Conservation agriculture includes any practice that reduces, changes or eliminates soil tillage and avoids the burning of residue in order to maintain adequate surface cover throughout the year.
We would expect lower production from low input technologies. For example, no-till technology is essential for sustaining soil productivity because crop residues are allowed to remain on the ground with the accompanying benefits of improving the soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties, but farmers may not gain financially because of low productivity.
On the other hand, farmers may save on input costs (labor use should be lower). What would be the net effect? What are other benefits and costs?
The benefits of CA measures are often highlighted but dispersed widely over time. It should not be underestimated that CA also demands long-term investments (e.g. in new machinery such as direct seeders etc.). Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect that investments in a more judicious resources use will be accepted readily by farmers and land users simply because the options are better for the environment.
Furthermore, it recurrently is mentioned that farmers usually look for immediate and economic benefits and are less concerned about longer-term or ecological benefits. In this respect, CA like any other novel technique must clearly show economic benefits and options before farmers would consider it for adoption. This hurdle obviously is not unique to CA.
What we know is that at present, CA technologies provide direct and immediate benefits to farmers through (i) cost-reduction as a direct result of lower expenses of fuel, labour, and time, and (ii) yield-enhancing factors such as a reduction in soil erosion and water use effects in the short term, while improving the quality of land, water and the environment in the longer term. It should be ascertained also that the costs of the initial herbicide use do not surpass the cost savings incurred by less labour, fuel and the use of equipment as well as reduced fertilizer use.
Unfortunately, financial assessments of CA practices are much less available than technical assessments. Although findings are encouraging, estimates often are too limited in numbers and need to be extended. In a recent overview on the economics of CA as practiced worldwide (Knowler et al., 2001), it was concluded that the financial profitability of CA practices varies, is thus site-specific and hence needs to be researched each time.
So CA is not a silver bullet solution but should/could be part of the solution.
CA is being promoted in India and specially in NE states like Manipur , its really working especially in low lying areas where moisture is plenty and zero tillage mustard crop is a success story
the benefits (delay or money) of CA will depend first, to the precipitations levels in the region that has to be used, second to the possibility to adapt a continuous cover cropping system which include systematically leguminous species in the cover crop betwwen two main cultures.
especially, seeding trifolium alexandrinum or adapted leguminous species that you know to have the quicker developpement cycle. No need to get a high biomass quantity at the beginning, this will increase year per year
if you apply this, there is no depression but it's depend also from the main plant species of the cultures rotations;
if there is cereal species, there is a need to adapt dureing the first year the nitrogen fractionning with higher quantity at the beginning of the cycle
later in the cycle, the priming effect will work and replace the nitrogen fertilizers.
accelerating the turn over decomposition with fresh material will increase year per year the intensity of the priming effect on the nitrogen cycle due to the fresh residue and the rhizospheric priming effect also.
see you
CA is mostly practiced in rainfed regions throughout the world but in India it was adopted in irrigated indo gangetic plains. CA working well in rice fallow for example zero till wheat, Mustard, etc where in there is a gain of approximately 10 days in zero tillage wheat. i.e the wheat can be sown 10-15 days earlier to conventional tilled plots due to this the crop escapes from terminal heat stress and this results in increase in yields. In rainfed regions it may take 4-5 years for CA to work
I feel it is required to maintain the whole eco-systemn in a holistic manner
Out of observations in various tropical countries I could share these orientations: a) CA does not at all imply necessarily and regularly a yield-reduction, but allows equally high yields and net-incomes. b) Agro-production in millions of different eco-systems involves very specific approaches and options. Plants can be treated in countless adaptations to frame-conditions. c) Replacing ploughing by tine-tilling is probably the most dramatic change in European agriculture on some 50% of the soils in the last few decades and yields are still extremely high while tine-tilling opens deeper horizons for percolation. d) Highest crop-yields in literature are possible in all cropping-systems in all regions and incl. CA, permaculture, organic farming, biodynamic agriculture, etc. . e) The combination of tine-tilling (hand-tools or tractor) with mulching and bio- or mineral fertilizer-placement some 8 cm sidewise + below the plant generates top yields. f) CA with leguminous intercropping (maize or sorghum with beans, wheat with peas, sunflower or sesamum with creaping or climbing legumes, etc.) is a phantastic low-cost option of nitrogen-purchase free-of-charge !! g) Mixed cropping, alley-cropping as CA on African smallholder-farms with gradually increasing meachnization-steps is practicable if cleverly planned and done. h) CA-practitioners are always well-advised to look for places, where nature is untouched and demonstrates high cropping in nice biodiversity....with many benefits; i) In CA-like mixed and organic cropping the benefit for the farmer involves not only the mere yield of ONE crop/area, but the sum of all plant-yields...and the joy of seeing a stable piece of cropped land during a heavy thunderstorm.
