Recent trends in

conservation agriculture
About conservation agriculture
Conservation agriculture(CA) technologies involve
minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover
through crop residues or cover crops and crop rotations
for a achieving higher productivity.(suraj Bhan et al.,
(2014))

Conservation agriculture is a concept for resource-

saving agricultural crop production that strives to
achieve acceptable profits together with high and
sustained production levels, while concurrently
conserving the environment.(R.Nagarajan et al., 2013)
Agriculture is the production of crops, changes
in the pest and weed management become
necessary with conservation agriculture.
Burning plant residues and ploughing the soil
is mainly considered necessary for
phytosanitary reasons : to control pests,
diseases and weeds. In a system with reduced
mechanical tillage based on mulch cover and
biological tillage alternatives have to be
developed to control pests and weeds.
OBJECTIVES OF CONSERVATION
AGRICULTURE
o 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.
o It contributes to environmental conservation as
well as to enhanced and sustained agricultural
production. It can also be referred to as resource
efficient or resource effective agriculture(FAO).
Number of advantages on global,
regional, local and farm level:
• It provides a truly sustainable production system, not only conserving but
also enhancing the natural resources and increasing the variety of soil biota,
fauna and flora (including wild life) in agricultural production systems without
sacrificing yields on high production levels. As CA depends on biological
processes to work, it enhances the biodiversity in an agricultural production
system on a micro- as well as macro level.

• No till fields act as a sink for CO2 and conservation farming applied on a
global scale could provide a major contribution to control air pollution in
general and global warming in particular. Farmers applying this practice could
eventually be rewarded with carbon credits.•
Contd..
Conservation agriculture is by no means a low output
agriculture and allows yields comparable with modern
intensive agriculture but in a sustainable way.
Yields tend to increase over the years with yield
variations decreasing.
For the farmer, conservation farming is mostly
attractive because it allows a reduction of the
production costs, reduction of time and labour,
particularly at times of peak demand such as land
preparation and planting and in mechanized systems it
reduces the costs of investment and maintenance of
machinery in the long term.
Soil tillage
Soil tillage is among all farming operations the single most
energy consuming and thus, in mechanized agriculture, air-
polluting operation. By not tilling the soil, farmers can save
between 30 and 40% of time, labour and, in mechanized
agriculture, fossil fuels as compared to conventional cropping.
 Soils under CA have very high water infiltration capacities
reducing surface runoff and thus soil erosion significantly.
This improves the quality of surface water reducing pollution
from soil erosion, and enhances groundwater resources.
In many areas it has been observed after some years of
conservation farming that natural springs that had dried up many
years ago, started to flow again.
The potential effect of a massive adoption of conservation
farming on global water balances is not yet fully recognized.
Disadvantages
o High initial costs of specialized planting equipment
and the completely new dynamics of a conservation
farming system, requiring high management skills and
a learning process by the farmer.
o Long term experience with conservation farming all
over the world has shown that conservation farming
does not present more or less but different problems to
a farmer, all of them capable of being resolved.
o Particularly in Brazil the area under conservation
farming is now growing exponentially having already
reached the 10 million hectare mark. Also in North
America the concept is widely adopted.
Principles of conservation agriculture

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.
The three principles of conservation
agriculture include:
• Direct planting of crop seeds
• Permanent soil cover, especially by crop
residues and cover crops
• Crop rotation
Direct seeding or planting

Direct seeding involves growing crops

without mechanical seedbed preparation and
with minimal soil disturbance since the
harvest of the previous crop.
Planting refers to the precise placing of large
seeds (maize and beans for example), whereas
seeding usually refers to a continuous flow of
seed as in the case of small cereals (wheat and
barley for example).
Contd…
Land preparation for seeding or planting
under no-tillage involves slashing or rolling
the weeds, previous crop residues or cover
crops or spraying herbicides for weed control,
and seeding directly through the mulch.
Crop residues are retained either completely
or to a suitable amount to guarantee the
complete soil cover, and fertilizer and
amendments are either broadcast on the soil
surface or applied during seeding.
MINIMAL SOIL DISTURBANCE
Zero-tillage minimizes time for establishing
a crop. The time required for tillage can also
delay timely planting of crops, with
subsequent reductions in yield potential (
Hobbs & Gupta ,2003).
Tillage and current agricultural practices
result in the decline of soil organic matter
due to increased oxidation over time, leading
to soil degradation, loss of soil biological
fertility and resilience (Lal ,1994).
Contd…

