CA-CoP CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
for sustainable
production intensification
Alert No. 23 (24 July 2012)
1. The 20th Aapresid Congress will be held from 8-10 August 2012, Rosario, Argentina
For more information visit the congress site at http://www.20si.org.ar/
2. No-Till Conservation Agriculture Conference 2012
This conference entitled “Make the Move Towards Sustainable Agriculture
in 2012” will be held at Drakensville Holiday Resort 4, 5, & 6 September 2012, KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa. For more information
contact: Sandra Findlay, No-Till
Club, P O Box 526, Hilton, 3245 KwaZulu-Natal, SA. email: [log in to unmask]
Telephone 033-330-2062; Cell:
082-472-5987; Fax: 086-579-6926
3. International Conference to mark 20 years of work on CA in China, 25-27 October 2012 at Linfen, Shanxi
2012 is the 20th year of work on Conservation Agriculture in the People’s Republic of China. Conservation Tillage Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture (CTRC), China Agricultural University (CAU), the Shanxi Agricultural Mechanization Bureau (SAMB), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering (CSAE) will organize an international conference from 25-27 October 2012 at Linfen, Shanxi, China, to mark 20 years of work on CA in China. The announcement for the Conference and Call for Papers is attached and more details can be found at: http://www.cn-ct.net/donet/english/En_index.aspx (or http://www.cn-ct.net/)
4. Third International Agronomy Congress on “Agriculture Diversification, Climate Change Management and Livelihoods” at New Delhi during November 26–30, 2012
The Indian Society of Agronomy in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS), New Delhi shall be organizing the Third International Agronomy Congress on “Agriculture Diversification, Climate Change Management and Livelihoods”, at New Delhi during November 26–30, 2012. The first & Second circular of the Congress are available on Indian Society of Agronomy (ISA) website: www.isa-india.in. (Copy of the second circular is attached for ready reference). The theme of the Congress will be addressed through 10 symposia, of which one pertains to “Best management practices with conservation agriculture”
5. Third International Conference on Conservation Agriculture in South East Asia, Hanoi, 10-15 December 2012.
CIRAD and NOMAFSI as part of the Conservation Agriculture Network for Southeast Asia (CANSEA) and the University of Queensland are delighted to invite scientists, development and extension workers, policy-makers, and graduate / post-graduate students to attend and contribute to the 3rd International Conference on Conservation Agriculture in Southeast Asia which will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam on 10th-15th December 2012. Conference title is: "Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Upland Livelihood : Innovations for, with and by Farmers to Adapt to Local and Global Changes". Attached is the Call for Papers, with more information is available at www.conservation-agriculture2012.org
6. The next Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association (ACTFA) conference will be in Toowoomba, Queensland on 25 - 27 February 2013.
The program will:
· present papers from growers, scientists, machinery and technology people from around the world and showcase Australian innovations
· include field trips to grain and vegetable farms, two dinners and much discussion time
· develop proposals for future cooperation, interaction and innovation
· offer a post Conference tour in Queensland.
To express your interest and to be kept informed please click here and complete the brief Expression of Interest
form as
soon as possible
Contact:
Sally Brown
On behalf of the CTF 2013 Organising Committee
Conference Connections
PO Box 108 Kenmore QLD 4069 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3201 2808 Fax +61 7 3201 2809
Mobile 0407 178 200
Email sally.brown@sallybcc .com.au
www.conferenceconnections.com.au
7. Conservation Farming Unit in Zambia has a new website at: conservationagriculture.org
8. Effect of no-till cropping systems on soil organic matter in a sandy clay loam Acrisol from Southern Brazil monitored by electron spin resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance. By CimeÂlio Bayer, Ladislau Martin-Netob, JoaÄo Mielniczuk, Carlos Alberto Ceretta. Soil & Tillage Research 53 (2000) 95-104.
9. Changes of surface, fine pore and variable charge properties of a brown forest soil under various tillage practices. By Grzegorz Józefaciuk, AttilaMuranyi, AlicjaSzatanik-Kloc, CsillaFarkas, Csaba Gyuricza. Soil & Tillage Research 59 (2001) 127-135.
10. Soil enzyme activities suggest advantages of conservation tillage practices in sorghum cultivation under subtropical conditions. By A. Roldána, J.R. Salinas-Garcíab, M.M. Alguacila, E. Díazc, F. Caravaca. Geoderma 129 (2005) 178– 185.
11. Conservation agriculture for small holder rainfed farming: Opportunities and constraints of new mechanized seeding systems. By C. Johansen, M.E. Haque, R.W. Bell, C. Thierfelder, R.J. Esdaile. Field Crops Research (2012) doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2011.11.026.
12. Global warming potential of agricultural systems with contrasting tillage andresidue management in the central highlands of Mexico. By Luc Dendooven, Leonardo Patiño-Zúñiga, Nele Verhulst, Marco Luna-Guido, Rodolfo Marsch, Bram Govaerts. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 152 (2012) 50– 58.
13. Greenhouse gas emissions under conservation agriculture compared to traditional cultivation of maize in the central highlands of Mexico. By Luc Dendooven, Vicente F. Gutiérrez-Oliva, Leonardo Patiño-Zúñiga, Daniel A. Ramírez-Villanueva, Nele Verhulst, Marco Luna-Guido, Rodolfo Marsch, Joaquín Montes-Molina, Federico A. Gutiérrez-Miceli, Soledad Vásquez-Murrieta, Bram Govaerts. Science of the Total Environment 431 (2012) 237–244.
