Conservation Agriculture Principles Research Articles

Enhancing productivity, soil health, and reducing global warming potential through diverse conservation agriculture cropping systems in India's Western Indo-Gangetic Plains

ContextThe rice-wheat (RW) system, spanning 13.5 million hectares in South Asia, is crucial for food security and livelihoods. However, intensive conventional tillage-based practices have harmed soil and environmental health, decreased productivity trends and increased greenhouse gas emissions. ObjectiveThis study aims to develop resilient, climate-smart cropping systems within the RW system, focusing on soil and crop productivity, economic viability, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. MethodsOver eight years, the study evaluated diverse parameters compared to farmer practices (FP) in seven scenarios (Sc), including one representing FP (Sc1) and six based on conservation agriculture (CA) principles. The study assessed system crop productivity, economic returns, soil quality (organic carbon; OC, nitrogen; N, phosphorus; P, potassium; K contents, bulk density; BD, soil aggregation, infiltration rates, microbial counts, and earthworm density), and GHG emissions. ResultsCA-based scenarios (Sc2 to Sc7) showed improved soil quality, lower bulk density, enhanced soil aggregation, and increased infiltration rates compared to Sc1. In the 0–15 cm layer, surface soil organic carbon (OC) and C stock were 63.7 % and 49.6 % higher, respectively, in CA-based scenarios. Additionally, available N, P and K contents in the surface layer increased by 10.2 %, 28.6 %, and 21.8 % under CA-based scenarios. Adoption of CA in intensified maize-based scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) led to the increased system and economic yields, higher soil quality index (SQI), reduced GHG emissions and increased C stock compared to Sc1. ImplicationsThe study highlights that Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices and diversified crop rotations can address issues like falling crop productivity, reduced economic returns, soil degradation, and increasing environmental impacts in northwestern India's traditional rice-wheat system. However, widespread adoption requires government policies, including C credit payments and guaranteed markets with supportive pricing.

Why no-till system sequesters more carbon and is more resilient and productive with contrasting fertilization regimes in a highly weathered soil?

Land management systems that comprise the principles of conservation agriculture (CA) can lead to soil organic carbon (SOC) gains over time. Nonetheless, how fertilization regimes interfere with their performance in highly weathered soils is still uncertain. This study presents results on SOC storage, crop yield, and soil resilience from a long-term experiment in southern Brazil (Ponta Grossa – Paraná State) 26 years after its establishment in 1989 combining a gradient of soil disturbance through diverse soil management strategies with contrasting fertilization regimes. We hypothesized that preserving soil structure rebuilt over time through no-till system plays a significant role in SOC persistence and the fertilization regime can impact land management performance on soil resilience and crop yield. The experimental design was laid out as a split plot through completely randomized blocks. The main plots comprised the treatments related to soil management systems: 1) conventional plow-based tillage – CT; 2) minimum tillage (Chiselling replacing plowing) – MT; 3) no-till with one chisel plowing every three years – NTch; and 4) continuous no-till system – NTS. The sub-plots comprised full crop fertilization (FCF) for all crops and low crop fertilization (LCF) by suppressing K and P fertilization and maintaining N in broadcast application. SOC stocks significantly improved as the soil disturbance diminished, resulting in higher soil resilience indexes for NTS and NTch. Differences in SOC stocks between the contrasting treatments NTS and CT were higher under low fertilization, resulting in C and N sequestration rates of 1.14 and 0.14 Mg ha−1 year−1 under LCF compared to 0.77 and 0.08 Mg ha−1 yr−1 in FCF at the 0–100 cm layer. Such higher differences were induced by overall higher SOC stocks of CT when under FCF and higher SOC stocks in subsoil depths promoted by NTS when under LCF. High fertilization treatments produced cumulative yields 1.5 times higher for soybeans and 2.5 times higher for corn throughout the 26 years of the experiment. Labile C fractions extracted by hot water (HWEOC) and K-permanganate (POXC) were systematically increased as the disturbance diminished. Gains in labile fractions were promoted in deeper layers in lower disturbance treatments (NTch and NTS). We conclude that combining conservation agriculture principles ultimately defined the potential for SOC sequestration. The high soil resilience under the NTS in this research indicates a considerable potential to reverse the soil degradation and decline of the SOC and labile fractions by conversion to intensive NTS (high and diversified annual C input) associated with absence of soil disturbance.