The role of surface residues on water conservation and

indicates that this association between surface residues,
enhanced water infiltration and evaporation led to the
adoption of conservation tillage after the 1930s dust
bowl problem (Unger et al. (1988)
Infiltration of water under longterm (8–10 years)
conservation tillage (zero and sub-surface tillage with
residue retention) was higher compared to conventional
tillage (frequent plowing plus no residue retention) on a
grey cracking clay and a sandy loam soil in south-
eastern Australia (Bissett & O'Leary (1996).
Permanent soil cover
A permanent soil cover is important :
To protect the soil against the deleterious effects of
exposure to rain and sun.
To provide the micro and macro organisms in the
soil with a constant supply of "food“.
Alter the microclimate in the soil for optimal
growth and development of soil organisms,
including plant roots.
Cover crops need to be managed before planting
the main crop. The important point is that the soil is
always kept covered. (FAO).
Contd…

The review concluded that crop residues of cultivated

crops are a significant factor for crop production
through their effects on soil physical, chemical and
biological functions as well as water and soil quality.
They can have both positive and negative effects, and
the role of agricultural scientists is to enhance the
positive effects. (Kumar & Goh (2000)
The energy of raindrops falling on a bare soil result in
destruction of soil aggregates, clogging of soil pores
and rapid reduction in water infiltration with resulting
run-off and soil erosion.
Contd…
Non Tillage plus mulch reduces surface
soil crusting, increases water infiltration,
reduces run-off and gives higher yield
than tilled soils (Cassel et al. 1995;
Thierfelder et al. 2005).
Effects of soil cover
• Improved infiltration and retention of soil
moisture resulting in less severe, less prolonged
crop water stress and increased availability of
plant nutrients.
• Source of food and habitat for diverse soil life:
creation of channels for air and water,
biological tillage and substrate for biological
activity through the recycling of organic matter
and plant nutrients.
• Increased humus formation.
Contd….
• Reduction of impact of rain drops on soil
surface resulting in reduced crusting and surface
sealing.
• Consequential reduction of runoff and erosion.
• Soil regeneration is higher than soil
degradation.
• Mitigation of temperature variations on and in
the soil.
• Better conditions for the development of roots
and seedling growth.
Crop rotations

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.
Nutrients that have been leached to deeper
layers and that are no longer available for the
commercial crop, can be "recycled" by the
crops in rotation.
Effects of crop rotation
• Higher diversity in plant production and
thus in human and livestock nutrition.
• Reduction and reduced risk of pest and
weed infestations.
• Greater distribution of channels or
biopores created by diverse roots (various
forms, sizes and depths).
• Better distribution of water and nutrients
through the soil profile.
Contd…
• Exploration for nutrients and water of diverse
strata of the soil profile by roots of many
different plant species resulting in a greater use
of the available nutrients and water.
• Increased nitrogen fixation through certain
plant-soil biota symbionts and improved
balance of N/P/K from both organic and
mineral sources.
• Increased humus formation.
Advantages of Conservation Agriculture

• Economic benefits that improve

production efficiency.
• Agronomic benefits that improve soil
productivity.
• Environmental and social benefits that
protect the soil and make agriculture
more sustainable.
Economic benefits
Three major economic benefits can result
from CA adoption:
• Time saving and thus reduction in labour
requirement.
• Reduction of costs, e.g. fuel, machinery
operating costs and maintenance, as well as
a reduced labour cost.
• Higher efficiency in the sense of more
output for a lower input.
 Agronomic benefits
Adopting conservation agriculture leads to
improvement of soil productivity:

• Organic matter increase.

• In-soil water conservation.
• Improvement of soil structure, and thus
rooting zone.
The constant addition of crop residues leads to an
increase in the organic matter content of the soil.
In the beginning this is limited to the top layer of
the soil, but with time this will extend to deeper
soil layers.
Organic matter plays an important role in the soil:
fertilizer use efficiency, water holding capacity,
soil aggregation, rooting environment and
nutrient retention, all depend on organic matter.
Environmental benefits:

