Conservation agriculture, as defined by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture organisation (FAO), is “a farming system that promotes maintenance of a permanent soil cover, minimum soil disturbance, and diversification of plant species.
It is in essence an agricultural concept that conserves and enhances soil fertility, improves the availability of soil moisture, and increases the soil’s biological resources.
The adoption of CA leads to conservation of the environment and to a reversal of the soil degradation processes so common worldwide.
At the same time, experience shows that it increases crop yields but with lower production costs, mainly due to reduced labour inputs, which frees time for other productive or income-generating activities.
In effect, the system brings high agricultural productivity combined with the sustainable use of natural resources.
Conservation agriculture is a long-term adaptation measure and generally has a long lifetime (decades).
It enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground surface, which contribute to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to improved and sustained crop production.
PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
The three main principles of conservation agriculture (minimum soil disturbance, crop diversification, and permanent soil cover) help to protect the environment and to reduce both the impacts of climate change on agricultural systems (adaptation) and the contribution of the agricultural practices to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (mitigation) through sustainable land management.
These principles, contribute to protect the soil from erosion and degradation, improve soil quality and biodiversity, preserve the natural resources and increase their use efficiency, while optimizing crop yields.
Minimum soil disturbance
Minimum soil disturbance is characterized by reduced tillage practices (such as ploughing, harrowing, and all the tillage operations ordinarily applied to prepare the soil for seed germination, seedling establishment and crop growth and production) through direct seeding and/or direct fertilizer placement.
It helps to improve soil properties, preserve and increase soil organic matter, and hence reduce soil erosion.
Moreover, no tillage and minimum tillage reduce energy consumption by agriculture machinery, enhance soil drainage, improve food supplies for insects, birds, and small mammals due to higher availability of crop residues and weed seeds in the soil.
Indeed, a number of ecosystem services are provided by the minimum soil disturbance, including: water regulation, carbon storage, soil stability, protection of surface soils from erosion, enhanced water infiltration, increased soil fertility through enhanced nitrogen stocks (in the long term), improved soil, water, and air quality, reduction of soil erosion and fuel use.
All these elements are of the highest importance in order to reduce the vulnerability of the agricultural systems and increase their adaptation capacity to climate change, contributing also to the mitigation objectives.
Crop diversification
Crop diversification is the practice of cultivating more than one species in a given agricultural area, in the form of crop rotation and/or association.
The diversification in cultivated species increases the adaptation capacity of agricultural systems to climate change by improving soil fertility and structure, soil water holding capacity and water and nutrients distribution through the soil profile, helping to prevent pests and diseases, and increasing yield stability.
Indeed, the diversified cropping systems are more stable and resilient than monoculture systems.
Crop diversification delivers a range of ecosystem services, contributes to improve crop productivity and resilience of farming systems and reduces GHG emissions from agricultural activities.
Permanent soil organic cover
Permanent soil organic cover with crop residues and/or cover crops (e.g. legumes, cereals, or other crops planted between the main crops, primarily for the benefit of the soil rather than the crop yield) enables climate change adaptation by reducing soil erosion and degradation which can be exacerbated by the impact of extreme weather events (e.g. extreme precipitations, droughts and periods of soil saturation, extreme heat, strong wind events) and improving the stability of the conservation agriculture system.
Indeed, cover crops improve soil properties (fertility and quality), help to manage soil erosion, preserve soil moisture, avoid compaction of the soil, contain pest and diseases, and increase biodiversity in the agro-ecosystem.
SUCCESS FACTORS FOR CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
Among the success factors for the implementation of conservation agriculture measures are:
Good stakeholder engagement
Policies and government actions to promote and create favourable conditions for the application of conservation agriculture (such as free access to information)
Appropriate farm advisory services
Public and private partnerships
Rewards for environmental services
The conservation agriculture practices should be supported by clear policies and procedures. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union and the National and Regional Rural Programmes are among the major policy driving forces for the implementation of the conservation agriculture in the EU Member States.
LIMITING FACTORS FOR CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
Some aspects can act as limiting factors for small farm dimensions, as for example for the implementation of practices that require investments in machinery (as for sod seeding in not tillage farming systems). In these cases, associations of farmers or collaboration with third parties are used to overcome this aspect.
Other limiting factors include the inadequate dissemination of knowledge and good practices, the insufficient collaboration between researchers and farm advisory services and the lack of supports to farmers.
In some cases, there is still a farmer perception that tillage is necessary for soil improving, facilitating crop management and giving higher yields.
