Engineer Dr M. H. Ali is based at the Bangladesh Agricultural University and this is the first volume of a ‘true textbook for the undergraduate students in Bio-Science Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Biological Systems Engineering, Environmental Science, Biological Sciences and Agricultural Sciences’. This volume covers the fundamental aspects, and the second volume (to follow) will cover ‘application aspects of irrigation and water management’.

The chapter headings indicate the range of material covered: 1. Introduction: Perspectives and General Concept of Irrigation; 2. Fundamentals of Irrigation Development and Planning; 3. Weather: A Driving Force in Determining Irrigation Demand; 4. Soil: A Media for Plant Growth; 5. Plant: A Machinery of Water Absorption; 6. Water: An Element of Irrigation; 7. Field Water Balance; 8. Soil–Water–Plant–Atmosphere Relationship; 9. Crop Water Requirement and Irrigation Scheduling; 10. Measurement of Irrigation Water; 11. Water Conservation and Harvesting; 12. Economics in Irrigation Management and Project Evaluation.

Each chapter is extensively subdivided into numbered sub-sections. The addition of some photographs would have enlivened the text. There are notes on irrigation development in Bangladesh, China and Iran, but most of the material is of general application. However, there is little or no material on sprinkler or trickle irrigation. In addition to extensive referencing, there are lists of relevant journals and appropriate FAO publications. At the end of each chapter are questions and exercises.

The book provides a thorough introduction to the fundamental aspects of surface (channel-based) irrigation, although, for undergraduates, the price is very high.