Impact of Fertilizer and Mulch on Growth, Yield and Quality of Carrot in Arecanut Cropping System Under Conservation Agriculture Practices

This study aims to comprehensively assess the influence of conservation agriculture techniques, encompassing reduced tillage, cover cropping (live mulch) and nutrient levels on a range of growth parameters and the ultimate yield of crop. As per the principles of conservation agriculture i.e., soil was disturbed minimally, berseem mulch was incorporated in the experiment and carrot was raised under arecanut plantation during rabi and it was succeeded by mint crop in pre-kharif season. Experiment was laid out in Randomized block design with seven treatments of different nutrient doses and mulch replicated thrice. Field experiments were conducted across two growing seasons i.e., 2019-20 and 2020-21 during Rabi (Winter) at Balindi research farm, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur. Precise measurements and meticulous analyses were conducted on key parameters; Vegetative growth i.e., plant height and number of leaves, yield attributing parameters like root length, diameter, weight and total yield of crop. TSS and beta carotene was also estimated. These parameters unequivocally indicate that conservation agriculture practices exert a substantial influence on both the growth and yield. Among various nutrient levels, higher dose of fertilizer (T4 - 120:90:120 NPK kg ha-1) with berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) as a cover crop in the interspaces showed maximum vegetative growth i.e., plant height and number of leaves plant-1 at all growth stages (30, 60 and 90 DAS) while decreasing trend was observed in yield parameters with higher levels of nutrient doses, medium level of fertilizer dose (T5 - 90:60:90 kg ha-1 + berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) recorded highest root length, diameter, weight and projected yield of 18.5cm, 3.58 cm, 118.37 g plant-1 and 26.63 t ha-1 respectively. These findings underscore the considerable potential of conservation agriculture practices as a sustainable approach to optimize carrot crop production. This research contributes valuable scientific insights that hold significant implications for agricultural stakeholders, including farmers and practitioners, seeking to fine-tune carrot cultivation methodologies while concurrently fostering soil health and environmental sustainability.

Potential contribution of agronomic practices and conservation agriculture towards narrowing smallholders’ yield gaps in Southern Africa: lessons from the field

Summary Smallholders in Southern Africa continue to grapple with low maize productivity despite this being the staple food crop. This study sought to analyze and isolate the relative contribution of agronomic practices to maize yields obtained by smallholders in Malawi and Mozambique using data generated from on-farm trials testing the performance of conservation agriculture cropping systems. The trials were implemented in two communities, namely Kasungu district in Malawi and Sussundenga district in Mozambique, and ran for seven consecutive growing seasons starting in 2010–2011. Maize yield was measured annually in the on-farm trials, which included a ‘control treatment’ representing an improved farm practice, and in neighboring fields managed by the same farmers on their own, hence representing a ‘true farm practice’. Results indicated that maize yield increased linearly with increasing plant population at harvest at both sites. On average, an increase in plant population at harvest by 1000 plants ha–1 resulted in an increase in maize yield of 90 and 63 kg ha–1 at Kasungu and Sussundenga, respectively. The greatest maize yields were obtained when plant population at harvest exceeded 40 000 plants ha–1. Yet, the plant population at harvest was below the generally recommended optimum for most of the cropping systems studied and in most growing seasons. Furthermore, the use of agronomic practices alone without conservation agriculture (i.e., improved varieties, fertilizer management, and timely weed control) resulted in maize yield gains of as much as 54% and 43% relative to the ‘true farm practice’ at Kasungu and Sussundenga, respectively. Overall, the proportion of these yield increases relative to the ‘true farm practice’ accounted for by agronomic practices amounted to 53–70% and 57–85% at Kasungu and Sussundenga for the highest to the lowest-yielding cropping system. Although conservation agriculture significantly improved maize yield at both sites, such increases were smaller in magnitude compared to the yield gains derived from improved agronomic practices. The study suggests that considerable strides toward narrowing maize yield gaps in Southern Africa can be achieved through improvement of current crop management practices, let alone adhering to the conservation agriculture principles of minimum tillage, residue retention, and crop diversification.

