As an area of research and development, arid-zone agriculture, or desert agriculture, includes studies of how to increase the agricultural productivity of lands dominated by lack of freshwater, an abundance of heat and sunlight, and usually one or more of extreme winter cold, short rainy season, saline soil or water, strong dry winds, poor soil structure, over-grazing, limited technological development, poverty, political instability.
The two basic approaches are
view the given environmental and socioeconomic characteristics as negative obstacles to be overcome
view as many as possible of them as positive resources to be used
