ABSTRACT
The appreciation of indigenous technology is an underlying tenet of Farming Systems Research. Traditional agricultural production systems in many cases are adaptations to local social and ecological conditions which have proven to be productive and sustainable over long periods of time. This chapter discusses the case study that describes a Farming Systems project directed by the author in India with the faculty of Mohan Lal Sukhadia Agricultural University, the agricultural school for the State of Rajasthan. The project dealt with an arid zone where grain is produced in association nitrogen fixing trees. Rajasthan's agriculture is predominantly rainfed. Numerous studies had been directed toward the problems of arid land production in Rajas than, focusing on crops, crop combinations and infrastructural development, without realizing the potential value of the existing agroforestry techniques. Environmental specificity appears to be a major concern in Indian agricultural research and development planning.
