Adoption Of Conservation Agriculture Practices Research Articles

Soil organic carbon stock in arid and semi-arid steppe rangelands of North Africa

The assessment of soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) in degraded and rehabilitated soils in steppelands and rangelands of North Africa is crucial for the adoption of adequate management strategies that respond to sustainable development. This study aimed to estimate the SOCS in the surface layer of soils rehabilitated by prickly pear plantations (PPP) and analyze the effects of edaphic factors controlling the variation of SOCS in old PPP (OPPP), young PPP (YPPP) and control plots (unplanted plots). Under arid and semi-arid climates, three steppe sites were sampled in which three plots with OPPP (age = 10–20 years), YPPP (age < 5 years) and controls plots were considered. In each plot, five quadrats were delimited and within each quadrat, two pedological profiles were dug to collect soil samples. The determined parameters were soil organic carbon (SOC), bulk density (BD), pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and total calcium carbonate. The averages of SOCS varied between 14.51 ± 11.03 t/ha (min–max: 0.09–35.88 t/ha) under arid climate and 17.32 ± 9.05 t/ha (range: 0.26–41.84 t/ha) under semi-arid climate. The variations of SOCS were significant (P = 0.002) between the type of steppe managements but not significant (P > 0.05) among climate zones. Generally, the control plots and OPPP stored more carbon (14–19 t/ha) than steppes with YPPP (11–14 t/ha). SOCS varied significantly with changes in soil depths, it reached 27 t/ha at 15 cm and dropped to 10–18 t/ha at 20 cm. Regardless of the type of climate and rangeland management, SOCS evolved with BD and soil organic matter. This study estimated for the first time the SOCS in soils of degraded steppe rangelands in North Africa. Even if the SOCS remains low degraded steppes rangelands, it is necessary to avoid the loss of SOC in these ecosystems. The adoption of conservation agricultural practices, e.g. organic matter addition and reduced tillage techniques can increase SOC levels in these ecosystems.

Factors Affecting Adoption of Conservation Agriculture Practices in Mpatsa Extension Planning Area, Nsanje, Southern Malawi

Conservation agriculture (CA) emerged as an alternative innovation to conventional agriculture due to losses in soil productivity as a result of soil degradation. This study investigated factors affecting the adoption of Conservation Agriculture in the Mpatsa Extension Planning Area in a southern district of Malawi, Nsanje. A quantitative method approach was followed where were collected from a sample of 110 targeted smallholder farmers in the study area using a semi-structured questionnaire where the majority (63.6%) were women. Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) were also done to triangulate data on questionnaires. Data were entered into a Microsoft Excel database and analyzed in SPSS version 20. Socio-economic, environmental factors and household income have a greater impact on the adoption of conservation agricultural innovations. Animals were found to cause permanent soil cover disturbance while feeding on crop residues leaving the soil bare. The study concluded that climatic factors and CA training have negatively affected the adoption of new agricultural innovations, therefore, recommending further training and extension support for CA adoption as well as more access to credit opportunities for increased households’ adoption of CA.

Adoption of Conservation Agricultural Practices Among Maize Farmers: An Alternative Livelihood to Mitigate Climate Change Impact in Bawku Municipality, Ghana

<i>Background and Objective</i>: The plight of farmers are worsening by the impact of climate change. This is evident in all agro-ecological zones in Ghana. Warming and variability in rainfall pattern is causing floods and long dry spells of drought with resultant effects of reduced food crop and livestock production. Conservation Agricultural (CA) practices was therefore introduced to address the challeges of conventional tillage. CA has therefore been identified as a substitute to conventional agriculture for sustainable agricultural productivity. The objective of the study was to assess the rate of adoption of CA practices in the Bawku Municipality in the Upper East region of Ghana. <i>Methodology</i>: The study was conducted in the Bawku Municipal area of Ghana. The research design used for the study was the mixed methods. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Bawku Municipality as the major area where agricultural conservation practices occurs in the Upper East region. The simple random sampling technique was used to select ten (10) communities in the Municipality, whilst the systematic random sampling was used to select forty (40) respondents from each community for the study. The target population for the study was maize farmers in the Bawku Municipality. In all, a total of 358 respondents were interviewed for the study. Data was taken on socio-cultural and socio-economic characteristics of respondents. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, percentages, and means were computed. Cross tabulations of variables were also computed and the chi-square tests used to establish relationships. <i>Results</i>: The study revealed that age, sex, level of education, religion, household size, government policy, access to credit, source of income, farm size, and access to extension services were found to have significantly influenced adoption of CA practices. The results of the study indicated that majority of farmers were aware and had knowledge about CA practices. “No-tillage with cover crops, minimum tillage with cover crops, and crop rotation with cover crops” were the main practices of conservation agriculture in the study area. The study further revealed that majority of the farmers indicated that the practices of conservation agriculture reduces soil erosion, increases soil fertility, increases soil organic matter and improves agricultural productivity. <i>Conclusion</i>: Majority of farmers adopted CA practices in full. It is recommended that the Ghanaian government should boost CA practices by instituting an annual national award scheme to award hardworking CA practioners in Ghana.

