The arid region is characterized by fragile ecosystem. Due to frequent droughts arable farming is a gamble. Tree is central to production and function in this region. It is also central to arable farming and animal husbandry. Over fifty years of research at CAZRI have shown that growing tree on agricultural and non agricultural fields conserves soil and rain water, enrich soils and produce biomass which can be used as food, fodder and fuel.

The plant resources of Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary for family acanthaceae were studied and analyzed. During the study 17 genera and 20 species of this were recorded. The sanctuary is characterized by herbs dominate the flora followed by trees, climbers and shrubs. Dominance of phanerophytes indicates the tropical moist and humid climate. Adhatoda zeylanica Medic. and Carvia callosa (Nees) Bremek is rare species in this sanctuary while most frequent occurring species is Barleria cristata L. Species such as Eranthemum purpurascens Wight ex Nees is localized along the river corners. The medicinal uses by tribes of this family were also recorded. Proper conservation and management plans are needed to save the natural resources, especially medicinal plants, of this sanctuary.

Eleven new species of Loculoascomycetes viz. Sphaerulina indica, Didymella agaves, Didymella mucosa, Didymosphaeria heteroasca, Didemosphaeria abuensis, Trematosphaeria macrospora, Leptosphaeria tori, Asterosphaeriella macrospora, Pleomassaria lantanae, Pleospora camarensis and Malanomma indicam were reported from Mount Abu, Rajasthan. Specimens were confirmed by IMI, Kew, Surrey, England and validate as new Species with IMI accession number.

Livestock sector is one of the key components of arid agriculture in India. It is an important source of livelihood in Rajasthan for rural masses and generates regular income. Arid Rajasthan which is known as traditional pastoralist region has 29.1 million livestock. During the last two decades the cattle and camel population in the region has sharply declined mainly due to reduction of common grazing lands, fodder deficit, reciuring droughts and government’s neglect. On the other hand the demand for milk, meat and other dairy products has enormously increased. In order to assess the present situation and foresee the avenues for development, district wise livestock data from 1956 to 2007 have been analyzed and various aspects viz. density, grazing pressure, human livestock ratio, fodder situation, impact of drought, veterinary facilities and population trend from 1972 to 2007 are presented. Long term climatic conditions and biophysical resources, key challenges, limitations and potentials of this sector have been brought out. Strategies are suggested for all roimd development of livestock sector.

In this paper, an attempt has been made to document the economic efficiency of mustard production in arid zone of Rajasthan. The forty farmers were selected each from simple random sampling method among the farmers using new technology (mustard variety Jai Kisan) as well as traditional technology for mustard crop. The results indicated that modern technology generated higher technical efficiency. The higher technical efficiency could be achieved due to efficient use of inputs. If the farmers used inputs efficiently, 22 per cent more yield could be obtained. Similarly, there is ample scope to increase the wheat and mustard production by nearly 20 to 25 per cent. This would lead to decrease in unit cost of production and increase the farm income.

The present paper deals with 44 species of grasses belonging to 33 genera which have medicinal potential in Rajasthan, 30 species have been added to the available record and several new medicinal dimensions have been provided to supplement the present knowledge about the grass species.

The main objective of watershed in arid zone of Rajasthan is to enhance land productivity and to increase the water-table. The watershed concept is very old in arid region. During, fifieenth century, nearly 500 watersheds in the form of ‘Khadin” with different size irrigated nearly 12,140 ha of crop land in Jaisalmer district of arid region of Rajasthan. Similarly, roof water harvesting is also very old. After the introduction of tap water drinking facilities, it disappeared from urban area and up to some extent also from rural areas. After 1987, nearly 1710 watersheds have been constructed in arid zone of Rajasthan at the cost of Rs.1465.8 m. A Jhawar watershed was selected purposely (as it was constructed by CAZRI for demonstration) situated nearly 25 km away from Jodhpur city. The total area of Jhawar watershed was 4600 ha spread in five villages, namely, Bujawar, Jhawar, Choka, Rohila Kalan and Doli. The total expenditure incurred was only Rs.3.l04 lakh which was recovered within one year i.e. Rs.7.96 la.kh was generated only from crop activities. Another Rs.6.00 lakh was generated from sale of river silt every year. The cropping intensity was 123.1% under flood irrigation which increased to 158.1% under sprinkler irrigation. About 61man days were additionally generated from sprinkler irrigation system. The water-table increased within the vicinity of 2.5km after which it declined due to construction of watershed. Earlier water used to flow all the way. During the drought condition, watershed is totally a failure phenomenon as water is even not available in the form of run-off.

Potassium supply characteristics of soils have been investigated from various angles of which Q/I concept is considered meaningful, Number of workers have applied this approach for Rajasthan soils. However, Practically no work has been done on Q/I approach on soil series occurring in Rajasthan. Various Q/I parameters of eight soil series of arid Rajasthan have been studied and their relationships among themselves and soil attributes are reported in this paper.