• Reduction in soil erosion, and thus of road,

dam and hydroelectric power plant
maintenance costs.
• Improvement of water quality.
• Improvement of air quality.
• Biodiversity increase.
• Carbon sequestration.
Residues on the soil surface reduce the splash-
effect of the raindrops, and once the energy of
the raindrops has dissipated the drops proceed
to the soil without any harmful effect.
This results in higher infiltration and reduced
runoff, leading to less erosion.
The residues also form a physical barrier that
reduces the speed of water and wind over the
surface.
Reduction of wind speed reduces evaporation
of soil moisture.
Soil erosion fills surface water reservoirs with
sediment, reducing water storage capacity.
More water infiltrates into the soil with
conservation agriculture rather than running off the
soil surface.
Greater infiltration should reduce flooding, by
causing more water storage in soil and slow release
to streams.
Infiltration also recharges groundwater, and thus
increasing well supplies and revitalizing dried up
springs.
Maintaining soil cover will reduce erosion with
the consequent loss of soil fertility, soil
compaction, and, eventually, landscape change.
(A. Calegari).
One aspect of conventional agriculture is its
ability to change the landscape. The destruction of
the vegetative cover affects the plants, animals
and micro-organisms.
The rotation of crops and cover crops restrains the
loss of genetic biodiversity, which is favoured
with mono-cropping.
During the first years of implementing
conservation agriculture the organic matter
content of the soil is increased through the
decomposition of roots and the contribution
of vegetative residues on the surface.
This organic material is decomposed slowly,
and much of it is incorporated into the soil
profile, thus the liberation of carbon to the
atmosphere also occurs slowly.
Limitation of conservation agriculture
The most important limitation in all areas
where conservation agriculture is
practiced is the initial lack of knowledge.
Comparisons of zero tillage and reduced tillage for sowing wheat after paddy and in
fallow land
Treatments Av Average Yield Type of weeds
germination grain to ,Q/ha
count per straw
meter ratio
length /No . Of
tillers /plant
1. No tillage 43.00/3.144 1:1.35 34.90 Lamb’s
(paddy - quarter/Chenopodium
wheat) album,Mexican
prickly poppy
(Argemone
mexicane)
2.One discking 57.00/2.34 1:1.95 41.16 Lamb’s
(Paddy-wheat) quarter/Chenopodium
album,
Cynodondactylon
3.No tillage 54.00/2.56 1:0.77 21.32 Canobis sativa,
(Fallow- Tandon Chanopodium album
wheat) &powar
(1985)
Cultivation techniques or tillage

With the advent of the industrial revolution

in the nineteenth century, mechanical power
and tractors became available to undertake
tillage operations; today, an array of
equipment is available for tillage and
agricultural production.
Reasons for using tillage

Tillage was used to soften the soil and prepare a seedbed

that allowed seed to be placed easily at a suitable depth
into moist soil using seed drills or manual equipment.
This results in good uniform seed germination.
Wherever crops grow, weeds also grow and compete for
light, water and nutrients. Every gram of resource used
by the weed is one less gram for the crop. By tilling
their fields, farmers were able to shift the advantage
from the weed to the crop and allow the crop to grow
without competition early in its growth cycle with
resulting higher yield.
Contd….
Tillage helped release soil nutrients needed
for crop growth through mineralization and
oxidation after exposure of soil organic matter
to air.
Previous crop residues were incorporated
along with any soil amendments (fertilizers,
organic or inorganic) into the soil.
Crop residues, especially loose residues,
create problems for seeding equipment by
raking and clogging.
Contd…

Many soil amendments and their nutrients are

more available to roots if they are incorporated
into the soil; some nitrogenous fertilizers are
also lost to the atmosphere if not incorporated.
Tillage gave temporary relief from compaction
using implements that could shatter below-
ground compaction layers formed in the soil.
Tillage was determined to be a critical
management practice for controlling soil-
borne diseases and some insects.
 Laser land leveling
o Animal and tractor drawn levelers are used for leveling the land. Laser land
leveler has been recently introduced and levels the fields in both, x & y
direction very precisely and accurately.

o Precision land leveling helps in uniform application of water; better crop

stands and improves input use efficiency.

o Laser assisted precision land leveling saves irrigation water, nutrient and
agro chemicals.

o It also enhances environmental quality and crop yields.

Conventional agriculture Conservation agriculture

 Cultivating land, using  Least interference with

science and technology to natural processes.
dominate nature  No-till or drastically reduced
 Excessive mechanical tillage(biological tillage)
tillage and soil erosion  Low wind and soil erosion

 High wind and soil erosion  Surface retention of residues

 Residue burning or removal (permanently covered)

 Infiltration rate of water is
(bare surface)
 Water infiltration is low. high.

Difference between conventional and

conservation agriculture
Conventional agriculture Conservation agriculture

 Use of ex-situ FYM/ composts  Use of in- situ organics/composts

 Green manuring  Brown manuring /cover crops

(incorporated). (surface retention)

 Kills established weeds but  Weeds are a problem in the early

also stimulates more weed stages of adoption but decrease

seeds to germinate. with time
 Controlled traffic, compaction in
 Free- wheeling of farm
tramline, no compaction in crop
machinery, increased soil
area
compaction
 Diversified and more efficient
 Mono cropping ,less efficient
rotations.
rotations
Conventional agriculture Conservation agriculture

 Heavy reliance on manual  Mechanized operations,

labor, uncertainty of ensure timeliness of
operations operations.
 Poor adaptation to stresses,  More resilience to stresses,
yield losses greater under yield losses are under stress
stress conditions conditions.
 Productivity gains in long-  Productivity gains in long-
run are in declining order. run are in incremental
order.
These are caused mainly by:
(i) intensive tillage induced soil organic
matter decline, soil structural degradation,
water and wind erosion, reduced water
infiltration rates, surface sealing and
crusting, soil compaction,
(ii) insufficient return of organic material
(iii) mono cropping.