In this valuable book the editors state that ‘increasing the productivity of rainfed areas especially in the semi-arid and arid regions of the world with impoverished soil resource base and water shortages is the greatest challenge of the 21st century’. Thirty-seven contributors provide 13 chapters, with copious references, discussing current concepts, characteristics and analyses of watershed (catchment) management programmes and projects. Examples are mainly from India, where these have been a major national focus for the alleviation of rural poverty since the 1980s.

Within catchments at macro-scale, much emphasis has been laid on water-retaining structures, and their technical effects and social impacts, not always as great or widespread as hoped. Surveys have shown that deficiencies of some minor plant nutrients, e.g. S, B and Zn, have also been limiting crop yield responses.

However, surprisingly, limited consideration is given to other micro-scale features of the landscape – soil organic matter levels and associated soil structure and soil porosity, plant available water-holding capacity, cation exchange capacity and other complexities of plant–soil interactions. On these, crop growth, conservation of water and soil, system resilience, stream flow and farmers’ interests ultimately depend. Therefore, the multiple capacities of well-implemented Conservation Agriculture deserve not only more research but also heightened emphasis in all parts of any catchment so as to exemplify the necessary new paradigm of rainfed agriculture.

Considering together the dynamic interactions between these macro- and micro-scale features – under the influences of weather, gravity and human action – would provide an even more complete guide to better land husbandry and sustainable plant production across catchments.