Adoption of Conservation Agricultural Practices among Maize Farmers: An Alternative Livelihood to Mitigate Climate Change Impact in Bawku Municipality, Ghana

The plight of farmers are worsening by the impact of climate change. This is evident in all agro-ecological zones in Ghana. Warming and variability in rainfall pattern is causing floods and long dry spells of drought with resultant effects of reduced food crop and livestock production. Conservation Agricultural (CA) practices was therefore introduced to address the challeges of conventional tillage. CA has therefore been identified as a substitute to conventional agriculture for sustainable agricultural productivity. The objective of the study was to assess the rate of adoption of CA practices in the Bawku Municipality in the Upper East region of Ghana. The study was conducted in the Bawku Municipal area of Ghana. The research design used for the study was the mixed methods. The purposive sampling technique was used Ito select the Bawku Municipality as the major area where agricultural conservation practices occurs in the Upper East region. The simple random sampling technique was used to select ten (10) communities in the Municipality, whilst the systematic random sampling was used to select forty (40) respondents from each community for the study. The target population for the study was maize farmers in the Bawku Municipality. In all, a total of 358 respondents were interviewed for the study. Data was taken on socio-cultural and socio-economic characteristics of respondents. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, percentages, and means were computed. Cross tabulations of variables were also computed and the chi-square tests used to establish relationships. The study revealed that age, sex, level of education, religion, household size, government policy, access to credit, source of income, farm size, and access to extension services were found to have significantly influenced adoption of CA practices. The results of the study indicated that majority of farmers were aware and had knowledge about CA practices. “No-tillage with cover crops, minimum tillage with cover crops, and crop rotation with cover crops” were the main practices of conservation agriculture in the study area. The study further revealed that majority of the farmers indicated that the practices of conservation agriculture reduces soil erosion, increases soil fertility, increases soil organic matter and improves agricultural productivity. The survey also reveals that 81% of farmers adopted CA practices in full. It is recommended that the Ghanaian government should boost CA practices by instituting an annual nation award scheme to award hardworking CA practioners in Ghana.

Community-embedded experiential learning and adoption of conservation farming practices in Eastern and Southern Africa

In low-income country agriculture, there is frequently limited information about the comparative effectiveness of alternative extension modalities for delivering information on new farming methods. This paper analyzes the impact of community-embedded farmer education programs on the adoption of conservation farming. A multinomial choice model is applied on survey data from Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania to estimate the relative risk ratios (RRR), a measure of the probability of adopting the conservation agriculture practices studied, conditional on attending specific extension activities in the farmers' community. The results show that the likelihood of adoption was generally high as measured by RRRs between 10 and 14. Suggestive of the effectiveness of experiential learning methods, attending training sessions had consistently higher RRRs of adopting conservation farming practices. The positive role of community-based extension programs potentially means that the dissemination of conservation agriculture requires investments by governments and development organizations in community learning sites. Investments in programs that promote experiential, hands-on and farmer self-learning can be consequential in enabling the diffusion of better farming methods.

