During the Xth plan, a growth rate of 4 percent or more is being targeted as a national policy in agriculture. To achieve this, livestock production is being focused as a source of livelihood and income generation for farmers. The arid and semi-arid regions constituting about 40% area of the country, are comparatively less developed and therefore kept as key response area. Since feeding livestock cost more than 60 per cent, and there exists huge deficit of forage and feed supply, the present book is very timely and important for these areas. The chapters on Feed and Forage Resources their nutritive value and utilization, Grassland development, Top Feeds, Livestock Biodiversity, Natural Resources, Conservation, Feed Quality and IPR issues under WTO have been covered. The book will thus serve as a repository of information and will be very useful for researchers, livestock owners, students and planners for dry regions.

Table of Contents:
Forage production and feeding during scarcity; Forage resource management in arid and semi arid regions; Managing drought stress for augmenting forage productivity in arid western rajasthan; Fodder/Grasses under horticultrue planataitons in arid and semi-arid regions of India; Arid and semi arid regions of the country; Livestock raising in arid and semi-arid zones: A perspective; Agroforestry for forage production; Diversity of domesticated herbivores; Modelling silvipastoral systems; Halophytic forages for salty soils in deserts; Densification of roughages; Grases as ecological imperatives for dry regions of India; Forage crops and cropping systems of arid and semi-arid regions; Environmental stress on livestock in arid and semi arid regions; Micronutrient status of livestock feeds of arid regions; Mineral bioavailability from forages; Multipurpose trees as forage resources; Feed and forage resources for camel; Lean period forages in arid and semi-arid zones of India; Livestock feeding in rajasthan; Dryland forage seed resource; Problems and prospects of forage production and utilization in rajasthan; domestic animal diversity dry regions; Economics of small ruminant production in dry regions; Technologies for mitigating stresses: Alternative land uses in semi-arid regions; Camel, their relevence in developing farming systems in arid regions of India; Technological innovations for augmenting forage resources for dry regions; Grasses of banni pastureland of kutch and its management; Livestock vis-a-vis fodder resources in the state of rajasthan; Densification of complete feed; Intellectual property right (IPR) issues in livestock farming; Top feed resources in arid region of India; Water and soil conservation for augmenting forage supply in ravines and other grasslands;