Guidelines: land evaluation for rainfed agriculture [antikvár]

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 OBJECTIVES These Guidelines are intended to assist field staff in carrying out land evaluation for ralnfed agriculture according to the principles of the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation-''. The present publication is an expansion of the basic concepts of the Framework giving procedures and methods necessary in evaluation for rainfed agriculture. It provides practical guidelines on the planning and execution of the various steps In land evaluation, from interpretation of basic data to the final recommendations which form a basis for land use planning and project implementation. The term 'agriculture' in its broader sense Includes livestock production, but the present Guidelines refer only to crop production. Both annual crops (arable farming) and perennial crops (tree and shrub crops) are Included. The procedures outlined can be applied at different levels of sophistication and detail, according to the objectives and scale of the evaluation and the manpower and finance available. In particular, the procedures are applicable at all levels of scale, ranging from continental or national, through regional and district scales, down to detailed or intensive surveys for local projects, village-level schemes and farm planning. As well as being of assistance to those already engaged in evaluation surveys, the Guidelines can be used, in conjunction with the Framework, as a basis for training courses In land evaluation. The land evaluator should not be daunted by the complexity of some of the procedures described, nor by the length of the checklists. The level of detail included in an evaluation varies greatly with the objectives and the time and finance available to carry out the work. In attempting to be fairly comprehensive, the Guidelines present the maximum range of procedures or aspects to be covered. Some procedures will be omitted or covered only briefly in almost any evaluation. Similarly, the checklists are intentionally long to ensure that no relevant aspect Is overlooked, but It Is expected that many items will be omitted from them as Insufficiently relevant to the area surveyed or the land uses under consideration. 1.2 ARRANGEMENT OF THE GUIDELINES Figure 1.1 shows the sequence of operations in land evaluation. It is also a guide to the arrangement of these Guidelines; the chapters which refer to each stage in the sequence are shown on the figure. This sequence Is as follows: y A Framework for Land Evaluation. Soils Bulletin No. 32. FAO, (1976). Hence forth referred to as the Framework.