The climate of Northeast Thailand, where this symposium will be held, is typical tropical savanna. Consequently, rain-fed agriculture still remains dominant. NE Thailand has half of the rice planted area in Thailand, however, the rice productivity has been declining year by year and remains in an unstable condition. Cassava and sugarcane are planted very widely as major cash crops and their productivity are fully dependent upon the amount of rainwater. Under the recent abnormal meteorological conditions, the security of water resources has become the more crucial.
Some farmland is threatened with soil salinity.
With one-third of the land area and population of Thailand, NE Thailand has rather unfavorable natural conditions. However, farmers, agricultural researchers and agronomists have developed skillful and clever agricultural practices and have maintained vital agricultural production at levels obtained in other areas and countries with rain-fed agriculture. In this symposium, considering the characteristics of NE Thailand, the real status of the relationship between the management of water resources and agricultural production in Asian countries with rain-fed agriculture under the tropical savanna climate will be introduced. There will also be discussion about similar problems in different areas and how the problems are alleviated. Secondarily, substantial examples of noteworthy agricultural management and the principles of agricultural practices, cropping systems and processing of high-income farm households and farms will be presented.