitive structures and process are part of the mind, which emerges from a brain and nervous system inside of a body that exists in a social and physical world. Spatial cognition deals with the cognition of spatial properties of the world, including location, size, distance, direction, shape, pattern, movement, and inter-object relations. GIS design will be largely influenced by spatial cognition.

Introduction

The GIS database is a model of real world. It goes without saying that there is an inherent discrepancy between GIS database and the real world it represents. This is so because all models are fraught with cognitive issues and remain as approximations. To realize the objectives of a GIS, geographical data collected, entered and processed are to be sufficiently error free and reliable.

Errors can be statistical errors like mistakes, wrong inputs or faulty field surveys or system errors like excessive tolerances or high RMS error. The spatial database has further problems in the sense that the real world phenomena are not always intrinsically discrete. For instance where is the bank of a shallow river? Where is the boundary between two soil types? These are but a few questions revealing the fuzzy nature of geographic data. Many soil scientists, geographers have noticed that carefully drawn boundaries or iso-lines on maps in general give misrepresentations of change that are often gradual, vague or fuzzy. Traditional cartography as a medium of spatial data handling had a solution to such problems. But now when digital data are handled, they need to be stored with certain precision. Moreover, the spatial variation of natural phenomena is not just a local noise function or inaccuracy that can be removed by collecting more data or by increasing the precision measurement but is often a fundamental aspect of nature that occurs at all scales. (Goodchild, 1980; Mark and Aronson, 1984). This means residual unmapped variation is a remarkable problem in geographical information processing. It is therefore a prerequisite to fully understand how errors arise or propagated in GIS and what might be the effects of errors on output.

Introduction

Data input or capture is the operation of encoding the data and incorporating in the database. The creation of a clean error free digital database is a complex and critical task determining the very usefulness of a GIS. GIS data represent not only where the graphic or cartographic features occur, but also the associated attributes of them.

Data input to a geographical information system involves

(a) Entering the spatial data (digitizing);

(b) Entering the non-spatial, associated attributes and

(c) Linking the spatial to the non-spatial data.

At each stage necessary verification and checking procedures shall be deployed to ensure an error free database.

Introduction

The concept of database is the approach to information organization in computer-based data processing. (Date, 1995 and Everest, 1986).

A Geographic Information System is as good as the data contained in it. Accurate and efficiently organized data are critical to the durability of the system. Data collection, capture and organization will occupy much of the time in building a GIS solution. The analysis potential of a GIS will depend on the database. It is essential to understand database concepts to practice GIS. It is erroneous to view these GIS databases as mere stores of information. The database is used to abstract very specific sorts of information about reality and organize it in a way that will prove useful during subsequent analysis. The database should be viewed as a representation or model of the world developed for a very specific application.

Conversion of real world geographical variation into discrete objects is done through data models. They represent the linkage between the real world domain of geographic data and computer representation of these features. Data models discussed here are for representing the spatial information.

Introduction

Data are the most critical element of a GIS. It is reported that more than two thirds of the time and expenditure to develop a GIS is spent on data collection and organization. Understanding and appreciating the criticality of data is of paramount significance to practice GIS. This chapter is complementary to database concepts chapter discussed in Level II and deals with the fundamentals to start with and the concepts of building an information organization.

Data - A Definition and Certain Points to Ponder

“Data” are defined as a body of facts or figures, which have been gathered systematically for one or more specific purposes.”

Introduction

All spatial data stored in a GIS are associated with a map projection, either implicitly (so-called “unprojected” data stored with raw longitude, latitude coordinates) or explicitly (where the data have been transformed into a known map projection). Map projections are a particularly important feature of spatial data because they introduce error and distortion, since a sphere cannot be transformed to a plane without some stretching and twisting of the sphere’s surface.

