Amir kassam, food and agriculture organization of the united nations, italy and university of reading, uk, saidi mkomwa, african conservation tillage act, nairobi, theodor friedrich, food and agriculture organization of the united nations, cuba. Since the start of the fao program in 2015 in kenya, more than 26,000 farmers adopted conservation agriculture in the eight counties. Conservation agriculture in india problems, prospects. It was a miracle, she says, i will practise conservation agriculture forever. Haggblade and tembo 2003 examine the benefits of conservation farming in zambia for smallscale cotton farmers. Conservation agriculture, based on notill, the permanent cover of soil surface by crops and their harvest residues and crop rotation, is an efficient system to protect the soil against erosion and to improve som lal, 2015. Synthesis report food and agriculture organization of the. Pdf the role of conservation agriculture in sustainable.
Fao is a specialised united nations agency that envisions a world free from hunger and malnutrition where food and agriculture contribute to improving the living standards of all, especially the poorest, in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. This manual has been produced with financial support from christian aid and fao zimbabwe. It enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground surface, which contribute to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to. Improving sustainable food and nutrition systems with agrobiodiversity in recent paradigm of conservation agriculture. Conservation agriculture ca climatesmart agriculture guide. Conservation agriculture food and agriculture organization of the. Definition of conservation agriculture the food and agriculture organization of the united nations fao defines conservation agriculture ca as follows. Crop production intensification draws on the data collected by fao in. Opportunities and challenges bruce sosola1, sileshi gudeta1, festus akinnifesi1 and olu ajayi1 abstract conservation agriculture ca benefits include increased organic matter, improved water retention, improved soil fertility, reduced soil erosion, reduced weed infestation, crop productivity and. Publications agriculture in eastern europe and central asia is diverse, and has great potential to revitalize the economy of the countries in the region via improved productivity efficiency and higher total yield for food, fodder and fibre crops. It is designed for field personnel of agencies, such as the natural resources conservation service nrcs and cooperative extension service, and other agricultural professionals. Fao performance in each of the six countries included in the survey. Training guide for extension agents and farmers in eastern. Conservation agriculture practices perused in many parts of the world are built on ecological principles making land use more sustainable wassmann et al.
Conservation agriculture ca can be defined by a statement given by the food and agriculture organization of the united nations as a concept for resourcesaving agricultural crop production that strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high and sustained production levels while concurrently conserving the environment fao 2007. Fao 2006 agriculture and consumer protection department. Rice transplanting starts in july but often continues until late august, owing to the uncertainty of rains, the high cost of pumping groundwater, and labour. Ca is a concept for resourcesaving agricultural crop production that strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high and. Cawt involves the integration of cropfriendly trees, mainly high value agroforestry tree species and nitrogen fixing trees into the crop land with conservation agriculture practices. Conservation agriculture offers an opportunity for all farmers in all regions of zimbabwe to improve yields and income, food security and. Conservation agriculture ca is the integrated management of the available natural resources such as soil, water, flora, and fauna with partial outside inputs which increases the efficiency of. Conservation agriculture ca has been proposed among technologies that are climatesmart. The rotation of crops is not only necessary to offer a diverse diet to the soil micro organisms, but as they root at different soil depths, they are capable of exploring different soil layers for nutrients. The training contributes in the development and promotion of conservation. The below is a listing of all partnership initiatives and voluntary commitments where food and agriculture organization of the united nations fao is listed as a partner or lead entity in the partnerships for sdgs online platform.
Adoption of ca for enhancing resource use efficiency rue and crop productivity is the need of the hour as a powerful tool for management of natural resources. Conservation agriculture and sustainable crop intensification in. Climate resilient cropping systems are required to adapt to the increasing threats of climate change projected for southern africa and to better manage current climate variability. Conservation agriculture is seen as an ideal system for sustainable and climatesmart agricultural intensification, through which farmers can attain higher levels of productivity and profitability while improving soil health and the environment. The conservation farming unit works to provide small and medium scale farmers with the supporting environment, knowledge and practical experience to help them successfully adopt conservation farming and conservation agriculture practices. To know more 8 wcca website 8 wcca announcement 8 wcca registration conservation agriculture in fao website principles of conservation agriculture in fao website.