Soil carbon sequestration potential and the identification of hotspots in the eastern Corn Belt of the United States

AbstractSoil C sequestration is a significant CO2 mitigation strategy, but precise assessments of sequestration require spatially explicit modeling of potential changes in soil organic C (SOC) in response to soil, climate, land condition, and management interactions. We assessed the SOC sequestration potential of the eastern Corn Belt (ECB) in the United States (Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) in response to the adoption of conservation farming practices and land use change (pasture and forestation) using the SOCRATES model. Input data was provided through an intersection of the State Soil Geographic database, National Land Cover Database, and a PRISM (https://prism.oregonstate.edu) climate surface. At the end of the 20th century, the 15.3 Mha of cropped soils in the ECB contained 632 Tg C, an estimated reduction of 52% since the introduction of agriculture in the mid 1800s. Complete adoption of no‐tillage practices on prime cropland would potentially recover 147 Tg SOC over 20 yr, whereas a continuation of conventional tillage would produce a loss of 35 Tg SOC over that period. Sequestration hotspots (&gt;500 Gg increase in SOC) under no‐tillage cover 2.3 Mha providing 28 Tg C over 20 yr. The conversion of marginal (nonprime) agricultural lands to forests would yield an additional 13 Tg C in SOC and 381 Tg C in aboveground biomass. The rehabilitation of minelands to forest would yield an additional 4 Tg C in SOC and 42 Tg C in biomass. Opportunities to sequester C in the ECB via tillage and reforestation are substantial and should be incorporated into regional and national climate change mitigation strategies.

Application of innovation platforms to catalyse adoption of conservation agriculture practices in South Asia

ABSTRACT Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) is a package of practices that could improve the sustainability of smallholder farm productivity and profitability. However, existing extension systems are unable to facilitate widespread adoption to have the impact necessary to meet food security and livelihood requirements. This paper examines the utility of ‘Innovation Platforms’ (IPs) as a tool to catalyse adoption of CASI for smallholder farmers in South Asia and generate opportunities for rural micro-entrepreneurship in areas with high rates of poverty, small farm sizes and complex labour markets. We established 37 village-level and five District-level IPs across the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Nepal, Bangladesh, and India. IPs allowed widespread uptake of CASI with benefits to smallholder farmers, input and output suppliers, and enabled extension systems to be more efficient. There was variability across locations with different modes of IPs established, building on existing farmer or community youth groups, and enabling micro-entrepreneur business opportunities. IPs were effective in developing trust in communities, among stakeholders, empowering rural youth and women through direct engagement. Ensuring strong ownership was key. Further work is needed to provide opportunities for high-level policy support to assist IPs to have a wider impact in supporting large-scale adoption of CASI.

Predictive soil mapping using historic bare soil composite imagery and legacy soil survey data

There is an increasing need for detailed soil property maps to support land use planning, soil carbon accounting, and precision agriculture. While soil maps exist in Saskatchewan, they are at coarse scales (1:100,000), which are not always suitable for detailed soil management. One emerging technique for predictive soil mapping is the use of bare soil composite imagery derived from multi-temporal satellite imagery. This study focused on using bare soil composite imagery along with legacy soil data (1958–1998) with high location uncertainty to predict soil organic carbon, clay, and cation exchange capacity. The bare soil composite images were created from Landsat 5 imagery (1985 to 1995) using Google Earth Engine. Predictive models were built using a Random Forest model for each parameter and evaluated using a 75–25 train-test split. The soil organic carbon model had an R2 value of 0.55 with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.67 percent, with the near infrared and visible light bands being the most important features in the model. The clay predictive model has an R2 of 0.44 and a RMSE of 5.0 percent, with the shortwave infrared bands being most important. The cation exchange capacity model had an R2 of 0.50 with a RMSE of 5.7 meq 100 g−1, with the shortwave and near infrared bands as the most important predictors. Based on these results, bare soil composite imagery represents a valuable covariate for predictive soil mapping in the Canadian Prairies. This work also illustrates that for regions with extensive adoption of conservation farming practices, satellite imagery should be obtained for time periods before these practices were adopted from the months of the year where crop residues have decomposed. By combining historical soil survey data with historical imagery, maps of legacy soil properties can be generated to make comparisons against with modern data for applications such as monitoring soil organic carbon change over time.

Spatially Mediated Peer Effects in the Adoption of Conservation Agriculture Practices

AbstractThis study uses location-specific data to investigate the role of spatially mediated peer effects in farmers’ adoption of conservation agriculture practices. The literature has shown that farmers trust other farmers and one way to increase conservation practice adoption is through identifying feasible conservation practices in neighboring fields. Estimating this effect can help improve our understanding of what influences the adoption and could play a role in improving federal and local conservation program design. The study finds that although spatial peer effects are important in the adoption of conservation tillage and diverse crop rotation, the scale of peer effects are not substantial.

