Climatic Risk in Crop Production: Models and Management for the Semiarid Tropics and Subtropics

Risk related to variable and unpredictable climate is a serious constraint to profitable and stable agriculture in the semi-arid tropics and sub-tropics. Problems are compounded because strategies used by farmers to cope with the risk of crop failure in poor seasons also result in failure to take full advantage of good seasons. This volume contains 24 invited papers from an international symposium held in Brisbane, Australia, in July 1990. The book reviews progress in methods for quantifying climatic risk, for reducing risk and uncertainty by improved long-term weather forecasting, and in optimizing management strategies for coping with climatic risk. It is divided into seven parts: the importance of climatic variability in crop production; methods of estimating climatic risk to crop production; applications of estimating climatic risk; optimizing agronomic practice in response to climatic risk; decision-making to reduce the risk of crop failure; prospects for and implications of improved weather prediction; setting priorities for research. Given the recent developments in simulation modelling of crops and cropping systems and in computerised design-support systems, this book should be a timely publication for agronomists, climatologists and economists.