On-farm assessment of agronomic performance of rainfed wheat cultivars under different tillage systems

Evaluation of new cultivars for the agronomic performance under actual on-farm conditions is a highly recommended method for assessing the performance and stability of new cultivars in variable environments and under different management practices. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance and agronomic characteristics of new wheat cultivars in on-farm conditions using different tillage systems to provide suggestions to help the improvement programs and increase the farmers' crop productivity from cropping systems and new cultivars. Seven wheat cultivars, including three bread wheat and four durum wheat cultivars, were evaluated under three tillage systems, including conventional tillage (CT), reduced tillage (RT), and no-tillage (NT) in farmers' fields conditions across two locations and three cropping seasons (2018–21). The results indicated that some of the traits were mainly explained by the genotype effect (thousand kernel weight, heading date and NDVI), while some others by the management practices (grain yield), some by the location (grain yield, spike density, heading date) and year (grain yield, TKW, NDVI, spike density, heading date) effects. Across years and locations, the highest productivity was recorded under CT (2603 kg/ha) followed by RT (2378 kg/ha) and NT (2295 kg/ha), indicating about 13% and 10% superiority production under CT compared with NT and RT, respectively. The wheat cultivars showed different responses to tillage systems, showing the performance of genotypes varied between tillage systems. The Shalan and Eminbey varieties did not interact with tillage systems, but other genotypes significantly differed in their adaptation to tillage systems. The highest mean yield was recorded for the Saji cultivar (durum wheat) under RT (2310 kg/ha), while the Shalan cultivar (bread wheat) performed well in NT (2058 kg/ha), and Saji, Imren, Zahab (durum wheat), and Rijaw and Paraw (bread wheat) had the highest yield under CT. According to GGE biplot analysis, the Shalan and Eminbey varieties had superior performance across on-farm trials, suggesting that they have a broad adaptation to diverse environments. The results identified genotypes with both specific and general adaptions to tillage systems in farmers' fields, that could be explored for increasing productivity and stability under rainfed conditions. Conservation agriculture principles must be incorporated into current wheat breeding program under CT system, to use wheat genetic diversity for conservation agriculture conditions to keep pace food insecurity.

Pathways from information to the adoption of conservation agriculture practices in Malawi and Tanzania

Abstract To reduce agriculture's carbon, land and water footprint, the diffusion of conservation farming methods is one commonly cited proposition. Yet the process of translating available information on new conservation farming methods into farmers' practices is often a black box in many studies. This understanding is critical to inform strategies for scaling these complex, knowledge-intensive, but necessary practices for improving agriculture's resource and climate balance sheet. By implementing a series of mediation analysis using data from 700 households in Malawi and 930 households in Tanzania, this study examines how an improved understanding of conservation agriculture (CA) principles is an important mediator in the pathway from extension contact to the adoption of two of the CA practices examined. For the adoption of conservation tillage, the share of the mediated treatment effect was in the 31.5–34.4% range, while it was 31.6–46.9% for the adoption of soil cover (mulching). Our results suggest that unless learning from external sources strongly correlates with improved farmers' technical understanding of new farming practices, private learning by doing must be a critical adjunct to other avenues of learning. Beyond the basic promotional goals, improving farmers' technical know-how needs to be the centerpiece of holistic efforts in support of conservation farming and similar knowledge-intensive practices necessary for agriculture's sustinability goals.

How did conservation agriculture go to scale?