An attempt has been made in this paper to document the pattern of growth of coarse rainfed cereal crops in central part of Rajasthan. The secondary data from 1960-61 to 2005-06 were used. The period of study visualized as whole as well as sub division into equal periods (i.e., 1960-1981 and 1981—2006). The study revealed that, the growth rate of area of all the crops under study indicated a mixed trend i.e. growth rate of area under bajra and maize was more during period—I as compared to period-II. In case of jowar it showed mixed response. Similarly, production of all the crops was higher during period-II in most of the districts. Similar observation was seen in case of productivity of all the crops under study. The mean area under bajra and jowar crops was more during period-II in Ajmer and Tonk and Ajmer and Bhilwara, respectively. In the remaining districts, it was reverse. Similar pattern was seen in productivity of the crops. The area, production and productivity under maize was increased during period-II in Bhilwara and Bundi districts only. Instability index indicated a mixed response in all the crops i.e. either it is around trend or mean.

Jodhpur is the second largest city of Rajasthan. The City is growing at a rapid rate and various water resources to augment water requirement are insufficient and suffering from number of problems regarding the availability, distribution and quality considerations for various uses. Kailana Lake is selected as a settling tank for Himalayan water coming from Indira Gandhi NaharPariyojana. In the present study samples from open wells and tube wells of underground water resources ware collected. High nitrate contents in water samples is result of intermixing of water from sewerage lines and water supply pipe lines. High nitrate content in water is harmful for human health but after reducing nitrate level it can be used for domestic and irrigation purposes.

A study was conducted at Dryland Farming Research Station, Arjia, Bhilwara during 1996 and 1997, to find out the tillage requirement for the maize. Seven tillage systems were evaluated for production of maize in kharif season. The tillage systems included were: A. Summer (T1- Disc plough followed by cultivator, T2- Cultivator followed by cultivator,T3- Deshi plough followed by cultivator and T4- Deshi plough followed by deshi plough), B. After pre monsoon (T5- Disc plough followed by cultivator and T6- Cultivator followed by cultivator) and C. At sowing (T7 - Cultivator followed by cultivator). The tillage system comprising of summer disc ploughing followed by cultivator was more beneficial as of this resulted in higher yield and net return supported by effective reduction in runoff, soil loss and increase water use efficiency for crops in the region. However, during good and low rainfall, for higher net return, there is a need of shift in tillage practices.

On farm studies at ten sites in Narwa and Manai villages located 25 km from Jodhpur (Rajasthan) were carried out to study response of Zn application to wheat crop under saline water irrigation. At Narwa village sandy loam soils with 50 to70 cm depth and at Manai village sandy loam soils with 80 to I00 cm depth are irrigated with moderately saline water having EC 1.70 to 3.48 dS m-1 and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) 7.2 to 22.6. Soils at all the sites were, alkaline (pH 8.5 to 9.3) with EC values (0.170 to 1.32 dS m-1). non calcareous. Most of the soils were low to marginal in available Zn, marginal in the available Fe and few samples low in Cu and Mn. Observations with Zn application on the crop growth revealed that at all sites mean values were higher for plants per sq. m, plant height and spike length. This was also refflected in 5 to l0 q ha-1 increase in grain yield in Narwa village at sites of Ganga Singh, Shamsher Singh and Prema Ram and 3 to 4 q ha-1 increase_in grain yield in Manai village at Ummed Singh and Bachana Ram sites with the benefit cost (B: C) ratio ranging from 14.1:1 to 3.3:1 indicating good response of Zinc application. Low response of Zn application on wheat yield was observed in Narwa at the site of Man Singh, Dungar Ram, Hukma Ram and in Manai at the site Mod Singh. After harvest of wheat crop, the mean values of available micronutrient contents in soils of Manai village sites were slightly higher than Narwa sites. There was not much difference in mean values of available contents of Fe, Mn Zn and Cu in Zn treated and control soils of Narwa sites. Similarly in Manai village the mean values of available Fe, Mn and Cu were not much different but in Zn treated soils there was slight increase in available Zn. 

                           Introduction of canal irrigation and development of ground water led to expansion and intensi_ication of agriculture in hot arid Bikaner district of Rajasthan. New irrigated cash crops viz. wheat, mustard, groundnut, cumin, isabgol etc. came up. Increased soil moisture helped large scale gram cultivation. Agricultural production increased substantially. However these developments took place in about 12% area. A large part of rainfed drylands still remained underdeveloped. In order to assess present agricultural situation, irrigated and rainfed crop lands and other land use systems of the district are mapped using recent RS & GIS technologies. Trend in cropping pattern and crop production has been assessed using long term land use, cropping pattern and crop production data from 1957-58 to 2009-10. Economic, social and environmental impacts of such development are also discussed. Constraints and potentials in relation to agriculture are identi_ied and negative impacts of injudicious and over exploitation of natural resources are highlighted. Suggestions are made for sustainable development of irrigated and rainfed farming systems.

In rural areas of Barmer district of Rajasthan state most of the farmers rely on traditional health care to keep their animals healthy. Though, modern technologies in the field of animal husbandary have made immense progress but with time, it has not been transferred to the rural areas. This region is rich in various indigenous technologies which people use in their daily life. Hence there is a need to analyze these practices in the light of modern research with a positive approach and reality.

The present communication deals with morpho-taxonomic enumeration of 23 taxa of desmids were collected from in around Pushkar Valley of Rajasthan State in India during the period 2012-13. Notes on forms showing slight variations in morphological attributes have also been given. All these taxa have been recorded for the first time from this part of state of India.