Water use efficiency during the dry period in dryland farming system is mainly regulated by soil water storage. Strategies to increase the water amount within the soil profile are to increase infiltration rate and reduce surface runoff during rainfall period. Tillage and contour cultural practices are most practical methods used to improve surface soil structure, infiltrability and soil water availability on levelling and sloping land. This paper reports a part of the results obtained from the two main projects which were carried out in South Australia and Northern Thailand during 1992-1995 and 2000-2002 respectively. The aims of the studies are to evaluate (i) the effects of Direct Drilling (DD) and Conventional Cultivation (CC) on soil water storages and wheat water use efficiency and (ii) the effects of contour cultural practices on soil water conservation and crop water use efficiency on sloping highland. The first project was carried out in South Australia during 1992 to 1995. Wheat was sown by DD and CC treatments. Four replications were used in a randomised split-plot experimental design. Soil properties (0-150 and 150-300 mm depth) and soil water content profile (0-2 m depth) were measured using standard methods and Neutron Moisture Meter (NMM) throughout the 3 growing seasons. Water used by each crop was calculated as rainfall plus the change in stored soil water within 2 m depth. Runoff, deep drainage and interception losses were assumed negligible. Crop production was assessed as total dry matter at different growing periods and harvested grain yield. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) of wheat was calculated based on total dry matter production and grain yields. Experimental results showed that DD induced better surface soil structure by giving lower bulk density, higher aeration porosity and infiltration rate compared to CC. Consequently, lower amount of stored soil water and lower WUE by wheat were found under CC than under DD due to degraded soil structure and poorer crop development. The second project compared the effects of selected contour cultural practices on soil water conservation and crop WUE under a rainfed highland agricultural system, in Northern Thailand. A completely randomized design, with four treatments and three replicates, used a cropping sequence of maize, followed by lablab bean, was conducted during 2000 to 2002. The treatments were Conventional Contour planting (CC), Contour Ridge cultivation (CR), CR + Polythene sheet mulching (CRP) and Alley cropping (AL) with hedgerow of mango + graham stylo. Soil water contents (0-1.7 m depth), soil properties, runoff and soil loss were monitored by NMM and standard procedures. Maize and lablab bean were harvested as total dry biomass, seed and grain yields. The results from this second project showed that AL was the best while CRP was the second best treatment for improving maize yields and WUE due to better anti erosive effects and runoff control compared to the other treatments. However, CRP was the most effective practice for conserving soil water, reducing soil water evaporation, giving the highest WUE and yield of lablab bean during the dry period when compared to CC, CR, or AL. Using NMM to monitor the soil water content profile was an effective and practical method for the long term studies of soil water storage and WUE. Keywords: Neutron moisture meter, water use efficiency, soil water storage, Alley cropping.