Moreover, farmers are generally satisfied with the actual practices and do not feel an economic pressure to change, as clean and well-tilled fields are often associated with good farming practice.
In this respect, the farm advisory services play a key role in encouraging the confidence of farmers new to conservation agriculture that the technology is working.
BENEFITS OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
In general, conservation agriculture allows a reduction of the production costs and a reduction of time and labour (e.g. for land preparation and planting), and in mechanized systems it reduces the costs of investment and maintenance of machinery in the long term.
The economic, agronomic and environmental benefits provided by conservation agriculture are detectable at global, regional, local and farm level.
Environmental benefits of CA
Since agriculture is one of the most destructive forces against biodiversity, CA can change the way humans produce food and energy. With conservation come environmental benefits of CA.
These benefits include less erosion possibilities, better water conservation, improvement in air quality due to lower emissions being produced, and a chance for larger biodiversity in a given area.
Higher yields and higher outputs
CA is shown to have even higher yields and higher outputs than conventional agriculture once it has been established over long periods.
Renewal and improvement of soils
Conservation agriculture helps a producer to keep soils at a productive level for an extended time.
CA also ensures improvement of soil structure and rooting zone.
Introduction of grazing livestock to the field
The farmer can use the same land in another way when crops have been harvested. The introduction of grazing livestock to a field that once held crops can be beneficial for the producer and also the field itself.
Livestock manure can be used as a natural fertilizer for a producer’s field which will then be beneficial for the producer the next year when crops are planted once again.
Livestock produce compost or manure which are a great help in generating soil fertility . The practices of CA and grazing livestock on a field for many years can allow for better yields in the following years as long as these practices continue to be followed.
Increase in organic matter
Within fields that are controlled by CA the producer will see an increase in organic matter.
Increase in water conservation
Increase in water conservation due to the layer of organic matter and ground cover to help eliminate transportation and access runoff.
PROBLEMS OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
High initial costs and new management skills
High initial costs of specialized planting equipment, and a new dynamic farming system that requires new management skills and a learning process by the farmer.
There are not enough people who can financially turn from conventional farming to conservation.
When starting to use CA, a producer may have to buy new planters or drills in order to produce effectively. These financial tasks are ones that may impact whether or not a producer decides to switch to CA or not.
Process of Conservation Agriculture takes time
The process of CA takes time; when a producer first becomes a conservationist, the results can be a financial loss to them .
CA is based upon establishing an organic layer and producing its own fertilizer and this may take time. It can be many years before a producer will start to see better yields than he/she has had previously.
Interactions with livestock and competition for crop residues
In developing countries, livestock is often an integral part of the farming system, so it needs to be considered when introducing CA.
The application of CA requires a critical level of crop residues remaining on the surface, while traditionally most of these residues are used for feeding livestock. It is a common practice to allow livestock to graze in the harvested crop fields or to slash the crop residue and store it for fodder.
Not enough pressure for producers to change their way of living
CA has not spread as quickly as most conservationists would like. The reason for this is because there is not enough pressure for producers to change their way of living to a more conservationist outlook.
With CA comes the idea of producing enough food. With cutting back in fertilizer, not tilling the ground, and other processes comes the responsibility to feed the world. By 2050 there will be an estimated 9.1 billion people.
CA farms do not produce as much as conventional farms
With this increase comes the responsibility for producers to increase food supply using the same or less land than we use today. Problems arise in the fact that if CA farms do not produce as much as conventional farms, this leaves the world with less food for more people.
CONCLUSION
Producers like CA because it gives them a means of conserving, improving, and making more efficient use of their natural resources . Producers will find that the benefits of CA will come later rather than sooner. Since CA takes time to build up enough organic matter and have soils become their own fertilizer, the process does not start to work overnight. But if producers make it through the first few years of production, results will start to become more satisfactory.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Q . With reference to the circumstances in Indian agriculture, the concept of “Conservation Agriculture” assumes significance. Which of the following fall under the Conservation Agriculture? UPSC PRELIMS 2018
1 . Avoiding the monoculture practices
2 . Adopting minimum tillage
3 . Avoiding the cultivation of plantation crops
4 . Using crop residues to cover soil surface
5 . Adopting spatial and temporal crop sequencing/crop rotations
Select the correct answre using the code given below:
(a) 1, 3 and 4
(b) 2, 3, 4 and 5
(c) 2, 4 and 5
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 5
(c)