14. Medium-term effects of conservation agriculture based cropping systems for sustainable soil and water management and crop productivity in the Ethiopian highlands. By Tesfay Araya, Wim M. Cornelis, Jan Nyssen, Bram Govaerts, Fekadu Getnet, Hans Bauer,Kassa Amare, Dirk Raes, Mitiku Haile, Jozef Deckers. Field Crops Research 132 (2012) 53–62.
15. Benefits and challenges of crop rotations in maize-based conservation agriculture (CA) cropping systems of southern Africa. By Christian Thierfelder, Stephanie Cheesman, Leonard Rusinamhodzi. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, DOI:10.1080/14735903.2012.703894. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2012.703894
16. Conservation Agriculture in mixed crop–livestock systems: Scoping crop residue trade-offs in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. By Diego Valbuena, Olaf Erenstein, Sabine Homann-Kee Tui, Tahirou Abdoulaye, Lieven Claessens, Alan J. Duncan, Bruno Gérard, Mariana C. Rufino, Nils Teufel, André van Rooyen, Mark T. van Wijk. Field Crops Research 132 (2012) 175–184.
17. Soil Carbon Sequestration by Switchgrass and No-Till Maize Grown for Bioenergy. By Ronald F. Follett, Kenneth P. Vogel, Gary E. Varvel, Robert B. Mitchell, John Kimble. Bioenerg. Res. DOI 10.1007/s12155-012-9198-y.
18. Soil properties governing soil erosion affected by cropping systems in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. By Guanglong Feng, Brenton Sharratt, Frank Young. Soil & Tillage Research 111 (2011) 168–174. doi:10.1016/j.still.2010.09.008.
19. Influence of long-term tillage and crop rotations on soil hydraulic properties in the US Pacific Northwest. By G. Feng, B. Sharratt, and F. Young. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation July/August 2011, Vol. 66(4): 233-241.
20. No-Till Crops Can Improve Air Quality in the Pacific Northwest. By Brenton Sharrat. Agricultural Research l July 2012, page 19.
21. Conservation Agriculture for smallholders in Bangladesh. ACIAR South Asia Newsletter April 2012.
22. Two Wheel Tractor Newsletter July 2012. Produced by R. Jeff Esdaile, Ag. Consultant, Tamworth NSW Australia.
23. Laying foundations to create productive and sustainable cropping systems in Asia
The third offering of the advance course-Asia “Conservation Agriculture: Gateway for Productive and Sustainable Cropping Systems” began at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, India, on 28 May 2012. The advanced, two-week course (May 28-June 9) was organized jointly by CIMMYT, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) Punjab Hub, and PAU. Participants came from backgrounds in agronomy, soil science, engineering, plant breeding, and plant pathology, and included representatives from Iran, Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, and India. More information available in CIMMYT e-informa 1799, 15-22 June 2012.
24. 'Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases: Coordinated Agricultural Research through GRACEnet to Address our Changing Climate'. Edited by Mark A. Liebig, Alan J. Franzluebbers and Ronald F. Follet. Academic Press. 2012.
25. Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils. Edited by Alessandro Piccolo. Springer. 2012. http://www.springer.com/chemistry/organic+chemistry/book/978-3-642-23384-5?cm_mmc=event-_-bookAuthor-_-congratulation-_-0&cm_mmc=EVENT-_-BookAuthorEmail-_-
26. Up-dated Conservation Agriculture Data Base in AquaStat, FAO
The CA land area data base has been updated based on the feedback received from our regular sources of information and has been posted in AquaStat. The latest figures can be seen at the FAO CA-Website at (http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/6c.html).
However, updating of the data base is an ongoing process, and anyone who would like to provide information on the land area under CA systems at the national level is most welcome to do anytime. Ideally, we would appreciate receiving the CA area information at the sub-national level, together with any relevant historical information on adoption, cropping pattern, farm size, agro-ecology, constraints, etc.
For the recording of area under CA, please adhere to the quantification of the CA definition on the FAO-CA website: http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/6c.html
1. Minimum Soil Disturbance: Minimum soil disturbance refers to low disturbance no-tillage and direct seeding. The disturbed area must be less than 15 cm wide or less than 25% of the cropped area (whichever is lower). There should be no periodic tillage that disturbs a greater area than the aforementioned limits. Strip tillage is allowed if the disturbed area is less than the set limits.
2. Organic soil cover: Three categories are distinguished: 30-60%, >60-90% and >90% ground cover, measured immediately after the direct seeding operation. Area with less than 30% cover is not considered as CA.
3. Crop rotation/association: Rotations/associations should involve at least 3 different crops. However, repetitive wheat or maize cropping is not an exclusion factor for the purpose of this data collection, but rotation/association is recorded where practiced.
We would further like to stress that the database counts actual land area under annual crops with CA (permanent no-till). Area under perennial crops will be recorded separately. No-till area by crop will not be recorded to avoid double recording of the same land area.
Amir Kassam
Moderator
CA-CoP
Plant Production and Protection Division
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale
delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome
Italy
Tel: +39-06-5705-6375
URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca
Save and Grow
Sustainable Crop Production Intensification
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