Abstract
A historical overview shows that in arid and desert regions in Palestine, Arabia and North Africa, agriculture has been practiced by ancient populations using sustainable rainwater resources. Methods of such desert farming include forming terraces in secondary and tertiary wadis, building desert farms with runoff water flooding from large catchment areas, constructing canal systems and micro catchments. Israeli scientists have surveyed the historical remnants of ancient desert farms in the Negev desert. They have reconstructed several such farms in the Negev to study the mechanisms behind the techniques of desert farming and to demonstrate that crops of substantial quality and yield can be obtained. As desertification continuously reduces the arable land available on our globe, as water increasingly becomes a rare resource, and as large populations suffer hunger, techniques allowing fully sustainable desert farming using runoff-rainwater should become a valuable option, not for profit but for supporting people in local communities. The applicability of this approach depends on geo-morphological and soil conditions but is possible in many arid regions of the world.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aharoni Y, Evenari M, Shanan L, Tadmor NH (1960) The ancient desert agriculture of the Negev. V. An Israelite agricultural settlement at Ramat Matred. Isr Explor J 10:23–36, 97–111
Cohen OP, Evenari M, Shanan L, Tadmor NH (1968) Runoff farming in the desert. II. Moisture use by young apricot and peach trees. Agron J 60:33–38
Evenari M (1964a) Die Wüste Negev soll wieder fruchtbar gemacht werden. I. Archäologische Befunde. Umsch Wiss Tech 1964:463–466
Evenari M (1964b) Die Wüste Negev soll wieder fruchtbar gemacht werden. II. Gegenwart und Zukunft. Umsch Wiss Tech 1964:481–485
Evenari M (1982) Ökologisch-landwirtschaftliche Forschungen im Negev. Analyse eines Wüsten-Ökosystems. Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, Darmstadt
Evenari M (1983) Die Nabatäer im Negev (1983). In: Lindner M (ed) Pertra und das Königreich der Nabatäer. Delp, Nürnberg, pp 118–138
Evenari M (1984) Bewässerung wie zu Salomos Zeiten. Die Wüste blüht. Bild Wissensch 9:91–102
Evenari M (1987) Und die Wüste trage Frucht. Ein Lebensbericht. Bleicher, Gerlingen
Evenari M (1989) The awakening desert. Autobiography of an Israeli scientist. Springer, Heidelberg
Evenari M, Koller D (1956) Ancient masters of the desert. Sci Am 194:39–45
Evenari M, Aharoni Y, Shanon L, Tadmor NH (1958) The ancient desert agriculture of the Negev. III. Early beginnings. Isr Explor J 8:231–268
Evenari M, Shanan L, Tadmor N, Aharoni Y (1961) Ancient agriculture in the Negev. Science 133:979–996
Evenari M, Shanan L, Tadmor NH (1966) Die Landwirtschaft der Negev-Wüste in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Nova Acta Leopold N.F. 31(176):149–169
Evenari M, Shanan L, Tadmor NH (1968) Runoff farming in the desert. I. Experimental layout. Agron J 60:29–32
Evenari M, Shanan L, Tadmor NH (1971) Runoff agriculture in the Negev desert of Israel. In: McGinnies WG, Goldman BJ, Paylore P (eds) Food, fiber and the arid lands. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp 311–322
Evenari M, Nessler U, Rogel A, Schenk O (1975) Antike Technik im Dienste der Landwirtschaft in ariden Gebieten. Tropenlandwirt 76:11–21
National Academy of Sciences (1974) More water for arid lands. Promising technologies and research opportunities. Report of an Ad Hoc Panel of the Advisory Committee on Technology Innovation. Board on Science and Technology for International Development. Commission on International Relations. National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC, pp 1–153
Shanan L, Tadmor NH, Evenari M (1959) The ancient desert agriculture of the Negev. II. Utilization of runoff from small watersheds in the Abde (Ovdat) region. Ktavim, Isr J Agric Res 9:107–129
Shanan L, Tadmor NH, Evenari M (1961) The ancient desert agriculture of the Negev. VII. Exploitation of runoff from large watersheds. Ktavim, Isr J Agric Res 11:9–31
Shanan L, Evenari M, Tadmor NH (1967) Rainfall patterns in the Central Negev desert. Isr Explor J 17:163–184
Shanan L, Evenari M, Tadmor NH (1969) Ancient technology and modern science applied to desert agriculture. Endeavour 28:68–72
Shanan L, Tadmor NH, Evenari M, Reiniger P (1970) Runoff farming in the desert. III. Microcatchments for improvement of desert range. Agron J 62:445–449
Spiegel-Roy P, Evenari M, Mazig D (1971) Performance and moisture use of apricot trees under runoff farming. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 96: 696–701
Tadmor NH, Evenari M, Shanan L, Hillel D (1958) The ancient desert agriculture of the Negev. I. Gravel mounds and gravel strips near Shivta (Sbeita) Ktavim, Isr J Agric Res 8:127–151
Tadmor NH, Shanan L, Evenari M (1960) The ancient desert agriculture of the Negev. VI. The ratio of catchment to cultivated area. Ktavim, Isr J Agric Res 10:193–206
Tadmor NH, Evenari M, Shanan L (1970) Runoff farming in the desert. IV. Survival and yields of perennial range plants. Agron J 62:695–699
Tadmor NH, Shanan L, Evenari M (1971) Runoff farming in the desert. V. Persistence and yields of annual range species. Agron J 63:91–95
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lüttge, U. (2010). Runoff-Rainwater for Sustainable Desert Farming. In: Ramawat, K. (eds) Desert Plants. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02550-1_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02550-1_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02549-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02550-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)