The typical GIS package supports anywhere from 5 to 50 map projection types, and most projections may be modified or customized by varying their parameters. This flexibility is important for two reasons First, in order to use two or more layers together in a GIS for visualization or analysis, all data must be projected in the same way. Second, certain types of analyses, such as the measurement of area, are only valid when using certain types of projections (and conversely, are completely wrong when using an inappropriate projection).

Introduction

In a technology that consistently maintains a fantastic development curve with capabilities doubling up year-to-year, freezing the hardware specification is not easy or very meaningful. GIS (not geography) owes to its genesis and progress to the developments in information technology front. It may be asserted that any and all upgrade in the hardware industry will only add to its own ability to effectively process more and more data and handle more complex routines. The personal computers of today are seen to be adequate to run typical GIS software. A reference hardware specification is discussed here. GIS software development is an involved process but then the software developers have made good use of hardware capabilities available and have released upgrades consistently. Hardware developments are such that they defy a static spcification. However a reference specification as on 2009. An overview of various software packages used in the past as well as present is attempted. ESRI released a new version in 2002 and claimed that their ArcGIS is an “integrated collection of GIS software products for building a complete GIS that enable users to deploy GIS functionality wherever it is needed, in desktops, servers, or custom applications; over the Web; or in the field.” The details are discussed below. While a number of software overviews are available, this text is not aimed at providing a tutorial to any of the software packages nor do the comparisons made are to promote any particular software. Similarly, it is presumed that the reader is familiar with the hardware elements and functionality. Lot of information about the software packages are available on their respective web sites and the reader is exhorted to look for current, additional and in depth information required in the pages. A brief discussion on Liveware or human resource can be found at the end of the chapter.

Introduction

A system is a simplified version of reality and is defined as a collection of interrelated parts that work together. Most systems share certain common characteristics. These common characteristics include the following:
Systems have a structure that is defined by its parts and processes. Systems are generalizations of reality.
Systems tend to function in the same way as nature. This involves inputs getting changed in a process and realization of new outputs.
The various parts of a system have functional as well as structural relationships between each other.
Owing to the functional relationships that exist between the parts there is a flow and transfer of some type of energy and/or matter. In case of information systems there is a flow of information in the structure.
The parts that make up a system show certain degree of integration. In other words the parts work well together.

Vegetation is a key component in hydrologic modeling. Transpiration, a component in hydrologic cycle, is contributed by vegetation. Most of the hydrologic model thus includes vegetation as a parameter. For accurate and appropriate model output, first requirement is good quality data. Most of the time, the data on vegetation is confusing, as in literature various researcher have used different values for common vegetation parameters. Here some common parameters of some important crops, which yield good quality results, are given.

Kharif crops are generally sown during last week of May and first week of June, while rabi crop are sown during last week of November and first week of December. But this period will vary from region to region as well as depends on variety of crop.

More information, more accurate and timely decision. In present high tech world, the more information you have it is easier to make an accurate decision. The information comes in many different ways, from reports to digital photos. A new way to analyze data is a geographic information system (GIS). GIS allows to bring all types of data together based on the geographic and locational component of the data. GIS is a useful tool for seeking innovative ways to solve the problems.

9.1 What is GIS?

A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store manipulate, analyze, manage and present all types of geographically referenced data. GIS can be defined as a computer-based system for digital entry, storage, transformation, analysis and display of spatial data. A geographic information system integrates hardware, software and geographically referenced data for further analysis. GIS allows users to interpret the georeferenced data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns and trends.

Remote sensing is emerged as an important application of science in all fields for collection of information from a far. This chapter describes the fundamental concepts of remote sensing, electromagnetic radiation (EMR), the interactions between EMR and earth surface features, satellites etc.

8.1 What is Remote Sensing?

Remote sensing is nothing but acquiring information about an object without touching the object itself. In other words, remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with that object. In present era, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on the Earth by means of propagated signals. As remote sensing is obtaining information about objects without making physical contact with them, remote sensing can be described as ‘reconnaissance from a distance’, ‘teledetection’ or a form of the common phrase ‘look but don’t touch’.

