*CA-CoP** **CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE***

*for sustainable production intensification

*

*Alert No. 24 (20 August 2012)

***

*1.      **No-Till Conservation Agriculture Conference, 4-6 September 2012,
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa*



This conference entitled “Make the Move Towards Sustainable Agriculture in
2012” will be held at Drakensville Holiday Resort 4-6 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

**

*2.      **Change of date/venue: **International Conference to mark 20
years of work on CA in
China*<ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/data/agp/Friedrich/CA-CoP-L-24-12-08/CA-China%2020th%20Year-%20announcement.pdf>
*, 19-21 November 2012 at Beijing*



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, different from the initial announcement (see
hyperlink),organize an international conference from 19-21 November
2012 at Beijing,
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/)

 **

*3.      **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”



*

*4.      **Third International Conference on Conservation Agriculture in
South East Asia, Hanoi, 10-15 December 2012.  *



CIRAD<http://www.cirad.fr/en/who-are-we/cirad-worldwide/continental-southeast-asia/in-a-nutshell>
 and NOMAFSI <http://www.nomafsi.com.vn/> as part of the Conservation
Agriculture Network for Southeast Asia (CANSEA <http://cansea.org.vn/>) and
the University of Queensland <http://www.uq.edu.au/> 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

* *

*5.      **T**he next Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association
(ACTFA) conference will be in Toowoomba, Queensland on 25 - 27 February
2013.  ***



To express your interest and to be kept informed *please click
*<https://eir.eventsinteractive.com/ei/getdemo.ei?id=9810008000135&s=_EWS114AHC>
*here*<https://eir.eventsinteractive.com/ei/getdemo.ei?id=9810008000135&s=_EWS114AHC>
*  *and complete the brief Expression of Interest form.

*
Contact*: Sally  Brown (Email
sally.brown@sallybcc<[log in to unmask]>
.com.au <[log in to unmask]>)

On behalf of the ACTFA 2013 Organising Committee* *
www.conferenceconnections.com.au
* ***

*6.      **Agronomic and Economic evaluation of permanent raised beds, no
tillage and straw mulching for an irrigated maize-wheat system in northwest
India*<ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/data/agp/Friedrich/CA-CoP-L-24-12-08/PB_m-w_Hari_Ram_Exp_Agri.pdf>
*. **By *Hari Ram, Yandvinder-Singh, K. S. Saini, D. S. Kler, J. Timsina *and
*E. J. Humphreys. *Expl Agric., *48 (1), pp. 21–38 (2012).
(doi:10.1017/S0014479711000809)**

* *

*7.      **Conservation agriculture in Central Asia—What do we know and
where do we go from
here?*<ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/data/agp/Friedrich/CA-CoP-L-24-12-08/Kienzler%20et%20al.%202012%20CA%20in%20Central%20Asia.pdf>
*By *K.M. Kienzler, J.P.A. Lamers, A. McDonald, A. Mirzabaev, N. Ibragimov,
O. Egamberdiev, E. Ruzibaev *and* A. Akramkhanov. *Field Crops
Research*132 (2012) 95–105 (2012) (doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2011.12.008)



*8.      **Effects of conservation agriculture on soil quality and
productivity in contrasting agro-ecological environments of
Zimbabwe*<ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/data/agp/Friedrich/CA-CoP-L-24-12-08/Effects%20of%20CA%20in%20constrasting%20environments.%20Thierfelder%20and%20Wall.2012.pdf>
*. **By* C. Thierfelder & P. C. Wall.  *Soil Use and Management,* June
2012, 28, 209–220 (2012) (doi: 10.1111/j.1475-2743.2012.00406.x)**

* *

*9.      **Benefits and challenges of crop rotations in maize-based
conservation agriculture (CA) cropping systems of southern
Africa*<ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/data/agp/Friedrich/CA-CoP-L-24-12-08/Rotation%20paper.Thierfelder%20et%20al.%202012.pdf>
*.** **By** *Christian Thierfelder, Stephanie Cheesman  *and* Leonard
Rusinamhodzi. *International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability* (2012)
(DOI:10.1080/14735903.2012.703894). **

* *

*10.  **An On-farm Assessment of Carbon Monitoring and Mapping Scaling Up
in No-Till Fields*<http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/CA-Publications/An_on_Farm_Assessment.pdf>
*.** **By* João Carlos de Moraes Sá, Josiane Burkner dos Santos
*and*Rattan Lal (eds). University
of Ponta Grossa, Brazil and FAO (2012). 58 pp.



*11.  **No-Till Agriculture in Southern
Brazil*<http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap289e/ap289e00.pdf>
*.* *By* Ruy Casão Junior, Augusto Guilherme de Araújo *and* Rafael Fuentes
Llanillo. FAO and IAPAR, Brazil (2012). 77 pp.

* *

*12.  **Two Wheel Tractor Newsletter August
2012*<ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/data/agp/Friedrich/CA-CoP-L-24-12-08/TWO%20WHEEL%20TRACTOR%20NEWSLETTER%20AUGUST%202012.pdf>
*.** *Produced by R. Jeff Esdaile, Ag. Consultant, Tamworth NSW Australia.

* *

*13.  **The CA-technologies database (CATD) has been updated and has a new
design.*  It is accessible at the usual web address through the FAO
CA-webpage at: http://www.fao.org/ag/catd/

 *14.  **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*

* *

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

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca

*Save and Grow*

*Sustainable Crop Production Intensification***

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