When we are talking about world food need in 2050 (@70% increase from the current level of production), we need to be employ the technologies, which can enable us to grow more food per unit of land. on the other hand, farmer needs to produce more to make farming a profitable business.
Hi,
It's depend what you mean about high yield in CA: if it is simple to get the same high yield with spring cultures like corn with 15 tonnes grain at 15% humidity and sugarbeet with 100 tonnes/ha fresh tuber related to 16% min sugar, it's not the same in CA with winter wheat to get regularly 10-11 tonnes grain 15% humidity like it is possible regularly in north of france with CT, specially in the clay-loam soils when the autumn is wet at the time of seeding and more particularly when the wheat is sowing after sugarbeet or silage corn creating soil disturbance due to the harvest; or after grain corn harvested in november in too wet conditions to use a disc drill)
Even if at the end, it is the net financial gain which has to be considered for the benfit of CA, french farmers are still recalcitrant to develop no till technical cultures that they know the technical highest yield will be lower than in NT, independantly of the financial aspects (i.e, productivism). Additionally, the agriculture policy is not yet develop for no till system cultures where dureing the first 5 years the yield will decrease for the avove described raisons.
cf www.semisdirect.com ,and see the video to understand our agriculture technical research orientations and more about our ecologial approches on www.u-picardie.fr/edysan/
Main problems in adoption of CA in rainfed regions is the residue, and placement of seed in moist zone, and weed management. Hence strategies to be worked out to increase the residue on the soil surface one important strategy be growing of cover crops preferably on residual soil moisture during off season. Or growing of intercrops.
High density planting.
In partial irrigated/rainfed condition of Bangladesh farmers prefer no till maize cultivation with application of herbicides. Maize requires low irrigation (often only one application, in contrast rice requires 3/4 irrigations). As herbicide is applied with no-till weeding is in most cases not necessary. However, so far I did not note any research on the long term impact of weed management with herbicide.
Privat benefits to farmers as result of CA are similar no matter in developing or developed countries. Difference coud be found mainly in the areao of greater agricultural subvencies of state in developed countries. In the first place it is under the influence of climate and soil quality in some region and possibilities for irrigation. Low input technologies has not be connected absolutely to lower production. Complex and inovative knowledge of agronomy, biology and economy are of crucial importance in the goal of achieving similar or higher production with reduction of imputs as much as possible. The main role of agricultural expert is to find the best growing technology solution with the greatest potential for achieving the higest profit for different crops and environments in many scopes of circumstances of financial, technical, human and other resourses. As result of development of industrial agriculture, margines for profit in agriculture becomed less and less in every year during last century. That could also be expected in the future. So only farmers that be successful in the continious reduction of costs and achivement of higer production and profit might exist in such conditions of more and more pronounced competition.
Several studies conducted in Jordan under dryland systems on wheat and barley showed a significant increase in both biological and grain yields. There was an increase in net return of about 200 US $ per hectare. Moreover, there were and an improvement organic matter.
I believe that the private sector had now a real opportunity to invest in the dissemination and out-scaling in Zero tillage and CA.
I think they are many activities in Indonesia connecting with conservation agriculture generates private benefits to farmers, such as organic rice has higher price and other parties can take benefit from conservation agriculture such as tourism, exploring waste of agriculture for handicrafts, increasing seaweed production, etc
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