Background
 The Foodgrains Bank has an established record working in agriculture and food security with resource constrained, marginalized farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The three outcome areas of the Scaling-Up Conservation Agriculture in East Africa (SUCA) Program were: the adoption of conservation agriculture systems, an enabling institutional environment, and the promotion of enabling policies. These program areas were expected to yield intermediate outcomes that, together, would lead to the ultimate outcome of improved food security and sustainable livelihoods for smallholder farming households in East Africa. This case study reports on the end-line evaluation of the five-year program.
 Purpose
 To illustrate the overlap between utilization-focused evaluation (UFE) and collaborative approaches to evaluation (CAE). The case study profiles an agricultural intervention, and explores how the evaluation design accommodated the systemic nature of the program.
 Setting
 Scaling-Up Conservation Agriculture in East Africa (SUCA) was a five-year program of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank implemented from 2015-2020 to expand the size and scope of Foodgrains Bank’s work in conservation agriculture in East Africa. The program supported local partners with a target of 50,000 male and female farmers practicing a minimum of 2 of 3 conservation agriculture principles, and to improve food security and sustainable livelihoods for 18,000 of these farmers’ households across three countries. 
 Research design
 The Foodgrains Bank was directly involved in the evaluation design through the definition of evaluation uses and key evaluation questions. Eleven implementing partners in East Africa were involved in primary data collection and some initial analysis.
 Data collection and analysis
 A mixed method approach was used combining quantitative, qualitative, and participatory / visual data collection tools. A robust, intersectional gender lens was applied to the data collection instruments in the form of gender disaggregated data collection and gender-focused questions across most data collection instruments. 
 Findings
 The collaborative process confirmed a sense of ownership by the primary evaluation users over the evaluation design. The evaluation design combined outcome and learning uses that took advantages of the implementing organizations’ commitment to learning. The findings demonstrated the value of the program and produced a framework illustrating the multi-disciplinary approach underlying its success.

Climate-smart agricultural practices influence the fungal communities and soil properties under major agri-food systems.

Fungal communities in agricultural soils are assumed to be affected by climate, weather, and anthropogenic activities, and magnitude of their effect depends on the agricultural activities. Therefore, a study was conducted to investigate the impact of the portfolio of management practices on fungal communities and soil physical-chemical properties. The study comprised different climate-smart agriculture (CSA)-based management scenarios (Sc) established on the principles of conservation agriculture (CA), namely, ScI is conventional tillage-based rice-wheat rotation, ScII is partial CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean, ScIII is partial CSA-based rice-wheat-mungbean, ScIV is partial CSA-based maize-wheat-mungbean, and ScV and ScVI are CSA-based scenarios and similar to ScIII and ScIV, respectively, except for fertigation method. All the scenarios were flood irrigated except the ScV and ScVI where water and nitrogen were given through subsurface drip irrigation. Soils of these scenarios were collected from 0 to 15 cm depth and analyzed by Illumina paired-end sequencing of Internal Transcribed Spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS2) for the study of fungal community composition. Analysis of 5 million processed sequences showed a higher Shannon diversity index of 1.47 times and a Simpson index of 1.12 times in maize-based CSA scenarios (ScIV and ScVI) compared with rice-based CSA scenarios (ScIII and ScV). Seven phyla were present in all the scenarios, where Ascomycota was the most abundant phyla and it was followed by Basidiomycota and Zygomycota. Ascomycota was found more abundant in rice-based CSA scenarios as compared to maize-based CSA scenarios. Soil organic carbon and nitrogen were found to be 1.62 and 1.25 times higher in CSA scenarios compared with other scenarios. Bulk density was found highest in farmers' practice (Sc1); however, mean weight diameter and water-stable aggregates were found lowest in ScI. Soil physical, chemical, and biological properties were found better under CSA-based practices, which also increased the wheat grain yield by 12.5% and system yield by 18.8%. These results indicate that bundling/layering of smart agricultural practices over farmers' practices has tremendous effects on soil properties, and hence play an important role in sustaining soil quality/health.

What drives farmers to use conservation agriculture? Application of mediated protection motivation theory.