Bare Earth\u2019s Surface Spectra as a Proxy for Soil Resource Monitoring

The Earth’s surface dynamics provide essential information for guiding environmental and agricultural policies. Uncovered and unprotected surfaces experience several undesirable effects, which can affect soil ecosystem functions. We developed a technique to identify global bare surface areas and their dynamics based on multitemporal remote sensing images to aid the spatiotemporal evaluation of anthropic and natural phenomena. The bare Earth’s surface and its changes were recognized by Landsat image processing over a time range of 30 years using the Google Earth Engine platform. Two additional products were obtained with a similar technique: a) Earth’s bare surface frequency, which represents where and how many times a single pixel was detected as bare surface, based on Landsat series, and b) Earth’s bare soil tendency, which represents the tendency of bare surface to increase or decrease. This technique enabled the retrieval of bare surfaces on 32% of Earth’s total land area and on 95% of land when considering only agricultural areas. From a multitemporal perspective, the technique found a 2.8% increase in bare surfaces during the period on a global scale. However, the rate of soil exposure decreased by ~4.8% in the same period. The increase in bare surfaces shows that agricultural areas are increasing worldwide. The decreasing rate of soil exposure indicates that, unlike popular opinion, more soils have been covered due to the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, which may reduce soil degradation.

Factors influencing the adoption of conservation agriculture practices among smallholder farmers in Mozambique

This study aimed to identify the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ decisions to adopt four different conservation agriculture (CA) practices (i.e. minimum tillage, intercropping, cover cropping and crop rotation) in Mozambique. A non-probability sampling approach, incorporating both purposive and accidental sampling types, was followed. Three agro-ecological regions, followed by four provinces, were purposely selected. In addition, Accidental sampling was used to select 616 smallholder farmers from 38 communities in the three agro-ecological regions where CA projects were historically implemented by several NGO institutions. A questionnaire was administered to the 616 selected smallholder farmers. A descriptive logit model was applied in STATA to determine the probability of respondents adopting CA practices. The findings show that 44.6% of smallholder farmers adopted one or more of the CA practices, and 55.4% did not. It was also clear that most farmers did not adopt all components CA. Results obtained revealed that household size, animal ownership, communication assets (such as television, radio, and cell phone) and group membership had a positive influence on CA adoption. Interestingly, female-headed households were more likely to adopt CA. Awareness of soil health decline is an important factor determining adoption. The study concluded that the reasons for adoption are site-specific and a ‘blanket approach’ to promote adoption of CA is unlikely to be successful.

In-situ paddy straw management practices for higher resource use efficiency and crop productivity in Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India

The large scale adoption of long duration coarse grain rice varieties and combine harvesting have increased the incidences of in-situ rice residue burning in Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Crop residue burning in addition to causing environmental pollution, is also responsible for loss of precious nutrients (complete nitrogen, about one fourth of phosphorus & potash and about three fourth of sulphur) and efficacy of soil active herbicides. The alternatives to rice residue burning are its removal, incorporation or retention. The in-situ management options are better and further, retention is more advantageous than incorporation in term of energy, time and cost effectiveness. In addition, the surface retention has a series of positive effects, such as, moisture conservation, weed suppression, temperature moderation, and improved soil health. Residue management practices (surface retention or incorporation) also influence the nutrient availability, crop water requirement, weed dynamics, herbicide efficacy, insect-pest infestation and mitigation of climate change effect on long term basis. Hence, the agronomic practices need to be adjusted to prevent temporal nitrogen immobilization, hindrance in precise seeding, weed flora shift, and new insect-pest incidents. Suitable machineries for seeding and harvesting are of paramount importance for proper crop establishment under in-situ residue management practices. Combines fitted with straw management system for uniform spread of straw help in efficient running of conservation agriculture (CA) seeding machines like Turbo Happy Seeder and Rotary Disc Drill. Moreover, for smooth running of CA machinery, the height of anchored straw should be kept as much as possible, so that lesser loose straw is present. The adoption of CA practices (no-tillage and residue retention) in wheat under rice-wheat system can help in improving wheat yield by advanced sowing and reduced problem of Phalaris minor Retz. Moreover, fertilizer application method and timing needs to be fine tuned under in-situ residue management options. The nitrogen top dressing should be done just before irrigation to avoid interception by surface retained residue which can enhance volatilization and immobilization losses of nitrogen. Higher efficacy of pre-emergence herbicides in surface retained residue scenario could also be realized by increasing the spray volume along with modifying the application time and placement of herbicides. Therefore, a paradigm shift in agronomic practices, with respect to paddy straw management, is required for enhancing system productivity and resource use efficiency. DOI: http://doi.org/10.25174/2249-4065/2019/96323

Assessing the long-term impact of conservation agriculture on wheat-based systems in Tunisia using APSIM simulations under a climate change context.

Several circulation models are forecasting climate changes in the Mediterranean region. Accordingly, it is expected that water scarcity in the region will be higher with drastic shifts of hydrological and erosive watershed responses. In Tunisia, wheat yields have been variable over the years and are lower than the potential yields. In response, the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA), introduced into Tunisia in 1999 to help adaptation to climate change, has resulted in a substantial reduction in agricultural productivity. CA areas increased from 52 ha in 1999 to 14,000 ha in 2015. Using a modelling approach, the present paper evaluates the potential of CA to adapt wheat-based-systems to climate change in Tunisia. The Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) model was used to predict the effect of tillage (conventional tillage [CT] vs. zero-tillage [ZT] and soil residue retention [ZT-RR]) on wheat productivity and soil fertility. Two contrasting locations in Tunisia were studied; one semi-arid (Kef) and one sub-humid (Bizerte). Results showed that the sustainable production of durum wheat under climate change conditions in Tunisia is possible through the adoption of CA practices (ZT and ZT-RR) in both sub-humid and semi-arid areas. In fact, mulching (residue retention) is more effective than CT (under semi-arid and sub-humid conditions) in enhancing wheat yield (15%), water use efficiency (18% and 13%) and soil organic carbon accumulation (0.13 t ha-1 year-1 and 0.18 t ha-1 year-1). It is also more effective for soil resilience - preventing water erosion (1.7 t ha-1 year-1 and 4.6 t ha-1 year-1 of soil loss). The present study allowed identification of 260,000 ha as priority areas for CA adoption; this represent one-third of the total cereal area in Tunisia. Appropriate evaluation of the benefits of CA on sustainable agricultural intensification would provide more arguments for effectively supporting CA adoption in Tunisia.

Soil organic carbon stock on the Majorca Island: Temporal change in agricultural soil over the last 10 years

For quite a long time, soil organic carbon stock (SOCS) has reduced from reconverting forest areas into agricultural land or by inadequate agronomic practices. However in recent decades in Mediterranean areas, abandonment of agricultural areas due to lack of economic profits and to promoting tourism has fostered a change in land use that has impacted soil carbon. In line with this, the Majorca Island (Spain) could be a good study area to evaluate temporary changes in carbon stocks in soils in areas with a Mediterranean climate. The present study analysed the spatial distribution of SOCS and evaluated the temporal changes over 11 years in agricultural soils in relation to the influence of land use and land management’. The global carbon budget (estimated at 30 cm depth) on the Majorca Island was estimated at 31.23 Tg C, and showed wide spatial variability. As expected, SOCS was higher in the forest areas of the Tramuntana Mountain Range (>100 Mg ha−1), while the lowest contents were found in agricultural use (79.3 Mg ha−1), located mainly in the centre and south of this island.The total C stored from 2006 to 2017 increased by 2.62 Tg C (15%) in agricultural areas on the island. We noted a major increase in SOCS in the agricultural zones on mountain slopes (>2-fold higher), associated with abandoned crops in terrace cultivation, but grassland systems also increased. Nonetheless, the present study shows a sharp drop in SOCS in the centre and south of this island. This decrease was more pronounced in annual crops (−14.5%), which could be attributed to intensive soil management and increased irrigated land. Land abandonment has been indicated as the main potential to carbon sequestration in soil, but this potential for carbon sequestration is a finite process. Certain changes in agricultural practices on Majorca, and in rural Mediterranean areas in general, are necessary to avoid carbon loss in cropland soils. Adoption of conservation agriculture practices, e.g. cover crops, crop rotation, organic additions and reduced tillage techniques, can help increase SOC levels in rural Mediterranean areas.

Social Capital and Adoption of Alternative Conservation Agricultural Practices in South-Western Nigeria

The major concern of most African countries, including Nigeria, in recent times is how to increase food production because of food insecurity issues, which by extension, is a major contributing factor to the prevalence of poverty. Therefore, adoption of conservation agricultural practices is regarded as a pathway to drive the achievement of food and nutrition security, as well as the needed optimal performance in the agri-food sector. Reportedly, scaling up of the limited adoption of these practices could be facilitated through kinship ties, peer influence, and social networks that govern mutual interactions among individuals; therefore, this motivated the study. Using cross-sectional data obtained from 350 sample units selected from South-Western Nigeria through a multistage sampling technique, this study applied descriptive statistical tools and cross-tabulation techniques to profile the sampled subjects while count outcome models were used to investigate the factors driving counts of conservative agriculture (CA) adoption. Similarly, a marginal treatment effects (MTEs) model (parametric approach) using local IV estimator was applied to examine the effects of CA adoption on the outcome (log of farmers’ farm income). Additionally, appropriate measures of fit tests statistics were used to test the reliabilities of the fitted models. Findings revealed that farmers’ years of farming experience (p &lt; 0.1), frequency of extension visits (p &lt; 0.05), and social capital viz-a-viz density of social group memberships (p &lt; 0.05) significantly determined the count of CA practices adopted with varying degrees by smallholder farmers. Although, social capital expressed in terms of membership of occupational group and diversity of social group members also had a positive influence on the count of CA practices adopted but not significant owing largely to the “information gaps” about agricultural technologies in the study area. However, the statistical tests of the MTEs indicated that the treatment effects differed significantly across the covariates and it also varied significantly with unobserved heterogeneity. The policy relevant treatment effect estimates also revealed that different policy scenarios could increase or decrease CA adoption, depending on which individuals it induces to attract the expected spread and exposure.

Soil carbon pools and enzyme activities in aggregate size fractions after seven years of conservation agriculture in a rice–wheat system

Decline in soil organic carbon (SOC) due to intensive tillage and removal or burning of crop residues is considered a major threat to maintaining soil quality and meeting future challenges of food production at national and global scales. Adoption of conservation-agriculture practices (no till and residue retention) is necessary to promote soil structural stability and increases in SOC content and enzyme activities. We evaluated the impact of tillage and residue-management practices on yield, soil labile-C pools, aggregate stability and soil enzyme activities after seven cycles of a rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) system on the Indo-Gangetic Plain of India. Treatments included four combinations of tillage and crop establishment in rice (main plots), and three combinations of tillage and residue management in wheat (subplots). Irrespective of rice-establishment method, mean grain yield of no-till wheat with rice-residue mulch (NTW+RR) was 9% and 22% higher, respectively, than of conventional-till (CTW) or no-till wheat with no rice-residue mulch. Soil C pools (very labile, labile, less-labile and non-labile) were significantly higher under a no-till dry-seeded rice (NTDSR)–NTW+RR cycle than conventional-till puddled transplanted rice–CTW. Macro-aggregates (&amp;gt;0.25 mm) had higher labile C pools, glomalin content and enzyme activities than micro-aggregates. NTW+RR significantly increased soil C pools within both macro- and micro-aggregates. Compared with CTW, NTW+RR increased soil dehydrogenase, cellulase and alkaline phosphatase activities by 23%, 34% and 14%, and water-soluble organic C by 31%, and increased water-stable aggregates and mean-weight-diameter. NTDSR–NTW+RR increased SOC, enzyme activity, aggregate stability and wheat grain yield. Results indicated that soil labile-C pools across aggregate fractions were the most sensitive indicators of soil quality when determining the effects of changes in management practices. Furthermore, adoption of no till and residue retention may improve sustainability in rice–wheat systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

Adoption of Conservation Practices: Its Impact on Input Use and Performance in the Northern Region of Ghana

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is promoted worldwide on the basis of its contribution to economic, social, and environmental sustainability of agricultural production. In Ghana, despite the increasing interest in the promotion of CA and its practices, its rate of adoption is still low, mainly due to the conflicting evidences regarding its effectiveness. This paper contributes to the numerous debates by examining the impact of CA practices on hired labour, rates of inorganic fertilizers applied by adopters, maize yield, and profit of adopters. Using a cross-sectional data, a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model was employed to compute the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) and Average Treatment Effect on Treated (ATET) for yield, hired labour, inorganic fertilizer rate, and profit of adopters of CA practices. The study reveals that CA practices impact positively on hired labour employed on the farm, but have a negative impact on profits of adopters. No impact whatsoever of adoption of CA practices is observed on maize yield and also inorganic fertilizer application rates. Technical assistance, and training of farmers on strategies that minimize costs of production must be intensified to raise profits of adopters.

