As an area of research and development, arid-zone agriculture, or desert agriculture, includes studies of how to increase the agricultural productivity of lands dominated by lack of freshwater, an abundance of heat and sunlight, and usually one or more of extreme winter cold, short rainy season, saline soil or water, strong dry winds, poor soil structure, over-grazing, limited technological development, poverty, political instability.

The two basic approaches are

• view the given environmental and socioeconomic characteristics as negative obstacles to be overcome
• view as many as possible of them as positive resources to be used

See also: biosalinity

External links

Websites of some organizations (in alphabetical order) whose main area of interest is arid-zone agriculture:

ARID, Agricultural Research Institute for Deserts, University of California Riverside

CGIAR, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

Desert Research Center, Egypt

The Desert Research Foundation of Namibia

IALC, International Arid Lands Consortium

The Negev Foundation

Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona