Conservation Agriculture Practices Research Articles

Do fallow in the off-season and crop succession promote differences in soil aggregation in no-tillage systems?

The no-tillage (NT) system is an agricultural practice that stands out the most within conservation agriculture. Conservation agriculture is based on three principles: soil tillage that is limited to the sowing row, crop rotation, and soil surface cover throughout the year (>30%). Despite these principles, the maintenance of soil cover throughout the year and crop rotation are commonly neglected, which can promote changes in soil aggregation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of fallow in the off-season, and two crop successions (grass/grass and grass/legume), on soil aggregation in NT systems. The study was conducted in five fields with different land uses for more than 10 years in southeastern Brazil. Three land uses under NT, all sown with maize within the season, were used, yielding three groups: NT with fallow in the off-season (NT-f), NT with legumes (brown hemp) in the off-season (NT-l), and NT with maize in the off-season (NT-g). For comparison, we considered forest land (F) as a conservation reference for soil aggregation and land being used under conventional tillage (CT) as a low-conservation system. The soil variable that contributed the most to the separation of land use was the mineral-associated organic carbon content. The absence of soil surface cover throughout the year in an NT system is as harmful to soil aggregation as a CT system. Moreover, succession promotes differences in soil aggregation, with grass-grass succession (NT-g) leading to higher particulate organic carbon content and aggregate stability index in some soil layers compared to the NT-l. Here, we demonstrate that conservation agriculture practices, such as NT, require a system-centered approach to improve soil conditions. We also found that fallow in the off-season promotes an NT system with low soil conservation.

Agricultural and Extension Education for Sustainability Approach

The study analyzed the emerging land rights and the extent of the relationship between agricultural and extension education and soil conservation practices. A survey of 376 household heads randomly sampled respondents was administered using a well-structured questionnaire. Results from correlation analysis revealed that the relationship between "agricultural and extension education" and the soil conservation variables "mulching, zero tillage, and the use of crop residues or household refuse" was positive, moderate in strength, and statistically significant. However, the relationship between "agricultural and extension education" and "slash and burn agriculture" was negative, moderate in strength, and statistically significant. The results from the linear probability model show that the coefficients of "Agricultural and Extension education" are statistically significant at a 1% level of significance for all the model specifications except the case where "organic fertilizer" is used as the dependent variable. Specifically, the results indicate that Agricultural and Extension education increases the probability of farmers practising mulching, use of crop or household residues, and zero tillage by 59.4, 16.1, and 33.6 percentage points, respectively. Also, Agricultural and Extension Education decreases the probability of farmers practising slash and burn agriculture by about 16.2 percentage points. Agricultural and Extension education increases the probability of farmers practising at least two of the soil conservations by 25 percentage points, while it increases the probability of farmers practising at least three of those soil conservations by 5.5 percentage points. Based on the results, we propose the Agricultural and Extension Education for Sustainability approach. This approach consists of knowledge, skills, motivation, awareness, concern, responsibility, and action. Therefore, policies geared towards agricultural and extension services should be highly prioritized.

Effect of the Differences Among Individual Farmers on the Intention and Adoption of Conservative Agriculture Practices in Pakistan

This study aims to explore the roles of farmers’ personal factors, such as age, education, and experience on the intention to adopt and use conservative agriculture practices (CAPs)s. The data were collected from 336 rice farmers in the Punjab, Pakistan, using field survey. SmartPLS was utilised for data analysis. The results reveal that the perceptions of CAPs regarding performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence are significantly different among the farmers based on their personal factors, such as age, education, and experience. Moreover, the use of CAPs also varies based on the farmers’ personal factors. However, young and educated farmers are more inclined to use CAPs. To promote CAPs adoption, governments need to attract young and educated farmers by allowing them to use CAPs. Moreover, training and promoting the facilitating condition can promote the adoption of CAPs. The extension role needs improvements to extend the services at the grassroots level to achieve mass adoption.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the wheat-maize cropping system under different tillage and crop residue management practices in the North China Plain

With increasing attention being placed on mitigating global warming and achieving agricultural sustainable intensification, conservation agriculture practices have gradually been implemented in the North China Plain (NCP). However, there are still knowledge gaps on the effects of conservation practices on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in this area. In this study, a four-year field experiment was conducted from 2014 to 2018 to assess the effects of tillage and crop residue management practices on the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Subsequently, crop yields, area-scaled and yield-scaled total non-carbon dioxide (CO2) GHG emissions were assessed. Our research found that no-till (NT) decreased N2O emissions by 22.6% compared with conventional tillage (CT) in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seasons, but there was no difference between tillage practices in summer maize (Zea mays L.) seasons. Crop residue retention practice (+R) increased N2O emissions by 28.1% and 26.7% compared with residue removal practice (−R) in winter wheat and summer maize seasons, respectively. The NT soils took up more CH4 compared with the CT soils in summer maize seasons. Area-scaled total non-CO2 GHG emissions showed trends similar to those of N2O emission. Since crop residue retention improved the maize yield compared with the residue removal treatments, yield-scaled total non-CO2 GHGs emission did not differ between residue management practices in summer maize seasons. Our four-year field measurements indicated that no-till practice could be more useful as an option to mitigate non-CO2 GHG emissions in the wheat – maize cropping system.

Conservation Agriculture (C.A): Areas of Improvement in the Adoption of C.A Practices in Eastern Kenya

Conservation agriculture (CA) is defined as a practice that aims to conserve, improve and make more efficient use of natural resources through integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources combined with external inputs. It contributes to environmental conservation as well as to enhanced and sustained agricultural production. It can also be referred to as resource efficient or resource effective agriculture. Majority of Kenyan farmers lack awareness of the benefits of CA thus influencing their commitment to this relatively new practice. Of particular concern is the fact that CA has been marketed in Kenya for over a decade and ground tilling methods in most parts of the country have not yet evolved to CA standards. Uptake of CA technologies is highest amongst wealthier farmers and commercially oriented producers. This is because of stronger risk aversion on the part of the small holder farmer. The number of crops at a given time on a farm was between 4-6 percent for 47% of respondents and 7-10 for 33% of respondents. Only 12.1% of respondents recorded crop diversification of 1-3 comprising planned biodiversity on farm. The role of Conservation agriculture in promoting soil health is tested. 82.3% of respondents credited the reduced erosion on their farms to conservation agriculture. This combined with other benefits of Conservation Agriculture has motivated farmers to integrate conservation agriculture to the management of their farms. Out of the 24 indicators selected for this study, 10 indicators scored best performances. The study was done in Eastern Part of Kenya that fall between 50 to 100% arid and semi-arid areas (ASAL) categories. The counties in the study included Kitui, Machakos, Tharaka Nithi and Makueni counties which are home to 14 million residents [1]. The objective of this research was to assess Conservation Agriculture (C.A): areas of improvement in the adoption of C.A practices in eastern Kenya. In conclusion, 14 out of 24 indicators show good to best performance while six indicators show moderate performance. There are areas that need urgent attention to improve the sustainability of CA agro-ecosystems. An overall score of 3 (indicating moderate performance) was awarded to the agro-ecosystems under CA. The Social dimension and the diversity property of the ecosystem scored the highest performance. The least performance was recorded in the Environmental dimension and the functional properties of the agro-ecosystem. It was therefore recommended that the government through the ministry of agriculture should investing in promoting improvement in the adoption of Conservation Agriculture practices especially in arid areas such as that of eastern Kenya.

Why Do we Conserve?: Identifying Mechanisms in Agricultural Conservation Practice Adoption Decisions

Recent reviews of the agricultural conservation adoption literature find few definitive and consistent predictors of adoption across practices. We propose that these inconsistencies may be the result of statistical models failing to account for psychological mechanisms. Such mechanisms can link farm and farmer characteristics to adoption by highlighting not just what is important, but why these characteristics matter. We illustrate a simple, but underutilized strategy exploring mediated explanations of cover crop adoption. Results suggest that when farm or farmer characteristics (e.g., farmer identity) are included with beliefs about practices (e.g., perceived practice feasibility), a mediated arrangement provides a more nuanced and consistent picture of influential motivations and barriers than simple linear models. This focus on belief-based mechanisms provides important insights into why different types of farms or farmers adopt conservation practices with implications for both practical interventions and future research.

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.

Experiences With Conservation Agriculture in the Eastern Gangetic Plains: Farmer Benefits, Challenges, and Strategies That Frame the Next Steps for Wider Adoption

While there are numerous studies that explore the agronomic and the economic benefits of Conservation Agriculture in South Asia, only few studies have explored the farmers' experiences and the drivers of its adoption. This study aims to learn directly from current users through exploration of their decision processes, evaluations, and experiences in extrapolating the concept for the broader scaling of Conservation Agriculture across the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGPs) of South Asia. We analyzed a total of 57 qualitative and semi-structured individual interviews with the farmers who are currently implementing Conservation Agriculture practices across six locations. These farmers faced a variety of hurdles including hesitation in accepting and adopting the technology, technical performance challenges, information gaps, and subsidy/project dependence. To overcome these, respondents adopted various strategic approaches such as assuming the role of an educator by sharing their knowledge with other farmers in the community, changing mindsets for stover retention, adoption through self-investment, and opting for communal purchase of machinery to reduce project dependence. This led farmers to identify a range of benefits including improved socio-economic condition, increased respect in the community, and increased free time to pursue diverse interests and opportunities. Additionally, strengthened information networks such as improved interpersonal connection with agricultural universities, government extension systems, and local farmers groups have positively enhanced the uptake, allowing them to overcome further limitations. These findings provide novel learnings on how farmers overcome nine key friction points, and what this means for increasing the farmer uptake of new practices across the region, which are crucial for successful future interventions as implemented by the government and development organizations.

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.

An Overview of the Effectiveness of Agricultural Conservation Practices for Water Quality Improvement.

This article introduces a Special Collection of literature reviews documenting the performance and cost-effectiveness of six agricultural conservation practices (ACPs): conservation crop rotation, cover crop, filter strip, nutrient management, denitrifying bioreactor, and constructed wetland. The overall objectives of the Special Collection are to: (1) review published studies on ACP effectiveness in reducing nutrient and sediment losses from agricultural fields; (2) compare, integrate, and synthesize the results from those studies to obtain a systematic understanding of the mitigation efficacy of each ACP in a consistent format across the selected ACPs; and (3) assemble cost analyses and obtain general insights on performance-based costs of the ACPs. The specific objectives of this introductory article are to summarize key information from each of the six review articles and develop a comparative understanding of the performance and cost-effectiveness of the six ACPs. Among the selected ACPs, denitrifying bioreactor, constructed wetland, cover crop, crop rotation, and nutrient management were all effective in reducing nitrate-N loads in subsurface drainage, with performance effectiveness in load reduction ranging from 23% to 40%. A corn-soybean rotation (relative to continuous corn) was the most cost-effective among the selected ACPs and can reduce nitrate-N load at a net benefit of about USD $5 per kg nitrate-N compared to continuous corn. Filter strip was most effective in reducing sediment, total nitrogen (N), and total phosphorus (P) loads from surface runoff and can be effective in reducing nitrate-N and dissolved P. Cover crop was also effective in reducing sediment and total P loads. Studies of the selected ACPs for their performance effectiveness for dissolved P are limited, and results varied among the ACPs included; thus, more research is needed relative to ACP effectiveness in reducing dissolved P loss, particularly in subsurface flow. Finally, although each review article included cost-analysis information, more data and analyses are needed to better understand the cost-effectiveness of ACPs and their ecological benefits.

Improved Cost Estimates for Agricultural Conservation Practices

HighlightsDeveloped Useful Life Total Cost (ULTC) functions for 23 types of agricultural conservation practices.Derived each cost function from multiple ULTC estimates bracketing a range of design variations and sizes for each agricultural conservation practice.Developed Annual ULTC based on practice life cycle duration.Compared Prioritize, Target, Measure Application costs to ULTC.Recommend using ULTC rather than Prioritize, Target, Measure Application Environmental Quality Incentives Program payment as a cost surrogate. Abstract. The cost to achieve water quality goals is an essential piece of information necessary for assessing whether the expected societal benefits are worthy of investment.Within the United States, taxes generate the “public money” to pay to improve water quality. State and Federal Agencies distribute the public’s money to local governments and landowners as grants and cost-share to implement agricultural conservation practices (“practices”). Comparing the cost to improve water quality and the anticipated public benefit helps inform the investment decision.The lack of a robust method for estimating the cost of practices and developing a Water Quality Strategy hampers the ability to compare cost and benefits. Within Minnesota and North Dakota, Water Quality Practitioners commonly use the Prioritize, Target, Measure Application (PTMApp) to develop strategies to improve water quality. PTMApp utilizes the Environmental Quality Incentives Program payment as a surrogate to estimate practice cost. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program payment is a percentage of the estimated cost to implement a typical practice scenario, excluding the labor to plan, design and permit the practice; inspect the practice during construction; operate and maintain the practice; finance costs; and in most cases forgone income.We addressed the need for estimates of practice cost by developing Useful Life Total Costs (UTLCs) for 23 agricultural conservation practices. Useful Life Total Costs incurred throughout the practice life cycle begin with planning and end with reconstruction to maintain proper function. We developed multiple ULTCs (year 2020) for each practice by bracketing the range of design variations and sizes. Legacy PTMApp costs ranged from 1% to 55% of the UTLC, confirming underestimation of the actual practice costs.Cost functions developed by selecting the best-fit line between the ULTCs and a predominant practice physical characteristic are useful for developing Water Quality Strategies. The cost functions, recently incorporated into PTMApp, considerably improve the ability to estimate the actual cost to achieve water quality goals and societal benefits. Keywords: Benefits, Implementation, Life cycle, Planning, PTMApp, Useful life, Water quality.

How we used APSIM to simulate conservation agriculture practices in the rice-wheat system of the Eastern Gangetic Plains

Examples of how to simulate performance of conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage (CT) practices using cropping systems models are rare in the literature, and from the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP). Here we report a comprehensive evaluation of the capacity of APSIM for simulating the performance of CA and CT cropping practices under a diverse range of tillage (CT vs zero tillage (ZT)), crop establishment options (puddled transplanted rice vs unpuddled transplanted rice), residue, N rates, and irrigation practices from two sites in the EGP that differed in soil type, water table dynamics, and agro-climatic conditions. We followed a robust procedure of model parameterisation, calibration, and validation, then undertook statistical analyses to evaluate model performance. We have demonstrated that when different values for key model input parameters are employed (i.e. change in soil properties (Ks, BD)), crop rooting parameters (xf- root hospitality, kl- root extraction efficiency) and soil microorganism activity (F biom - fraction of soil organic matter present as microbial biomass and F inert - the inert fraction of soil organic matter), the model performed well in simulating the different performances of CA and CT management practices across the environments in the EGP. Model performance was markedly better in the full-N than in zero-N, but both are still considered acceptable. In addition to well-watered and fertilised treatments, the model was able to capture an observed crop failure in rainfed unpuddled transplanted rice accurately, illustrating an ability to capture crop response under a wide range of water stress environments. As demonstrated by robust statistical criteria, APSIM was able to capture the effect of cropping system, irrigation, tillage, residue, and N-application rate within the bounds of experimental uncertainty, hence is now deemed a suitable tool for scenario analyses around the relevant practices. • APSIM was calibrated and validated under CA vs CT, N rates, and irrigation practices in two diverse environments. • Modifying several key model input parameters (Ks, BD, xf, kl, Fbiom, and Finert) by generic factors captures CA vs CT performance across treatments and environments. • APSIM's ability to simulate zero-N gives confidence that the indigenous soil supply of N is being accurately simulated. • APSIM successfully captured the observed crop failure in rainfed unpuddled transplanted rice. • APSIM simulated the observed soil NO 3 - -N and water dynamics within the bounds of experimental error.

Evaluation of Refresher Training Programme on Conservation Agriculture Practices

Human behavior consists of knowledge, skill and attitude and timely up gradation of thesethree components is must for better human resource development. Training is medium formodification of human behavior to efficiently discharge one’s own duties and responsibilitiesat their respective work place. The paper attempts to evaluate the impact of 10 daystraining programme entitled “Conservation agriculture practices for enhancing productivityand resource use efficiency in major cropping pattern” conducted in the Division ofAgronomy, SKUAST-Jammu on knowledge of the participants regarding different aspectsof conservation agriculture as well as their opinion towards overall organization of trainingprogramme. Gain in knowledge was taken as indicator for assessing the immediate outputof the training programme. Participants were exposed to pre and post knowledge test andthe results of two sample paired t-test (p=.000) so applied revealed that there wassignificant gain in knowledge about different aspects of conservation agriculture afterattending the training programme. Overall majority of the respondents were of opinionthat training programme was well planned and very effective and they had learned differentpractical aspects of conservation agriculture.

Metallurgical Requirements of Soil Engaging Component under Conservation Agriculture Practices

In this study, test reports of materials used for soil/crop engaging components of agricultural machinery were collected from some Agricultural Machinery Testing Centres situated in different agro-climatic zones across India. The study revealed that only 39.87% and 37.72% of tested soil engaging components conformed with the standards of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for material hardness and chemical composition, respectively. Furthermore, 38.5% fast-wearing components were made of high carbon steel, followed by medium carbon steel (33.0%), low carbon steel (25.0%), and tool steel (3.5%). It was observed that reputed manufacturers used high carbon and tool steel for fabricating critical components, and also heat-treated them for getting desirable product properties. Accordingly, four types of steel (D-2, M-4, EN-31, EN-8 with heat treatments) easily available in market were used for fabricating soil engaging blades suitable for conservation agriculture (CA) machinery. Wear test results showed lowest wear rate for D-2 and highest for EN-8 steel. Furthermore, D-2 also had highest relative life, and found most suitable for manufacturing soil engaging components of conservation agriculture machinery.

Conservation agriculture effects on yield and profitability of rice-based systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain

Abstract Sustaining productivity of the rice-based cropping systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (EIGP) requires practices to reverse declining soil fertility resulting from excessive tillage and crop residue removal, while decreasing production costs and increasing farm profits. We hypothesize that the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA), involving minimum tillage, crop residue retention and crop rotation, can address most of these challenges. Therefore, the effects of crop establishment methods – strip planting (SP), bed planting (BP) and conventional tillage (CT); and levels of crop residue retention – high residue (HR) and low residue (LR) on individual crop yield, system yield and profitability were evaluated in a split-plot design over three cropping seasons in two field experiments (Alipur and Digram sites) with contrasting crops and soil types in the EIGP. The SP and BP of non-rice crops were rotated with non-puddled rice establishment; CT of non-rice crops was rotated with puddled transplanted rice. In the legume-dominated system (rice-lentil-mung bean), lentil yields were similar in SP and CT, while lower in BP in crop season 1. A positive effect of high residue over low residue was apparent by crop season 2 and persisted in crop season 3. In crop season 3, the lentil yield increased by 18–23% in SP and BP compared to CT. In the cereal-dominated system (rice-wheat-mung bean), significant yield increases of wheat in SP and BP (7–10%) over CT, and of HR (1–3%) over LR, were detected by crop season 3 but not before. Rice yields under CA practices (non-puddled and HR) were comparable with CT (puddled and LR) in both systems. Improved yield of lentil and wheat with CA was correlated with higher soil water content. The net income of SP increased by 25–28% for dry season crops as compared to CT and was equal with CT for rice cropping systems. Conservation agriculture practices provide opportunities for enhancing crop yield and profitability in intensive rice-based systems of the EIGP of Bangladesh.

On-Station and On-Farm Assessment of the Effects of Soil Cover on Conservation Agriculture Performances in Western Burkina Faso

Conservation agriculture (CA) is one option for dealing with such a challenge, but its main difficulty in West Africa is in maintaining permanent soil cover, particularly with crop residues, due to their preferential use for livestock fodder. The aim of our study was to determine the effect of crop residue mulching on the efficiency of cropping systems based on the principles of conservation agriculture. The experimental design was based on on-station experiments, intended to assess the specific effect of different levels of crop residue mulching on the biological and chemical soil fertility parameters, while in on-farm experiments we mainly assessed the ability of farmers to actually collect crop residues for soil cover and the associated effects on weeds and yields. The on-station experimental design was in fully randomized factorial blocks comprising five treatments and three replicates. The treatments compared the conventional system, tillage and cropping without mulching, and CA systems with 1 ton, 2 tons, and 4 tons of straw per hectare in plots of 10 m2. The effects of CA on the macrofauna, respiratory activity, and soil chemical parameters were evaluated in the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons. For the on-farm experiments, the conventional and CA practices of 15 farmers were compared to conventional practices in 2013 and 2014 in plots of 626 m2. The on-station results showed that the presence of crop residue mulching induced an increase in the density of termites. A significant release of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the CA treatments compared to the conventional treatment was also observed. For the chemical parameters (pH, N, P and K) were significantly and positively affected by mulch in the top 5 centimeters of soil. The on-farm experiments confirmed the difficulty of farmers in collecting enough biomass, with negative effects on grass cover leading to generally lower yields than conventional treatments. Other practices also affected the results, such as the maize sowing date, the gap between sowing and weeding, the gap between sowing and urea supply, the number of years of CA practices in the plot and, the gap between maize sowing and cowpea sowing. For the farmers having the human resources to collect enough crop residues for soil cover and follow the steps of the crop management sequences, it was possible to maintain yields compared to the conventional practice.

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.

The Effects of Conservation Agriculture Practices on the Population Density of Fungivorous and Free-Living Nematodes in Different Crop Rotation Patterns

The Effects of Conservation Agriculture Practices on the Population Density of Fungivorous and Free-Living Nematodes in Different Crop Rotation Patterns

Sistemas consorciados de milho no sul do México: uma revisão dos benefícios e desafios

ABSTRACT: Intercropping is the process of planting two or more crops simultaneously in the same field in order to provide greater ecosystem services (i.e. services related to sustainable land and water use, climate change mitigation, and ecosystem restoration). In southern Mexico, the cereal-legume intercropping is a traditional cropping practice that is declining overtime. This paper provides a literature review of the potential benefits and constraints of a maize-legume intercropping for small-scale farms in southern Mexico. This review explored and elucidated the different ecosystem services delivered by maize-legume intercropping systems. This information will help farmers know how to make a better use of cereal-legume intercropping systems to increase maize yields, improve their socioeconomic conditions, and enhance conservation agricultural practices in southern Mexico.

Impact of conservation agriculture practice on biodiversity of soil mesofauna in Mustard - Black gram - Rice cropping sequence under Gangetic basin of West Bengal

Impact of conservation agriculture practice on biodiversity of soil mesofauna in Mustard - Black gram - Rice cropping sequence under Gangetic basin of West Bengal