Conservation agriculture is an approach for managing agricultural ecosystems, improving productivity, increasing benefits and food security, and preserving resources and the environment. The core purpose of this study was to analyze the constructs affecting the intention to use conservation agriculture measures. For this purpose, protection motivation theory was applied as the theoretical framework. Validation of the model was done using a cross-sectional survey among Iranian farmers, and SMART PLS software was used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that the direct effects of the five constructs of perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, response cost, response efficacy, and self-efficacy were significant on the intention to use conservation agriculture measures. In addition, the variables of perceived severity, response cost, and perceived self-efficacy had significant effects on the fear of not using conservation agriculture measures. The results of the bootstrapping analysis indicated that the fear of not using conservation agriculture measures significantly mediated the effects of perceived severity, response cost, and self-efficacy on the intention to use conservation agriculture. The results of the present research help to develop protection motivation theory by defining new relationships between its variables and achieving a deeper understanding of these relationships. The results also can pave the way for social and psychological interventions in the field of adopting the principles of conservation agriculture in agricultural societies. Finally, the results of this research can be used as a decision-making tool and help for users and planners of behavioral changes to better identify the focus points and necessary strategies.

Soil hydrologic properties in permanent raised beds—A field study experiment on wheat–maize cropping systems

AbstractPermanent raised beds (PRB) are widely applied in agriculture around the World and have proven to be an excellent option for crops (wheat, maize, etc.). In particular, they have the potential to conserve soil and water resources in agricultural production globally. Many researchers are studying the effects of PRB on soil chemical properties (N, P, K, and SOC), plant growth characteristics, and water use efficiency in different regions. However, few experiments have investigated the soil's hydraulic performance. In this study, a 6‐year field experiment was conducted under a maize–wheat rotation cropping system in North China Plain (NCP). The effects on the soil's hydraulic properties of no‐tillage (NT) and traditional tillage (TT) on flat fields and no‐till PRB treatments were assessed. Specifically, nine soil samples were collected at 0–15 cm depth and 15–30 cm depth to assess the soil's hydraulic performance. The results showed that the total porosity under PRB (42.1%, 15–30 cm) was significantly improved by 13.5% compared to TT (37.1%, 15–30 cm). The soil organic carbon under PRB (8.65%, 15–30 cm) was increased by 13.82% compared to TT (7.6%, 15–30 cm). Changes in the slope (b) of the soil water retention characteristic curve under the PRB (7.2, 15–30 cm) treatment were indicative of an improvement in the pore size distribution, increased soil water retention, and greater infiltration rates. In addition, positive changes in lateral water infiltration from furrow irrigation were observed under PRB (over 25 mm min‐1 in 45 min). These improved soil physical parameters demonstrated that PRB can offer more possibilities for water conservation in the field. In addition, the application of PRB and the principles of conservation agriculture have potential for the effective of water use efficiency and for improving the quality of soil.

Long-term tillage, residue management and crop rotation impacts on N2O and CH4 emissions from two contrasting soils in sub-humid Zimbabwe

The respective contribution of conservation agriculture (CA) principles (no-tillage, permanent soil cover/mulch and crop rotations) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is still unclear. This study was conducted at two long-term experimental sites established in 2013 in Zimbabwe, on an abruptic Lixisol at Domboshava Training Center (DTC) and on a xanthic Ferralsol at the University of Zimbabwe Farm (UZF). The purpose of the study was to unravel the individual and combined effects of tillage, mulching and rotation on N2O and CH4 emissions in low nitrogen (N) input maize-based cropping systems (< 60 kg N ha−1) and to compare emissions within maize rows and between maize rows. We hypothesised that integrating no tillage, mulch and cereal-legume rotation would enhance N2O emissions. Six treatments, replicated four times were investigated: conventional tillage, conventional tillage with rotation, no-tillage, no-tillage with mulch, no-tillage with rotation, no-tillage with mulch and rotation. The main crop was maize (Zea mays L.) and treatments with rotation included cowpea (Vigna unguiculate L. Walp.). Gas samples were regularly collected using the static chamber method in the maize row and inter-row spaces during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 cropping seasons and during the 2020/21 dry season. Soil moisture and mineral N were measured in the 0–20 cm soil depth. In 2019/20, cumulative total N2O emissions were significantly higher in mulch treatments at DTC, while at UZF N2O emissions were higher with cowpea rotation. Cumulative total N2O emissions ranged from 215 to 496 g N2O-N ha−1 yr−1 and from 226 to 395 g N2O-N ha−1 yr−1, at DTC and UZF, respectively. In 2020/21, N2O emissions were much lower and no differences were found between treatments on both sites (145 to 179 g N2O-N ha−1 yr−1 and 83 to 136 g N2O-N ha−1 yr−1 at DTC and UZF, respectively). A significant relationship was found between soil nitrate and daily N2O emissions. At UZF, highest N2O emissions were observed at a water-filled pore space of 60–70%. There were no significant differences in yield-scaled N2O emissions between treatments at both sites for the two seasons. DTC was a net source of CH4 (694 g CH4-C ha−1 yr−1 on average), while UZF was a net sink of CH4 (−494 g CH4-C ha−1 yr−1 on average). No evidence was found for in situ CH4 production at DTC, and an external source is most likely. Our study indicates that for low N input cropping systems in the sub-humid tropics, N loss through N2O is low.