Do farmer, household and farm characteristics influence the adoption of sustainable practices? The evidence from the Republic of Moldova

ABSTRACTDrought represents the main constraint on agricultural production in the Republic of Moldova indicating the need to shift from conventional agricultural practices to more sustainable ones. To provide a more comprehensive understanding of the determinants and barriers influencing the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, an analytic framework combining both binary and ordered probit models addressing the potential endogeneity of variables was applied. A survey was conducted among 234 smallholders in three districts in the Republic of Moldova from July to September 2016. The results indicated that the adoption of sustainable practices by small-scale farmers is influenced predominantly by farmer characteristics and by their perception of risk. The findings of this research confirmed that households with lower access to financial resources are less likely to adopt these practices. Consequently, the provision of alternative financing is needed in the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices.

Fingerprinting sediment sources in a large agricultural catchment under no‐tillage in Southern Brazil (Conceição River)

AbstractBrazil is a leader in the adoption of conservation agriculture practices and technologies. However, the impact of these practices on sediment sources at the catchment scale has not been quantified yet, particularly in grain growing regions, where a conservationist no‐tillage system is implemented to protect soils. To address this knowledge gap, a sediment fingerprinting study based on elemental geochemistry was carried out in a large agricultural catchment (804 km2) of Southern Brazil where no‐tillage practices dominate. A total of 156 soil samples were taken to characterize the three main potential sediment sources: cropland (n = 79), unpaved roads (n = 41), and channel banks (n = 36). Sediment sampling was performed using a time‐integrated sampler (n = 33) and by collecting fine‐bed material (n = 34) at five locations across the catchment. Sediment was also sampled during flood events at the catchment outlet (n = 20). Sediment source contributions were calculated using an optimal suite of geochemical properties and a mixing model. Results showed that although the catchment is not particularly sensitive to soil erosion (i.e., deep clayey soils with gentle slopes), the amount of sediment supplied by cropland to the river network remains very high (up to 1.63 Mg·ha−1·year−1). Sediment fingerprinting results showed that even when no‐tillage is implemented, cropland remains an important source of sediment, supplying up to 70% of the material transiting the Conceição River. Accordingly, the current conservation farming system in this catchment needs to be improved to further reduce soil erosion and sediment yield.

Farmers Perception in Adoption of Conservation Agriculture Practices in Madhubani District of Bihar, India

The study has been conducted in Madhubani district of Bihar state to analyse gender segregated key benefits, advantages, disadvantages, issues and the key decision processes and criteria for conservation agriculture technologiesadoption. Data were collected through focus group discussions involving male and female farmers. Cent per cent farmers expressed saving of labour and reduction in drudgery in Zero Tillage Direct Seeded Rice (ZTDSR). Higher yield through adoption of ZTDSR was revealed by equal percentage (75 %) of male and female farmers. Equal percentage (100 %) of male and female farmers expressed labour saving as one of the most important criteria for adoption of the ZT. Gender segregated data showed almost similar perception related to criteria adoption of ZT technology in rice-wheat system. All the female groups expressed that limited knowledge of herbicide use restricts adoption of ZTDSR. All the female groups were in the view that there is reduction of drudgery through adoption of mechanical paddy transplanter. Preparation of mat type nursery was top most disadvantages for 90 and 70 % male and female groups respectively. Eighty percent farmers groups expressed their opinion that non availability of trained tractor drivers for machine operation limits adoption of ZT machine. Preparation of mat nursery and trained operators for paddy transplanter was major criteria for adoption of mechanical paddy transplanter. There was contradiction in the perception among male and female farmers with respect to yield advantage and associated risk for poor yield due to the adoption of CA technologies.