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Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Fri, 21 Oct 2016 05:38:20 +0100
text/plain (7 kB) , text/html (26 kB) , image.png (17 kB)
*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*

*for sustainable production intensification and land management*

Dear Subscribers,

Please see herebelow the link describing the Kleckner Award that Maria
“Pilu” Giraudo has received for her work in promoting no-till agriculture
(Conservation Agriculture) in Argentina.

Our warmest congratulations to 'Pilu' for this well-deserved recognition.

Thanks you Don for sharing.

*Amir Kassam *

*Moderator*

e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca

[image: Inline image 1]
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Don Reicosky <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, Oct 20, 2016 at 4:52 PM
Subject: Article on Maria

To all,

See the link below describing the award that Maria earned in utilizing
no-till. She received the Kleckner Award, an annual recognition given by
 Global Farmer Network to a farmer who shows leadership and vision, for her
work in promotion of no-till agriculture in Argentina.

Don



https://muearth.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/argentine-farmer-
fights-for-no-till-agriculture-wins-kleckner-award/


Argentine farmer fights for no-till agriculture, wins Kleckner Award
<https://muearth.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/argentine-farmer-fights-for-no-till-agriculture-wins-kleckner-award/>
Posted on October 12, 2016
<https://muearth.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/argentine-farmer-fights-for-no-till-agriculture-wins-kleckner-award/>
by muddybootsnews <https://muearth.wordpress.com/author/muddybootsnews/>
[image: maria]

Maria “Pilu” Giraudo, third from left, and 13 other farmers from around the
world visited an Iowa corn and soybean farm on Tuesday morning and learned
about the farm’s cover cropping and soil management practices. (Photo by
Maria Kalaitzandonakes)

By Maria Kalaitzandonakes

DES MOINES, Iowa — About 40 years ago Maria “Pilu” Giraudo’s father began
to notice his soil eroding. He and neighboring farmers tried tirelessly to
reverse the damage. After some years and many, many trials and advice he
reduced and then stopped tilling, rejuvenating the tired soil. Yesterday,
Giraudo received the Kleckner Award, an annual recognition given by  Global
Farmer Network <http://globalfarmernetwork.org/> to a farmer who shows
leadership and vision, for her work in promotion of no-till agriculture in
Argentina.

Tilling, digging rows into the soil by hand or with machinery, is an
age-old method used by most of the world’s farmers, but agricultural
advocates like Giraudo are attempting to change this practice and trade it
in for something more sustainable. No-till farming may be that mtehod.
Farmers can grow crops without disturbing fields and incorporate the
leftovers from the last harvested crops.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service
said in a no-till farming practice report
<http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/135319/eib70_reportsummary.pdf> published in
2010 that tillage practices reduce the soil’s carbon levels, increase water
pollution and increase farmer’s energy and pesticide use.

Giraudo is a fifth generation farmer from central Argentina. She and her
family produce soybeans, wheat, barley, sorghum and livestock on 9,800
acres. As an agronomist, she consults with farmers who collectively own
about 50,000 acres in Argentina. In June, she took her fight from the farms
to the government when she accepted a new role coordinating policies for
sustainable development in the Ministry of Agroindustry for Argentina.

“When you become a farmer you realize that you have a responsibility and a
commitment not just to produce food, but also to take care of
the environment and human health,” Giraudo said. “We need to use all the
tools to help us meet this commitment. No-till is crucial not only for this
generation, but for the next generation; It interrupts the cycle of
soil deterioration.”

Farmer and Missouri Department of Agriculture Director, Richard Fordyce,
said using no-till practices is often a financial decision, as are most
choices on the farm. No-till means less gas used going over the fields,
less time tilling and less expensive inputs to replace nutrients in the
soil. The Conservation Technology Information Center
<http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/CTIC%20HOME/>, an organization that works with
more than 100 universities, reported that no-till or minimal tillage saves
farmers an average 3.5 gallons of fuel per acre.

Fordyce converted his soybean and corn farm in Bethany, Missouri to no-till
about 15 years ago.

“The proof is in the pudding — or in the fields I guess,” Fordyce
said. “There soil is healthier and there is less nutrient-rich soil
particles being washed away and causing problems.”

No-till is just one of the sustainable practices that Giraudo encourages
farmers to use: cover cropping, crop rotation and integrated pest and
weed management plans are important and cost effective ways to maintain
fertile soils and protect the surrounding environment, she said.

“We want everyone to join us in the commitment to this mission,”
Giraudo said.

When her father changed his fields over to no-till, “many thought he was
mad,” Giraudo laughed, remembering. But now, many farmers are beginning to
see no-till as a route for soil recovery in physical, biological and
chemical ways.  According to a study
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095633915300101> published
in International Soil and Water Conservation Research in 2014,  which
looked at the changes in Argentine soil practice,  no-till farming went
from from just a few hundred thousand hectares in 1990 to more than 23
million hectares, or around 79 percent of the grain cropped area in 2010.
Much of this change is attributed to the Argentina No Till Farmers
Association <BLOCKEDaapresid[.]org[.]ar/BLOCKED>, an organization that Giraudo was
president of until April and has over 3,000 members.
[image: maria2]

Maria “Pilu”Giraudo was the 10th winner of the annual Kleckner award.
(Photo by Maria Kalaitzandonakes)
Receiving the Kleckner Award and learning from the Borlaug Dialogues and
the Global Farmer Roundtable has fortified Giraudo’s belief in her
mission.“This award makes me stronger, gives me a lot of energy and I have
one more thing I can show to convince people from every part of the world
to work together and change things,” Giraudo said.
-- 
Don Reicosky
Morris, MN USA 56267
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Cell Phone 320-287-2314
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