Chapter 5 - Cereal-Based Cropping Systems in Asia: Nutrition and Disease Management

Abstract

This chapter discusses the ecophysical background and management of the cropping systems of Asia, with emphasis on nutrition and diseases. There are several ecophysical, social, and economic factors that have played important roles in the development of the present cereal-based cropping systems (CBCS) of Asia. CBCS will continue to be important to meet increasing food demands in Asia. Even though the rice-wheat system will remain the most important sequence in South and Southeast Asia, the rice-maize system will expand in the future. In Central and West Asia, the wheat and barley-based cropping system will be predominant. These cereal–cereal cropping systems will have a sustainability challenge; hence, it will be important to integrate grain legumes into these cereal-based systems. Even though the CBCS in Asia are highly diverse due to contrasting ecophysical conditions in different regions, there are a few megasystems that account for a greater share of food production in the continent. These include cropping systems such as rice–rice in the tropical climate of East and Southeast Asia, rice–wheat in the intensive agro-ecosystems of China and South Asia, cereals–legumes in South Asia, and wheat–fallow and wheat–cotton in the dry lands of China, India, and West and Central Asia.