The artificial neural network (ANN), a data driven model, is inherently suited to the problems that are mathematically difficult to describe. An ANN is a flexible mathematical structure that is capable of identifying complex nonlinear relationships between input and output data sets, where explicit knowledge of the internal processes is not available. In this chapter general structure of ANN is described and also explained briefly with a case study.

7.1 What is Artificial Neural Network?

An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is an information processing paradigm that is inspired by the way biological nervous system, such as brain process the information. An ANN is an adaptive (Adaptive means that the system parameters are changed during operation i.e. training phase), most often nonlinear system that learns to perform a function (an input/output map) from data. In more practical term, neural networks are non-linear statistical data modeling tools. They can be used to model complex relationships between inputs and outputs or to find out patterns in the data.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is increasingly used in our everyday lives. It is used in a variety of industries from gaming, journalism/media, to finance, as well as in the research fields from water resources to robotics. In this chapter concept and applications of AI are discussed in brief.

6.1 Historical Background

After World War II, a number of people worked independently on intelligent machines. The English mathematician Alan Turing was the first who explained the concept of intelligent machines through a lecture in 1947. He stated that intelligent machines could be developed by programming computers rather than by building machines. Since late 1950 many researchers are working on intelligent machines, mostly on programming computers

Data mining is a powerful technology which helps in extracting future trends and behaviour from large databases. Thereby it helps decision makers to make knowledge-driven decisions. One common form of real-world data is time series. The suitable models are required to analyze time series data. This chapter provides a short introduction to stochastic system, uncertainty, basic statistics time series analysis and some stochastic models.

In this era of computer, mathematical models become integral part of hydrologic studies due to advancement in soft technology. But question always arises as ‘Why should modeling?’ It was well expressed by Rosenblueth and Wiener (1945) as

No substantial part of the universe is so simple that it can be grasped and controlled without abstraction. Abstraction consists in replacing the parts of the universe under consideration by a model of similar but simpler structure. Models, formal or intellectual on the one hand, or material on the other are thus a central necessity of scientific procedure.

Modeling is heart of hydroinformatics. Simulation modeling became integrated part of modern science to justify feasibility of selected option among various competitive alternatives. Simulation modeling is a tool to evaluate the performance of a system, existing or proposed, under different configurations of interest and over long periods of real time. This chapter describes basic concepts, model simulation, model variables, modeling process, model performance etc. in brief.

Data collection is a tedious and time consuming work, particularly from remote places. So many times the collected data is noisy. But data is the base for future planning and management of water resources. Planning based on noisy data could lead to failure. The modern data collection and subsequent control system i.e. telemetry and SCADA, are introduced in this chapter.

Water is a social requirement. Society now become aware about it’s dependence upon water and hence realized the importance of water in sustaining not only the development but also life. Water: too little, too much, too dirty; is general scenario in the world. But with increase in population water become limiting resource and is becoming scarcer and scarcer day by day. As water become scarcer commodity, the users (stakeholders) become more conscious regarding their share in water and ultimately this situation may lead to water conflicts. Earlier water related problems were generally tackled by hydro-engineers, but now in present climate changed scenario these problems go beyond the hydraulics and hydrology. Now a days politicians, ecologists, Non Government Organizations (NGOs), the media and the stakeholders etc are playing a crucial role in decision making in respect to water management issues. Now water projects are designed in reference to social context (Social context means cultural, economic, political, sociological, legal and other such aspects). When social factors are taken into consideration while tackling the water problems, it could not possible to satisfy all involved. Thus it is required to agree upon a compromise solution acceptable to all. Over recent few decades, information and communication technology (ICT) flourishes with great advances. It provides the ways to search for compromise solutions. In this chapter information, hydroinformatics, evolution of hydroinformatics and role of internet in hydroinformatics are discussed.

