Conservation Agriculture and its contribution to the achievement of agri-environmental and economic challenges in Europe

Conservation Agriculture is an ecosystem approach to farming capable of providing solutions for numerous of the agri-environmental concerns in Europe. Certainly, most of the challenges addressed in the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) could be tackled through Conservation Agriculture (CA). Not only the agri-environmental ones, but also those concerning farmer and rural communities’ prosperity. The optimisation of inputs and similar yields than conventional tillage, make Conservation Agriculture a profitable system compared to the tillage based agriculture. Whereas this sustainable agricultural system was conceived for protecting agrarian soils from its degradation, the numerous collateral benefits that emanate from soil conservation, i.e., climate change mitigation and adaptation, have raised Conservation Agriculture as one of the global emerging agrosciences, being adopted by an increasing number of farmers worldwide, including Europe.

Towards Conservation Agriculture systems in Moldova

As the world population and food production demands rise, keeping agricultural soils and landscapes healthy and productive are of paramount importance to sustaining local and global food security and the flow of ecosystem services to society. The global population, expected to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, will put additional pressure on the available land area and resources for agricultural production. Sustainable production intensification for food security is a major challenge to both industrialized and developing countries. The paper focuses on the results from long-term multi-factorial experiments involving tillage practices, crop rotations and fertilization to study the interactions amongst the treatments in the context of sustainable production intensification. The paper discusses the results in relation to reported performance of crops and soil quality in Conservation Agriculture systems that are based on no or minimum soil disturbance (no-till seeding and weeding), maintenance of soil mulch cover with crop biomass and cover crops, and diversified cropping systems involving annuals and perennials. Conservation Agriculture also emphasizes the necessity of an agro-ecosystems approach to the management of agricultural land for sustainable production intensification, as well as to the site-specificity of agricultural production. Arguments in favor of avoiding the use of soil tillage are discussed together with agro-ecological principles for sustainable intensification of agriculture. More interdisciplinary systems research is required to support the transformation of agriculture from the conventional tillage agriculture to a more sustainable agriculture based on the principles and practices of Conservation Agriculture, along with other complementary practices of integrated crop, nutrient, water, pest, energy and farm power management.

Soil quality assessment in conservation agriculture systems

Soil is a key resource that provides the basis of food production and sustains and delivers several ecosystems services including regulating and supporting services such as water and climate regulation, soil formation and the cycling of nutrients carbon and water. During the last decades, population growth, dietary changes and the subsequent pressure on food production, have caused severe damages on soil quality as a consequence of intensive, high input-based agriculture. While agriculture is supposed to maintain and steward its most important resource base, it compromises soil quality and fertility through its impact on erosion, soil organic matter and biodiversity decline, compaction, etc., and thus the necessary yield increases for the next decades. New or improved cropping systems and agricultural practices are needed to ensure a sustainable use of this resource and to fully take the advantages of its associated ecosystem services. Also, new and better soil quality indicators are crucial for fast and in-field soil diagnosis to help farmers decide on the best management practices to adopt under specific pedo-climatic conditions. Conservation Agriculture and its fundamental principles: minimum (or no) soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover and crop rotation /intercropping certainly figure among the possibilities capable to guarantee sustainable soil management. The iSQAPER project – Interactive Soil Quality Assessment in Europe and China for Agricultural Productivity and Environmental Resilience – is tackling this problem with the development of a Soil Quality application (SQAPP) that links soil and agricultural management practices to soil quality indicators and will provide an easy-to-use tool for farmers and land managers to judge their soil status. The University of Évora is the leader of WP6 - Evaluating and demonstrating measures to improve Soil Quality. In this work package, several promising soil and agricultural management practices will be tested at selected sites and evaluated using the set of soil quality indicators defined for the SQAPP tool. The project as a whole and WP6 in specific can contribute to proof and demonstrate under different pedoclimatic conditions the impact of Conservation Agriculture practices on soil quality and function as was named the call under which this project was submitted.