Ecological farming is a food and agriculture system that follows the principles of agroecology. Ca has proven potential to improve crop yields, while improving the longterm environmental and financial sustainability of farming. For many countries, detailed climate impact assessments can be found on the world banks climate change knowledge portal. Conservation agriculture farmer innovation programme. The importance of conservation agriculture ca research and cassava production for food security in recent years, the mechanisation division of the agricultural research council institute for agricultural engineering arciae has focused its research efforts on specific areas. Present case study prepared under the agps framework for sustainable. Conservation agriculture manual for implementation prepared by martin moyo 10120 this manual was created for the swade sustainable land management project with support from. For a cropping system to be labelled climatesmart it has to deliver three benefits. Since 2004 and together with partners such as act and governments, it has.
Conservation agriculture matching production with sustainability what is the goal of conservation agriculture. Conservation agriculture ca climatesmart agriculture. It promotes maintenance of a permanent soil cover, minimum soil disturbance, and diversification of plant species. Species diversification conservation agriculture food. They found that yields significantly increase when conservation techniques are. Agriculture provides humans with food and raw materials for goodssuch as cotton for clothing, wood for shelter and fuel, roots for medicines, and materials for biofuelsand with incomes and. Conservation agriculture food and agriculture organization.
The spread of conservation agriculture globally 125 million ha 5. Conservation agriculture, with the use of green manurecover crops and crop rotation, is the way to achieve agricultural sustainability on small farms. Sutherland 2, jacqueline ashby 3, jill auburn 4, david baulcombe 5, michael bell 6, jeffrey bentley 7,8, sam bickersteth 9, katrina brown 10, jacob burke 11, hugh campbell 12, kevin chen, eve crowley 14, ian crute 15, dirk dobbelaere 16, gareth edwardsjones 17, fernando funes. Guidelines for soil quality assessment in conservation. Conservation agriculture ca is a set of soil management practices that minimize the disruption of the soils structure, composition and natural biodiversity. Overview of the worldwide spread of conservation agriculture.
Conservation agriculture ca 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. A monitoring and evaluation report of the conservation agriculture project cap1 in zambia by jens b. The positive impact of conservation agriculture on the distribution of labour during the production cycle and, even more important, the reduction in labour requirement are the main reasons for farmers in latin america to adopt conservation agriculture, especially for farmers who rely fully on family labour. The development of the national agricultural policy comes against the background of the fact that the sector has been operating without a coherent national agricultural policy. Fao conservation agriculture program and faostat, 2014. Conservation of agricultural biodiversity, development and. Practices are understood broadly as ways of doing things, for example, precision farming, tillage, and fertilization.
In light of growing concerns over the implications of many conventional agricultural practices, and especially the deep tilling of soils, the food and agriculture organization of the united nations fao, among others, has begun to promote a package of soil conserving practices under the banner of conservation agriculture. Fao developed a framework programme on climate change adaptation, called fao adapt is a concrete tool towards achieving these goals. Conservation agriculture in central asia food and agriculture. Conservation agriculture principles minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations that are universally. Fao encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Conservation agriculture an overview sciencedirect topics. Resources conservation agriculture food and agriculture. Conservation agriculture is the integration of ecological management with modern, scientific, agricultural production. At the same time, it stabilizes and protects soil from breaking down and releasing carbon to the atmosphere. More recently, it has become widely promoted and adopted in latin america.
A monitoring and evaluation report of the conservation. Conservation agriculture aims to boost agricultural production by optimising the use of farm resources and helping to reduce widespread land degradation through the integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources combined with external inputs. Food and agriculture organization of the united nations fao. To determine best agricultural practices, the eotulelo group. Thanks to conservation agriculture, maria has to do less work, her yields have gone up, and she has become an independent, confident member of the community. Pdf improving sustainable food and nutrition systems. The main focus of conservation agriculture has been on high management levels and good extension work, optimising all resources through best land and field practices. Asare boadi, bernard triomphe, soren daamgardlarsen, john ashburner conservation agriculture. Conservation agriculture for africa building resilient farming systems in a changing climate. It respects the societies and cultures it forms a part of. Conservation agriculture conservation farming unit. Yet many people intimately involved with worldwide food production have been slow to recognize its many advantages and consider it to be a viable alternative to conventional agricultural practices that are having obvious negative impact on the environment. Although the practice of conservation agriculture on a large scale emerged out of brazil and argentina, similar developments were.