Characterization of aggregate-stabilized dissolved organic matter release - A novel approach to determine soil health advances of conservation farming systems

PurposeSince principles of conservation agriculture mimic the soil conditions of undisturbed natural soils, linking aggregation and dissolved organic matter (DOM) occlusion would therefore provide a targeted descriptor for soil health advances of innovative farming systems. This study aimed to assess structure-related DOM patterns of conservation farming systems and underlying bio-chemical drivers by using a novel method for the combined analysis of aggregate breakdown and DOM release.MethodsSoil samples were collected from conventional farming, conservation farming and natural reference soil systems over a wide range of soil types. Ultrasonication aggregate breakdown combined with continuous UV–Vis measurement was used to characterize DOM release from soil. Measures of breakdown dynamics were related to soil physical and chemical properties to determine the strongest predictors of DOM release.ResultsThe quantity of DOM released and aggregate stabilization showed a steady continuum starting from standard farming through conservation agriculture towards reference soil systems. DOM released from reference soils however was less complex and occluded in more stable soil aggregates than arable soils. The overall DOM release dynamics are shaped by agricultural management with site-specific modifiers driving aggregation and mineral-organic interactions in soils.ConclusionsThe simultaneous quantification of aggregate breakdown and DOM release captures key biophysical effects in structure-related DOM stabilization and revealed significant differences between land-use and agricultural management systems. The linkage of physical with functional soil organic matter descriptors provides an improved approach to monitor soil health advances in arable cropping systems.

Cowpea Growth and Nitrogen Fixation Performance under Different Mulch Treatments

Mulching is regarded as the most important of the three conservation agriculture principles in increasing crop yield in the short term. Thus, the main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of mulch type and mulch application rate on biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), physiological and yield responses of cowpea. A multi-locational (two locations) and multi-seasonal (two seasons) study was carried out under rainfed conditions in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Three mulch types (Moringa oleifera stems; Moringa oleifera leaves and twigs; and Vachellia karroo leaves and stems) were uniformly spread on the surface at four rates (0, 3, 6, 9 t/ha). The application of mulches, regardless of the rate and type, improved cowpea chlorophyll content and agronomic parameters, such as stem diameter and plant height. Grain yield at Syferkuil responded to the mulching effect in both seasons, while at Ofcolaco, differences were only observed in one of the seasons. Cowpea under control discriminated against 15N more than under mulched treatments, resulting in more than 70% of the nitrogen being derived from air compared to 50% in mulched plots. This study demonstrated that organic surface mulches improved the physiological responses of cowpea and that organic surface mulches with a lower C:N ratio significantly reduced BNF.

Managing Sands of the Lower Mekong Basin to Limit Land Degradation: A Review of Properties and Limitations for Crop and Forage Production

Land development is rapidly occurring on sand-dominant soils that cover substantial areas of the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB). Sands are at risk of degradation on sloping uplands where agriculture is expanding and on lowland landscapes where intensification of cropping is occurring. Sandstone and granitic geology explain the prevalence of sand-dominant textures of profiles in the LMB. However, the sand terrains in uplands of Cambodia and Southern Laos mostly have not been mapped in detail and the diversity of their edaphic properties is poorly understood. On high-permeability sands, lowland rainfed rice crops are drought-prone, while nutrient losses from leaching are also a risk. Furthermore, waterlogging, inundation and subsoil hardpans are significant hazards that influence the choice of crops and forages for lowland soils. Soil acidity, low nutrient status, hard-setting and shallow rooting depth are significant constraints for crops and forages on sands in the lowlands. Land use change in the lowlands to alternative field crops and forages on sands is contingent on their profitability relative to rice, the amounts and reliability of early wet season rainfall, and the amounts of stored water available after harvesting rice. Low soil fertility and soil acidity are limitations to the productivity of farming systems on the sand profiles in uplands, while erosion, low soil organic matter levels and water balance are concerns for their sustainable use. Site-/soil-specific fertilizer and lime management, land suitability assessment and the use of conservation agriculture principles (minimum tillage and crop residue retention) can overcome some of these constraints.

Land Use, Productivity, and Profitability of Traditional Rice–Wheat System Could be Improved by Conservation Agriculture

Power tiller-driven plow tillage and crop residue exclusionary Traditional Agriculture practices are expensive, labor-demanding, soil damage, and eco-unfriendly. Over the last several years, pursuits of crop production through sustaining the productive capacity of soils, and environmental quality, have raised concern to adopt Conservation Agriculture worldwide. Single tillage combined with herbicides and crop residue retention principles of Conservation Agriculture is being developed. Between 2016–2017 and 2017–2018, a two-year on-farm experiment was done in Bangladesh. We practiced two crop establishment methods; Traditional Agriculture: Plow tillage followed by three manual weeding without residue preservation of previous crop and Conservation Agriculture: Pre-plant herbicide + single tillage + pre-emergence herbicide + post-emergence herbicide; under rice–wheat and rice–wheat–mungbean systems. Data reveal that Conservation Agriculture was a more cost-effective crop establishment technique than Traditional Agriculture in rice, wheat, and mungbean by increasing the ratio of benefit to costs by 24.3%, 35.7% and 48.8%, respectively, with savings in tillage operations (66.3%, 58.1%, and 57.6%, respectively), weeding expenditures (59.2%, 24.5%, and 42.2%, respectively), and manpower requirements (25.1%, 27.2%, and 31.3%, respectively). This has resulted in an increase of 32% productivity of rice–wheat–mungbean systems with the yield advantage of 16%, 31% and 37% in rice, wheat and mungbean, respectively. When mungbean was added, the rice–wheat system’s productivity rose by 43%. The rice–wheat–mungbean system under Traditional Agriculture had the highest land utilization efficiency (99.45%), followed by Conservation Agriculture (92.05%), which expanded the scope to include additional crops in the rice–wheat–mungbean system. Moreover, Conservation Agriculture had a 59.7% greater production efficiency than Traditional Agriculture, where the rice–wheat–mungbean system having the highest production efficiency (53.00 kg–1 ha–1 day–1), followed by the rice–wheat system (45.57 kg–1 ha–1 day–1).

An Analysis on Constraints Perceived by the Farmers in Adoption of Conservation Agriculture Practices in Selected Districts of Tamil Nadu

The study was conducted to find out the constraints perceived by the farmers in adoption of conservation agriculture practices. Ex post facto research design was used for this study. The study was conducted in 12 blocks of Cuddalore, Viluppuram and Tiruvarur districts respectively. The constraints part of the interview schedule had open ended questions which were administered to 233 respondents to collect constraints related to adoption of conservation agriculture practices as perceived by the farmers. It has been found from the study that lack of awareness on conservation agriculture principles, non-availability of labours, lack of local manufacturers of conservation agriculture machineries, strong belief in ploughing, insufficient training programme were the major knowledge, agronomical, technology, socio-economic and institutional constraints respectively. Also, suitable suggestions and strategies such as capacity building of farmers as well as extension agents on conservation agriculture, promoting local manufacturers to develop technologies which may suit the local conditions, promote minimum tillage concept instead of intensive ploughing and organizing pre-season training programmes on conservation agriculture practices were discussed to overcome the constraints perceived by the farmers.