Bhuva is a small village in north-west Gujarat – India.  My mother was born there. The loving people of Bhuva called me ‘Bhano’ (Sister’s Son / Nephew) and it was my favourite place to go as a child. I have my fondest memories of Bhuva, but could not visit for several decades, until when I was once at the Junagadh Campus of Gujarat Agricultural University, to inaugurate the International Conference on New Developments in Agriculture. Bhuva was not too far and I decided to go there. Soon as I reached, a familiar face, now aged with time, recognized me from a distance and with tears rolling from his old eyes (and mine) he hugged me, calling out “MaroBhano, MaroBhano” (My sister’s son, my sister’s son)! Now in his eighties, it was overwhelming to meet Nanji Ata, who I always remembered being wise, educated and cheerful. He was a relatively progressive farmer with about 6 to 7 acres of land, a few cows and a buffalo. Though water was scarce and saline, he managed to make a good living and was considered a well to do man.

It is well recognized that sustainable management and sustainable livelihoods are inseparable. If neglected and if the present trends are not corrected in time, everyone’s future is threated. On the other hand, there is increasing recognition of living examples and demonstrated evidences of how the eco agricultural practices can help provide a solution to some of the major problems of today and tomorrow. Also, the main stream international agencies are emphasizing that agro-ecological approaches are the way forward. What the policy makers, farmers and people would like to know is How !it has been our experience that in most countries of the developing world the answer to ‘How’ of eco-agricultural is being demanded!

Our Soils – Our Waters & COP22

In the last several decades many international forums and institutions have discussed and agreed that food and water security are the most important issues for the future. The damage to the ecology directly affects the food, land, water, health and the livelihood. Agricultural progress serves as the best way to fight poverty, hunger and livelihood problems.

Though in the last few decades, billions of pages about hunger, food and water security have been written, thousands of conferences have been organized, the urgency of action plans and creating holistic models is the most important need. For this, we must require bold reforms and action oriented programs which can reach the smallest farmers and give an optimistic signal rather than a despondent picture. Developmental models that are holistic and close to nature, sustainable and based on inclusiveness considering ‘unto the last’ women and man are the need of the day.

In contrast to the traditional universities, agricultural universities have been entrusted with the Herculean task of technology dissemination at the grass root level such that the package of practices evolved by the agricultural scientists should reach out the end-users, viz. farmers , for adopting in the field, with consequent increment in the farm productivity and farmer’s income.

This unique mandate has been assigned to agricultural universities on the pattern of land grant colleges of the United States. Such vision and trust, envisaged by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his devout lieutenants, herald creation of state agricultural universities (SAUs) in the early 1960s. The key role played by SAUs in the first green revolution and agricultural human resources development have been regarded as the milestones in the history of India post-independence, that made the country self-sufficient in food production and, in turn, to self reliance in milk, vegetables, fruits and inland fish production.

"Where is your Dhoti, Dr. Mehta ?” Dr. Varghese Kurien surprised me as I entered his office at IRMA (Institute of Rural Management Anand). That was April 2000, soon after I had taken over as the Vice Chancellor of the erstwhile Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU) and had decided to call on him during my visit to the Anand Campus. (At that time GAU was the largest University in the Asia with four main campuses – Dantiwada, Anand, Junagadh and Navsari and about 65 experimental farms / stations spreaded all over).

The Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is described as a great patriot, visionary leader and the 11th President of India ( 2002 – 2007 ). The country would have celebrated his 84th birth day on 15th October 2015. To many like me, he was the most ideal role model that the youth of India needed, in recent time. He emerged as a complete human-being who touched the lives of people.

