This book by M. H. Ali follows his first volume (reviewed in Experimental Agriculture 47(3), 2011, pp. 576–577) and is also aimed at serving as a textbook for undergraduate students.

The format is similar to the first volume, and chapter headings give an idea of the range covered: 1. Water conveyance loss and designing conveyance system; 2. Water application methods; 3. Irrigation system designing; 4. Performance evaluation of irrigation projects; 5. Water resources management; 6. Land and watershed management; 7. Pollution of water resources from agricultural fields and its control; 8. Management of salt-affected soils; 9. Drainage of agricultural lands; 10. Models in irrigation and water management; 11. GIS in irrigation and water management; 12. Water lifting devices – pumps; and 13. Renewable energy resources for irrigation.

As with the earlier volume, each chapter is extensively subdivided into numbered paragraphs and sub-sections, the contents of which vary from a single sentence to a number of text pages. There is an extensive range of figures and tables, but – again – the addition of some photographs would have enlivened the text. Some of the material is too academically oriented and would be heavy going for some undergraduates, especially those keen to ‘get their feet wet’ with irrigation projects in the field. A section headed ‘Unsteady gradually varied surface water flow’ would tax even a skilled mathematician! Once again, trickle and micro-irrigation methods receive little coverage. Each chapter ends with lists of relevant journals and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports, together with questions.

With its stated price (£117.00, the same as Volume 1), this over-academic textbook will probably find a place in departmental libraries rather than with individual students.