CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE BETWEEN CONCEPT AND APPLICATION

Abstract

The challenges of agricultural sustainability have become more intense in recentyears with the sharp rise in the cost of food, energy and production inputs, climatechange and water scarcity. The question is how to meet such challenges? Howshould be agriculture in the 21st century? The worldwide scientific and empiricalevidences highlighted the important role could be achieved through rapid adoptionand spread of conservation agriculture (CA). Experience worldwide over the pastfour decades has demonstrated how CA through the simultaneous application of aset of practices of minimal mechanical soil disturbance, organic soil cover anddiversified cropping can lead to greater and stable yields, better use of productioncosts, enhanced crops, soil and ecosystem health, and improved climate changeadaptability and mitigation. However, despite of the beneficial effects of the CA onthe environment sustainability and in improving productivity and economics, yetthe question arise: why CA is not spreading faster and why then do the majority offarmers are still using other tillage implements? This could be mainly attributed tothe fact that much of the current production system science and education as wellas the policy and institutional support systems for the modern tillage-basedagricultural practices are not suitable to transformation towards enhanceconservation agriculture. Furthermore for a greater number of countries there islack of knowledge about CA systems and their management and absence of fundedresearch and extension services. The needed enabling policies, and practical actionsto promote the transformation of current production systems towards CA ones willbe fully discussed in this paper.