Ca is considered to be a core element of faos strategy for sustainable production intensification, and more field projects dealing with. The rotation of crops is not only necessary to offer a diverse diet to the soil micro organisms, but as they root at different soil depths, they are. Conservation agriculture enables crops to use the nutrients in the soil more eectively. In cases where data on projected climate change is lacking or of poor quality, the following tools can either provide basic data or methodologies for conducting climate impact analysis, including faos mosaicc. Conservation agriculture in india problems, prospects and policy issues article pdf available december 2014 with 5,126 reads how we measure reads. Overview of the worldwide spread of conservation agriculture a. Original technical content, photographs and expertise was provided by the river of life, westgate, harare and icrisat, matopos, matabeleland with additional inputs from members of the zimbabwe conservation agriculture task force. Conservation agriculture the key to food security fao. Hobbs and others published conservation agriculture.
But around the world from the humid tropics almost to the arctic circle conservation agriculture or ca is being adopted by increasing numbers of farmers. Green manurecover crops and crop rotation in conservation. Soil and water conservation 265 life on this planet, as the so il is an essential resource to suppor t plants for producing food, and to provide shelter to insects and animals. Biodiversity and agriculture 7 from the products we buy to the food we consume, agricultural production is an integral part of everyones life. Conservation agriculture ca was introduced in the 1930s as a soil conservation system to counter the dust bowl in the united states. Conservation agriculture and sustainable crop intensification. The top 100 questions of importance to the future of. Fao development series 1 issn 10200819 food and agriculture organization of the united nations prepared by the soil resources, management and conservation service under the guidance of the interdepartmental working group on land use planning food and agriculture organization of the united nations rome, 1993. 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. Conservation agriculture ca is defined as a sustainable agriculture production system comprising a set of farming practices adapted to the requirements of crops and local conditions of each region, whose farming and soil management techniques protect the soil from erosion and degradation, improve its quality and biodiversity, and contribute to the preservation of the natural resources, water. In this respect, the critical factors necessitating the development of the policy are as follows. Conservation agriculture ca is a land management system that depends essentially on three principal practices. Farming with conservation agriculture in kenya youtube.
Conservation agriculture is 20 to 50 percent less labour intensive and thus contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through lower energy inputs and improved nutrient use efficiency. Conservation agriculture systems utilize soils for the production of crops with the aim of reducing excessive mixing of the soil and maintaining crop residues on the soil surface in order to minimize damage to the environment. Conservation agriculture is generally a winwin situation for both farmers and the environment. Conservation agriculture with trees cawt is a practice that combines the principles of conservation agriculture with agroforestry.
Conservation agriculture can rise to the major challenge of making sustainable intensification. The top 100 questions of importance to the future of global agriculture jules pretty 1, william j. An essential component for act is building the capacity of frontline agricultural extension and research staff in conservation agriculture. Conservation agriculture is an approach to agricultural management. Conservation agriculture in africa series series editors bernard triomphe josef kienzle martin bwalya soren damgaardlarsen titles conservation agriculture as practised in ghana philip boahen, benjamin addo dartey, genevieve delali dogbe, e. About icrisat the international crops research institute for the semiarid tropics icrisat is a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization.
Germany to implement the conservation agriculture for sustainable and rural. Kienzle 1food and agriculture organization fao of the united nations, rome, italy, email. Fao promotes the adoption of conservation agriculture principles minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations that are universally. Conservation agriculture is gaining acceptance in many parts of the world as an alternative to both conventional agriculture and to organic agriculture. In africa, however, adoption rates by smallscale farmers has been slower and more context specific fao 2009 1.
The food agriculture organization fao of the united nations leads international eorts to defeat hunger. Benefits of conservation agriculture for soil erosion control. In conservation agriculture, the residues of green manurecover crops gmccs are always left on the soil surface, and are incorporated biologically rather than with tillage implements. Aug 28, 2012 conservation agriculture also requires careful planning of crop rotations, new approaches to weed control and pest management, and range of other precision farming skills. Ecological farming is not merely ecologically sound. Conservation agriculture employs all modern technologies that enhance the quality and ecological integrity of the soil, but the application of these is.
Conservation agriculture encyclopedia of life support. Conservation agriculture has already contributed to the sustainable intensification of agriculture in several developed and developing regions of the world by improving. Ca is a concept for resourcesaving agricultural crop production that strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high and sustained production levels while. Conservation of agricultural biodiversity, development and sustainable use of its potentials in agriculture, forestry and fisheries a strategy of the german federal ministry of food, agriculture and consumer protection on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries. This section introduces a range of climatesmart agriculture csa practices and technologies within seven entry points for csa.
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