Local Understandings of Soil Fertility, Rainfall and Conservation Agriculture in Laikipia, Kenya: A Qualitative Analysis.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is mostly referred to in the literature as having three principles at the core of its identity: minimum soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover and crop diversity. This farming package has been described as suitable to improve yields and livelihoods of smallholders in semi-arid regions of Kenya, which since the colonial period have been heavily subjected to tillage. Our study is based on a qualitative approach that followed local meanings and understandings of soil fertility, rainfall and CA in Ethi and Umande located in the semi-arid region of Laikipia, Kenya. Farm visits, 53 semistructured interviews, informal talks were carried out from April to June 2015. Ethi and Umande locations were part of a resettlement programme after the independence of Kenya that joined together people coming from different farming contexts. Since the 1970–80s, state and NGOs have been promoting several approaches to control erosion and boost soil fertility. In this context, CA has also been promoted preferentially since 2007. Interviewees were well acquainted with soil erosion and the methods to control it. Today, rainfall amount and distribution are identified as major constraints to crop performance. Soil fertility is understood as being under control since farmers use several methods to boost it (inorganic fertilisers, manure, terraces, agroforestry, vegetation barriers). CA is recognised to deliver better yields but it is not able to perform well under severe drought and does not provide yields as high as ‘promised’ in promotion campaigns. Moreover, CA is mainly understood as “cultivating with chemicals”, “kulima na dawa”, in kiswahili. A dominant view is that CA is about minimum tillage and use of pre-emergence herbicides. It is relevant to reflect about what kind of CA is being promoted and if elements like soil cover and crop rotation are given due attention. CA based on these two ideas, minimum tillage and use of herbicides, is hard to stand as a programme to be promoted and up-scaled. Therefore CA appears not to be recognised as a convincing approach to improve the livelihoods in Laikipia.

Optimização da adubação mineral em trigo regado e sua interacção com o nível de estrumação

Com o objectivo de estudar uma possível optimização da adubação mineral de trigo mole e sua interacção com estrumação, foi desenvolvido um ensaio onde, numa área com trigo mole, regado e em sementeira directa, se interagiram os 3 macronutrientes principais, com 3 níveis de estrume. Para esta interacção foram analisados vários parâmetros que resultaram em 3 parâmetros principais, produção de grão, de palha e também as extracções totais de N, P, K da cultura. De acordo com os resultados obtidos pôde-se verificar que a aplicação de estrume não revelou efeitos positivos na produção de grão/palha do trigo. A elevada fertilidade do solo em sementeira directa ofereceu à cultura uma base sustentável para o seu desenvolvimento sem que seja necessária a adubação mineral actualmente padronizada. Por fim foi evidente a importância da antecipação da 1ª cobertura realizada no trigo para o estado de afilhamento, factor que contribuiu significativamente para o sucesso da cultura; Optimization of mineral fertilizer in irrigated wheat and its interaction with the level of manure ABSTRACT: With the aim of studying the optimization of mineral fertilization of common wheat and their interaction with manure, it was developed a study where in an area with soft wheat, watered and with no tillage, we interacted 3 main macronutrients and 3 manure levels. To this interaction were analyzed several parameters that resulted in three major parameters, production of grain and straw and also the total extraction of N, P, K culture. According to the results it was observed that the application of manure did not show positive effects in the production of grain / wheat straw. The high soil fertility on direct seeding culture offered a sustainable base for its development without requiring high fertilization. Finally it was evident the importance of the anticipation of the 1st cover held in wheat, a factor that contributed significantly to the success of the crop.

O papel da agricultura de conservação na luta contra a erosão do solo em particular em Angola

