This open access book is an outcome of the collaboration between the Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Section, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria, and Dr. Shabbir A Shahid, Senior Salinity Management Expert, Freelancer based in United Arab Emirates.The objective of this book is to develop protocols for salinity and sodicity assessment and develop mitigation and adaptation measures to use saline and sodic soils sustainably. The focus is on important issues related to salinity and sodicity and to describe these in an easy and user friendly way. The information has been compiled from the latest published literature and from the authors’ publications specific to the subject matter. The book consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the terms salinity and sodicity and describes various salinity classification systems commonly used around the world. Chapter 2 reviews global distribution of salinization and socioeconomic aspects related to salinity and crop production. Chapters 3 covers comprehensively salinity and sodicity adaptation and mitigation options including physical, chemical, hydrological and biological methods. Chapter 4 discusses the efforts that have been made to demonstrate the development of soil salinity zones under different irrigation systems. Chapter 5 discusses the quality of irrigation water, boron toxicity and relative tolerance to boron, the effects of chlorides on crops. Chapter 6 introduces the role of nuclear techniques in saline agriculture.

This report is a review of the conjunctive water use of surface water and groundwater within the Rechna Doab. The Rechna Doab is located in the Punjab province and has an area of 2.98 million hectares (Figure 1). The cultivated area in the Rechna Doab is regarded as the granary of the Punjab province and comprises eight districts, namely, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Narowal and Hafizabad. The area consists of two distinct agroclimatic zones, i.e. the Punjab Rice-Wheat (PRW) zone and the Punjab Sugarcane-Wheat (PSW) zone (WAPDA, 1979). Irrigated agriculture started in the Rechna Doab in 1892 via Lower Chenab Canal. The irrigation system in the Rechna Doab consists of 504 km of branch canals, 240 km of main canals and 373 km of link canals, and about 0.2 million tubewells are installed in the freshwater areas. This report is prepared to provide an overview of land and water resources available in the Rechna Doab and the institutional issues that need to be addressed for effective conjunctive water management in the Rechna Doab.

This volume is an analytical summary and a critical synthesis of research at the International Water Management Institute over the past decade under its evolving research paradigm known popularly as 'more crop per drop'. The research synthesized here covers the full range of issues falling in the larger canvas of water-food-health-environment interface. Besides its immediate role in sharing knowledge with the research, donor, and policy communities, this volume also has a larger purpose of promoting a new way of looking at the water issues within the broader development context of food, livelihood, health and environmental challenges. More crop per drop: Revisiting a research paradigm contrasts the acquired wisdom and fresh thinking on some of the most challenging water issues of our times. It describes new tools, approaches, and methodologies and also illustrates them with practical application both from a global perspective and within the local and regional contexts of Asia and Africa. Since this volume brings together all major research works of IWMI, including an almost exhaustive list of citations, in one single set of pages, it is very valuable not only as a reference material for researchers and students but also as a policy tool for decision-makers and development agencies.