CA-CoP CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

for sustainable production intensification


Alert No. 33 (13 February 2014)
 

1.      Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture (ACCA-1), 18-21 March 2014, Lusaka Zambia. Registration now open

 

Purpose of the First African Congress for Conservation Agriculture (1st ACCA) is to bring together key CA stakeholders, including farmers and their organizations, from the continent to interact and co-own a permanent CA knowledge and information sharing platform that takes into account the needs of farmers and for increased benefits from CA technologies.


Themes:

i. Growing more with less – the future of sustainable intensification

ii. Weather proofing agriculture - the adaption of farming practices to address climate variability

iii. Increasing Conservation Agriculture adoption - how innovative technology and approaches can drive greater adoption of conservation systems around the world


Register at:

http://act-africa.org/events.php?com=68&com2=67&item=109#.Ud0UPaxp0xF

 

For more information: Contact: [log in to unmask]

 

2.      Green Carbon Conference, 1-3 April 2014, Brussels, Belgium

 

The Conference is jointly organized by the European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF), and the French Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAD) and promoted by the Life + AGRICARBON project.

 

The Conference website with further details is given at: www.greencarbon-ca.eu

 

3.      6th World Congress of Conservation Agriculture to be held June 22-26, 2014, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

 

The 6th World Congress of Conservation Agriculture will be held June 22-26, 2014, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Learn more at www.ctic.org/WCCA 


The 6th WCCA announces registration is now open at:

https://www.ctic.org/registration/22/step/0/  

 

Concurrent session tracks will explore the following areas of conservation agriculture:

 

Track 1:     Growing with less – the future of sustainable intensification

Track 2:     Weatherproofing agriculture – the adaptation of farming practices to address climate variability

Track 3:     Increasing conservation adoption – how innovative technology and approaches can drive greater adoption of conservation systems around the world.

 

Direct your inquiries to:

Karen A. Scanlon

Conservation Technology Information Center

3495 Kent Avenue, Suite J100

West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA

Tel: 765-494-2238

Fax: 765-463-4106

Email: [log in to unmask]

 

4.      Regional Conference on Conservation Agriculture for Smallholders in Asia and Africa, Bangladesh, 7-11 December 2014.

Please visit:  http://www.scac2014.org/

Contact:
Dr. Md. Enamul Haque ([log in to unmask])
Dr Richard W Bell ([log in to unmask])

 

5.      Why do we need to standardize no-tillage research? By Rolf Derpsch et al. Soil & Tillage Research 137 (2014): 16-24 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2013.10.002)

 

6.      No-till in northern, western and south-western Europe: A review of problems and opportunities for crop production and the environment. By B.D.Soane et al. Soil & Tillage Research 118 (2012): 66-87 (doi:10.1016/j.still.2011.10.015)

 

7.      The farm-level economics of conservation agriculture for resource-poor farmers. By David Pannell et al. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. (2013) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.10.014)

 

8.      Improvement of soil carbon sink by cover crops in olive orchards under semiarid conditions. Influence of the type of soil and weed. By F. Marquez-Garcia et al. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research 2013 11(2): 335-346 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2013112-3558)

 

9.      Understanding the impact and adoption of conservation agriculture in Africa: A multi-scale analysis. By Marc Corbeels et al. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. (2013)  (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.10.011)

 

10.  A fourth principle is required to define Conservation Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: The appropriate use of fertilizer to enhance crop productivity. By B. Vanlauwe et al. Field Crops Research (2013) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.10.002)

 

11.  Food Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity: The Role of Agricultural Technologies. By Mark Rosegrant et al. International Food Policy Research Institute. Washington, DC

 

12.  LIFE & Soil Protection. By European Commission Environmnet Director-General.

 

13.  Made in Bangladesh: Scale Appropriate Machinery for Agricultural Resource Conservation. Timothy Krupnik et al. CIMMYT, Mexico.

 

14.  Up-dating Conservation Agriculture Data Base in AquaStat, FAO  

The CA land area data base is updated periodically based on the feedback received from our regular sources of information and is posted in AquaStat. The latest figures can be seen at the FAO CA-Website at (http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/6c.html).

 

We are updating the CA land area data base displayed in AquaStat (www.fao.org/ag/ca), and are contacting our regular sources of information in the next few weeks. However, anyone else who would like to provide information on the land area under CA systems at the national level would be most welcome.

 

Ideally, we would appreciate receiving from you the CA area information at the sub-national level (by state, province or region), together with any relevant historical information on adoption (such as when was CA introduced; duration under CA – x ha under 3 yrs, y ha between 3 and 6 yrs, z ha more than 6 yrs), cropping pattern, farm size, agro-ecology, constraints, etc.   

 

For the recording purpose please adhere to the reference 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 for seeding 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. Area under strip tillage can be included only if the disturbed area is less than the above set limits.

 

2. Maintenance of organic soil cover: Three categories are distinguished: 30-60%, >60-90% and >90% ground cover, measured immediately after the direct seeding/planting operation. For this data base, area with less than 30% cover is not considered as being under CA.

 

3. Crop rotation/association: Rotation/association should involve at least 3 different crops. However, repetitive wheat or maize or rice cropping that meets requirements 1 and 2 above 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). No-till area by crop will not be recorded to avoid double recording of the same land area.

Area under perennial crop systems including orchards and permanent pastures will be recorded separately. If there is CA land area under perennial crop systems in the country, please include the information as separate categories at the sub-national level (by state, province or region), together with any relevant historical information on adoption (such as when was CA introduced; duration under CA – x ha under 3 yrs, y ha between 3 to 6 yrs, z ha more than 6 yrs), cropping pattern, farm size, agro-ecology, constraints, etc.

 

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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