A agricultura de conservação, conseguindo reduzir as perdas de solo por erosão e aumentando o seu teor em matéria orgânica, permite aos agricultores produzirem mais alimentos com menos trabalho. Oferece-lhes uma possibilidade de melhorar a sua qualidade de vida. Várias abordagens sobre agricultura de conservação do solo, incluindo rotação e consorciação de culturas, são componentes deste sistema aplicável a diferentes níveis. A sementeira direta e o menor distúrbio de solo, são princípios primordiais da conservação do solo, fornecem benefícios direitos para a agricultura e o meio ambiente, questões da maior relevância para a agricultura Angolana, apesar da pouca importância que atualmente lhes é dedicada. Logo, é preciso uma conversão e transição de tecnologias e técnicas para implementar a agricultura de conservação e o controle da erosão dos solos no país. As técnicas de conservação utilizadas pelos pequenos e grandes produtores, embora sejam bem-intencionadas, não oferecem a proteção contra a erosão do solo e a conservação da água. Tanto as entidades políticas, como o Programa de Acão do Ministério da Agricultura e do Desenvolvimento Rural (MINADER) e os agricultores angolanos devem entender a importância da agricultura de conservação para a segurança alimentar e dar continuidade para as gerações futuras. Não basta a reformulação e consolidação dos objetivos traçados no período de 2009 a 2013, sem que haja a aplicação prática. Portanto, para sair do atual conceito oficial de agricultura tradicional/convencional e optar para agricultura capaz de responder às necessidades de Angola é necessário seguir modelos semelhantes aos desenvolvidos por países tropicais de condições naturais semelhantes às de Angola; The role of conservation agriculture in the fight against soil erosion particularly in Angola ABSTRACT: Conservation agriculture, managed to reduce soil losses by erosion and to increase its content of organic matter, allow farmers to produce more food with less work. It offers them a chance to improve their quality of life. Several approaches to soil conservation agriculture, including rotation and intercropping, are components of this system applicable to different levels. Direct sowing and less soil disturbance, are key principles of soil conservation providiy benefits for agriculture and the environment, issues of great importance for the Angolan agriculture, in spite of the little importance that is currently dedicated to them. Therefore, we need a conversion and transition technologies and techniques to implement conservation agriculture and soil erosion control in the country. Conservation techniques used by small and large producers, although well-intentioned, do not offer protection against soil erosion and water conservation. Both political entities, such as the Program of Action of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER) and Angolan farmers should understand the importance of conservation agriculture for food security and continuity for future generations. Not just the redesign and consolidation of the objectives outlined in the period 2009 to 2013, without practical application. Therefore, to exit the current official concept of traditional / conventional farming and opt for agriculture able to meet the needs of Angola is necessary to follow models similar to those developed by tropical countries of natural conditions similar to Angola.

Mobilizing Greater Crop and Land Potentials Sustainably

The supply side of the food security engine is the way we farm. The current engine of conventional tillage farming is faltering and needs to be replaced. This presentation will address supply side issues of agriculture to meet future agricultural demands for food and industry using the alternate no-till Conservation Agriculture (CA) paradigm (involving no-till farming with mulch soil cover and diversified cropping) that is able to raise productivity sustainably and efficiently, reduce inputs, regenerate degraded land, minimise soil erosion, and harness the flow of ecosystem services. CA is an ecosystems approach to farming capable of enhancing not only the economic and environmental performance of crop production and land management, but also promotes a mindset change for producing ‘more from less’, the key attitude towards sustainable production intensification. CA is now spreading globally in all continents at an annual rate of 10 Mha and covers some 157 Mha of cropland. Today global agriculture produces enough food to feed three times the current population of 7.21 billion. In 1976, when the world population was 4.15 billion, world food production far exceeded the amount necessary to feed that population. However, our urban and industrialised lifestyle leads to wastage of food of some 30%-40%, as well as waste of enormous amount of energy and protein while transforming crop-based food into animal-derived food; we have a higher proportion of people than ever before who are obese; we continue to degrade our ecosystems including much of our agricultural land of which some 400 Mha is reported to be abandoned due to severe soil and land degradation; and yields of staple cereals appear to have stagnated. These are signs of unsustainability at the structural level in the society, and it is at the structural level, for both supply side and demand side, that we need transformed mind sets about production, consumption and distribution. CA not only provides the possibility of increased crop yields for the low input smallholder farmer, it also provides a pro-poor rural and agricultural development model to support agricultural intensification in an affordable manner. For the high output farmer, it offers greater efficiency (productivity) and profit, resilience and stewardship. For farming anywhere, it addresses the root causes of agricultural land degradation, sub-optimal ecological crop and land potentials or yield ceilings, and poor crop phenotypic expressions or yield gaps. As national economies expand and diversify, more people become integrated into the economy and are able to access food. However, for those whose livelihoods continue to depend on agriculture to feed themselves and the rest of the world population, the challenge is for agriculture to produce the needed food and raw material for industry with minimum harm to the environment and the society, and to produce it with maximum efficiency and resilience against abiotic and biotic stresses, including those arising from climate change. There is growing empirical and scientific evidence worldwide that the future global supplies of food and agricultural raw materials can be assured sustainably at much lower environmental and economic cost by shifting away from conventional tillage-based food and agriculture systems to no-till CA-based food and agriculture systems. To achieve this goal will require effective national and global policy and institutional support (including research and education).

Possibilities and challenges for No-till practices in Bulgaria

What is No-till? From No-till to Conservation Agriculture (CA) Why use No-till/CA? Where is No-till/CA practiced? The Bulgarian context The Ups The challenges No-till/CA in the context of CAP

Policy and Institutional Support for CA Development (Examples from Europe, Africa, Asia)

Policy and Institutional Support for CA Development (Examples from Europe, Africa, Asia)