My first meeting with him was when he visited IPCL in eighties - as the DRDO Chief to discuss about Carbon Fiber and Composites. I was heading GSFC’s R&D Centre and other facilities like engineering plastic Nylon – 6 and their Composites and hence was invited to join the discussions. That interaction left a strong impression in my mind. Later when I became Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Agricultural University, I had many more opportunities to meet him and was often surprised at his deep rooted interest and knowledge in every sphere of Science & Technology. Subsequently, to my delight, I received an invitation from his office on the eve of 26th January evening - at home with the President and later was given more time for a one-to-one meeting the next day. Walking across the corridors of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, the atmosphere looked rather formal and uneasy for me, but, as I was ushered into his room, I saw Dr. Kalam wearing his favourite blue shirt and smiling. He moved forward and greeted me with the same friendliness and warmth. As we started talking about Agriculture scenario, the work I was planning and the future prospects, I marveled at his understanding and insight and left the room truly inspired. 

Rivers are the most important system for water, for irrigation and human settlement. Historically, civilizations always nucleated near rivers, and latter also had social and religious significance. Rivers in India are considered holy and play the most important part in the lives of people, fauna & flora and the future environmental system.

The Ganga Basin is the largest river basin in India which includes the Ganga, the Yamuna, the Ghagra, the Gandak, the Kaveri basin etc. Compared to these, the Vishwamitri River, situated between Mahi River in North and Narmada River in South in Central Gujarat is a small seasonal river but it is very important for the city of Vadodara and Central Gujarat region. This seasonal river originates from Pavagadh hills and flows east to west. It is a typical small river with the kind of problems in most rivers in India and other countries – liquid and solid wastes, enouncements, blocking of water ways, floods in monsoon months and dry dumping basin during most other months etc.

All agriculture universities have three main Directorates – Education, Research and Extension. Of the three, I have often observed that Extension Department comes in for maximum criticism. ‘Loose links’and ‘need to do much more in transfer of knowledge and technology’ are frequently emphasized at various levels – especially in meetings with farmers groups.

This is understandable – as it is said that less than 10% - often less than 6%, of lab scale knowledge and development reach the farmers fields in developing countries and even in many ‘developed’ counties. The situation is much more challenging when we consider a large population of small and marginal farmers – who as we saw can play extremely important role in eco-agriculture. A large percent of such farmers – women and men are practicing eco friendlyagriculture without realizing it. Their ‘ignorance’ can be converted in to advantage and new opportunity. The age old extension practice of reaching farmers through meetings, visit , seminars, camps, demonstrations all have limitations and need to be ‘scaled up’. New developments in information and communication Technology offer a great opportunity for a big jump in reaching the unreached. Again to alarge population of ‘Green Revolution’ – there is a new hope and opportunity.

Saline Water Agriculture has been drawing interest as one of the solutions for limitation of world fresh water supply, farmland availability, salinity ingression and the pressing future need of food supply. The cultivation of salt-tolerant crops on saline soil and with saline waters has significant social and economic potential.

It is often argued that fresh water agriculture near rivers and ponds was invented because of the need to sustain people and communities. Saline water agriculture is going to be needed for sustaining our future generations and civilization.

Bioshields offer barriers of vegetation, shrubs, small and big trees and if integrated as a well designed system they can greatly help our coastal as well as inland areas. Though primarily looked at for coastal regions, under a broader definition Bioshields can play important role in semi-desert areas, hills, etc. also.

Why Bioshield?

Bioshields or Biobarriers can make a major contribution in minimizing the effects of storms, cyclones and Tsunamis and at the same time offer short and long term ecological and livelihood benefits.

The recent earthquake in Nepal brings back memories of 26th January 2001. While the nation was busy in celebrating Republic Day, an earthquake shattered Gujarat especially Kutch and Saurashtra regions. A large number of buildings and houses collapsed within moments. Thousands were injured and many lost their lives and many more became homeless.

Kutch received quick responses from all over the world and a large number of individuals, institutions, government and semi-government bodies, professional experts, religious and social organizations etc. sprang into action to bring back some normalcy in the lives. However, long-term rehabilitation program based on scientific planning is most vital after such disasters.