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.

Benefits of Conservation Agriculture in Watershed Management: Participatory Governance to Improve the Quality of No-Till Systems in the Paraná 3 Watershed, Brazil

Adoption of best soil and water management practices is desirable for sustainable production intensification. However, farmers have difficulties in adopting them within a system approach to management, missing out on positive results for themselves and for society. A partnership between the Brazilian No-Till Farmers Federation and Itaipu Binacional authority adopted a participatory management strategy, as proposed by the National Water Resources Policy, allowing important decisions regarding the use of water to be made in participatory Watershed Committees, to address such farmers’ difficulties. In this paper, we review the development and application of the Participatory Quality Index approach based on the principles of conservation agriculture to improve the quality of no-till systems in the Paraná 3 watershed within the Cultivating Good Water program. We analyze the available documentation and experiences of the program’s executors, highlighting the results from the perspective of sustainability of multiple uses of water in a watershed.

Teknik Bedeng Permanen Alternatif Mengurangi Biaya Produksi Usahatani Pada Kondisi Pendemi Covid19

Permanent raised-beds can be used in several soil seasons and aim to increase production through the application of sustainable and sustainable agriculture and can improve the welfare of farmers. The three basic principles of conservation agriculture are: i) applying minimal or no tillage ii) applying cover crops continuously throughout the year, and iii) applying crop diversification, either by intercropping, crop rotation, and consecutive cropping (relay cropping), especially between non-legume and legume crops. Service activities provide knowledge to farmers by demonstrating the application of permanent bed farming techniques to reduce farm production costs. This activity is expected to: 1) as an example of the application of permanent bed-based agriculture to prevent soil erosion by planting cover crops and mulch, 2) as an example of a permanent bed technique to maintain soil stability and save costs, 3) as an example of a natural way to restore physical, chemical and biological fertility of dry soil, and 4) as an example of how to increase soil productivity in dry paddy fields typology. To achieve this, several conservation methods will be introduced, as well as several types of vegetable crops and minimum tillage techniques will be introduced.

Net effects of conservation agriculture principles on sustainable land use: A synthesis

Despite the strong recommendations from scientists, to till or not to till remains a confusing question for many farmers around the world due to the worries of crop yield decline and negative impacts on soils and environment. A confused understanding of the role of the individual principles of conservation agriculture significantly limits the effectiveness and applicability of soil conservation strategies and frameworks to achieve sustainable agriculture. By distinguishing clearly between the different principles of conservation agriculture, the net effects of no-tillage on improving and sustaining agro-ecosystems are analyzed based on 49 recent meta-analyses in this study. The review shows that no-tillage leads to a significant decline of crop yield (-8.0% to 10.0%, median: -1.9%), whereas residue retention represents the key driver for improving crop production (4.0%-28.0%, median: 8.2%). The efficacy of no-tillage for water erosion control, especially runoff (-24.0% to -0.7%, median: -10.0%), is often insignificant and otherwise lower compared to residue retention (-87.0% to -14.0%, median: -45.5%). Soil carbon sequestration potential under conservation tillage is quite limited or even close to zero, and if any, it can likely be attributed to the associated residue retention (-0.1% to 12.8%, median: 9.7%) rather than no-tillage (-2.0% to 10.0%, median: 4.8%). Our analysis illustrates that in conservation agriculture, no-tillage as the original and central principle of soil management is often less effective than associated supplementary measures, in particular residue retention. Residue retention may therefore play a key role for achieving sustainable land use. An additional benefit of residue retention is the less dramatic change of farming practices compared to no-tillage. The results of this review illustrate that a new framework for assessing the benefits of conservation practices has to be developed. To till, or not to till, is not the question: residue retention seems more critical.