In Pakistan, on-demand availability of groundwater has transformed the concept of low and uncertain crop yields into more assured crop production. Increased crop yields has resulted in food security and improved rural livelihoods. However, this growth has also led to problems of overdraft, falling watertables and degradation of groundwater quality, and yields generally remain well below potential levels. Over the last three decades, Pakistan has tried several direct and indirect management strategies for groundwater management. However the success has been limited. This paper argues that techno-institutional approaches such as introducing water rights, direct or indirect pricing and permit systems are fraught with difficulties in Pakistan due to its high population density and multitude of tiny users. Therefore there is a need to develop frameworks and management tools that are best suited to Pakistani needs. Pakistan should follow both supply and demand management approaches. For demand management, adoption of water conservation technologies, revision of existing cropping patterns and exploration of alternate water resources should be encouraged. For supply management, implementation of the groundwater regulatory frameworks developed by Provincial Irrigation and Drainage Authorities (PIDAs) and introduction of institutional reforms to enhance effective coordination between different organizations responsible for the management of groundwater resources should be given priority.

This article suggests that Asia's groundwater socio-ecology is at an impasse. Rapid growth in groundwater irrigation in South Asia and the North China plains during the period 1970-95 has been the main driver of the agrarian boom in these regions. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China account for the bulk of the world's use of groundwater in agriculture. On the plus side, groundwater development has provided sustenance to agrarian economies and millions of rural livelihoods. On the downside, it has created chronic problems of resource depletion and quality deterioration. While problems of groundwater depletion, pollution and quality deterioration are indeed serious, so are the consequences of the degradation of the resource for those that have come to precariously depend upon groundwater irrigation.Three problems currently afflict groundwater use: depletion due to overdraft; water logging and salinization; and pollution due to agricultural, industrial and other human activity. The pathology of the decline in groundwater socioecology reflects a remarkably similar pattern across regions. The critical issue for Asia now is: what might be done to sustain and revive these groundwater socio-ecologies vital to the region's economy? This article reviews a variety of technoinstitutional approaches. However, transposing lessons from the industrialized world uncritically in the Asian context may not work. A more nuanced understanding of the peculiarities of Asia's groundwater socio-ecology is needed.

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Inc. developed a standard methodology for producing analytical reports to provide a clear and concise evaluation of economic growth performance in designated countries receiving USAID assistance. The reports are tailored to meet the needs of USAID missions and regional bureaus for country-specific analysis. The CAS project Task Order also has a provision for Nathan Associates to respond to mission requests for "in-depth sectoral reviews," as follow-on work to the diagnostic analysis of growth performance.Under this provision, Nathan Associates conducted three in-depth sector analyses as a follow-on to the

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Salinisation of land resources is a major impediment to their optimal utilisation in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world including Iran. Estimates suggest that about 34 million ha, including 4Á1 million ha of the irrigated land, are salt-affected in Iran as the consequence of naturally occurring phenomena and anthropogenic activities. The annual economic losses due to salinisation in the country are more than US$ 1 billion. With variable levels of success, different approaches-salt leaching and drainage interventions, crop-based management, chemical amendments and fertilisers and integrated application of these approaches-have been used to enhance the productivity of salt-affected soils in the Country. From sustainable management perspective, it is revealed from the past research that integrated salinity management and mitigation approaches have the potential to successfully address the complex problems of salt-induced land degradation in Iran. As the growing need to produce more food and fibre for the expanding Iranian population necessitates the increased use of salt-affected land resources in the foreseeable future, there is an urgent need to develop and implement a pertinent National Strategic Plan. In addition to establishing networks for monitoring spatial and temporal changes in soil salinity and water quality, this plan should integrate the management of salt-affected environments into the overall management of land and water resources in the country. It should also address different management aspects of salt-affected land resources in a holistic manner by considering the biophysical and environmental conditions of the target areas as well as livelihoods of the affected communities. The involvement of the communities will facilitate in developing a greater understanding about the potential uses and markets of the agricultural products produced from salt-affected areas.

The basins of the Indus and Ganges rivers cover 2.20 million km 2 and are inhabited by more than a billion people. The region is under extreme pressures of population and poverty, unregulated utilization of the resources and low levels of productivity. The needs are: (1) development policies that are regionally differentiated to ensure resource sustainability and high productivity; (2) immediate development and implementation of policies for sound groundwater management and energy use; (3) improvement of the fragile food security and to broaden its base; and (4) policy changes to address land fragmentation and improved infrastructure. Meeting these needs will help to improve productivity, reduce rural poverty and improve overall human development.