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Social aspects of drought and desertification in thedeserteco-system have recently received international recognition.Thoughthe desert environment is harsh and rainfall is veryunreliable,the rural people based on traditional knowledge, havebeen livingin balance with the natural environment since ages. Thepeople haveevolved traditional knowledge, skill and practices fordrylandagriculture; soil water and vegetation conservation;livestockrearing and management. Techniques of naturalresourcesconservation, role of physio-cultural institutionsandbio-technological capacities to sustain a variety of lifeforms,form the basis of their sustenance living.But enormousincrease inhuman and animals has disturbed the fragile eco-system.Overgrazedlands, shrinking forests and eroded agricultural fieldsdue to overcultivation, deforestation and cutting of vegetationhave lead todegradation of vegetation and diminution of croppotentialdecreasing productivity per unit area. This poses apotentialthreat to the resources and ultimately the lives andlivelihood ofthe inhabitants. Thus, to protect these resources fromconversioninto desert like situation to desertification, there is aneed tostudy indigenous technical knowledge for sustainedproduction andconservation of resources. Appropriate mix of newtechnologies andtraditional wisdom is extremely important. The bookaddresses theseproblems and their solutions.The book based onempirical fieldinvestigations, pertains to the study of man inrelation to desertenvironment. It is devoted to the saga of droughtstricken land andpeople of the Thar desert of India. The booksynthesises theproblems of drought and desertification fromsocio-cultural andhuman-ecological angle and encompasses IndigenousTechnicalKnowledge (ITK) for sustained production and survival. Itfocuseson the three different ecological regions like pastoral,rainfedand irrigation-cum-rainfed, to the whole of arid zone ofRajasthanand India. In addition to update our rich culturalheritage of ITK,and review of voluminous researches on the problem,it is enrichedwith case studies, illustrated with photographs,charts and tables.The book has been organised into three parts tomake chapters andtopics to be arranged in an almost systematicorder. The book willbe of immense value to the technocrates,planners, policy makers,scientists, researchers and NGO`s dealingwith the problem ofdrought, desertification and ITK. ISBN - 9788172331932
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Pages : 394
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