Global CA-CoP CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

for sustainable agriculture, land use and ecosystem management


Dear Subscribers,

Please see herebelow the August 2021 Conservation Agriculture Scoopit Research Update from Cornell.

Thank you Professor Hobbs.

 

Amir Kassam

Moderator

Global CA-CoP

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

URL: http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture

URL: http://www.act-africa.org/

URL: https://ecaf.org/
URL:
http://www.caa-ap.org/



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Peter Hobbs <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2021 at 14:54
Subject: August CA Scoopit newsletter
To: Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>


Dear Amir: Here is our August 2021 Conservation Agriculture Scoopit Research Update. You can also view online at https://www.scoop.it/topic/conservation-agriculture-by-conservation-ag?curate=true&null 
Can you send this out to people who get your listserv material? The hard copy is below.

An easier link to see all the research papers on CA is as follows:

Also, visit our main website at http://soilhealth.org for news and other CA information. Note you can see all the Scoopit newsletter entries by going to this web site and clicking the "CA Research Highlights" tab on the right side of the opening page. This month's entries are copied below.

Many thanks for helping to distribute this. Peter

Powered by Scoop.it
This paper provides information to society and decision-makers about the effectiveness of the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) principles with zero tillage (ZT/CA) and integrated crop-livestock-forest (iCLF-CA) systems to mitigate soil erosion, the main agent of land degradation and productivity loss in Brazil. They estimate the potential loss by soil erosion with CT to be 3 billion tons in 2017. The economic impact, based only on replacement of nutrient losses, is estimated to be 15.7 billion US$ yr(-1). They conclude that the annual economic impact of the adoption of CA principles by controlling soil erosion was estimated at 1.5 billion US$ for ZT/CA in 2017. They also suggest the positive impacts of the adoption of CA principles in Brazil are the result of the determination of farmers, among many actors, and of the effectiveness of government plans and policies.
This study looks at Pearl Millet (PM) and mustard (IM), two important dryland crops in India, with the objective to improve the soil quality, productivity of the system and make it more profitable by shifting from traditional to an innovative conservation agriculture (CA) farming system. The study was conducted on a rainy season PM based system with four dry winter season crops, IM and three legume crops- chickpea (CP), fieldpea (FP) and lentil (L) under two methods of land levelling viz. conventional (CLL) and precision laser-assisted land levelling (PLL), and three tillage and seed sowing (TSS) methods- conventional tillage (CT), zero tillage (ZT) and permanent raised broad bed- furrow (PBBF). They conclude that the TSS method with PBBF in conjunction PLL system was more productive and economically profitable, and would improve soil quality and save resources.
This paper reports on the residue dynamics in a 12-year experiment (2007–2018) in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, comparing rotations that included: cereal (cereal/cereal/cereal); diverse (wheat/legume/canola); farmer (wheat/barley/break – legume or fallow); and wheat monoculture. Crop residue was either spread behind the harvester (retain) or windrowed at harvest and burnt before seeding (windrow burn). Within rotations, residue quantity was highest with retained residue in the cereal rotation and wheat monoculture, averaging 5.0 t ha−1 prior to seeding, which could present management problems at seeding time in some years. Residue quantity was reduced to optimal levels by including legume crops or canola in the rotation, as these residues were more rapidly broken down than cereal residues, whilst maintaining residue retention practices.
This meta-analysis reviewed experimental results (32 field studies) obtained throughout the Pampas Region in Argentina focused on the immediate effects and duration of soil mechanical alleviation measured by relevant soil physical properties and by the impact on maize and soybean yield. Treatments were a) Control (no tilled soils), and b) Subsoiled (no tilled soil subjected to mechanical compaction alleviation by deep non-inversion tillage). Soil compaction alleviation works had a durability of not more than 17 months (±2.8 months) after being performed. They conclude that deep non-inversion tillage could be a promising practice to close rainfed crop yield gaps in the region. But due to its low durability in time, further compaction prevention and structural regeneration practices such as cover crops, diversified crop rotations and controlled traffic will be needed
This study uses an endogenous switching regression model to a nationally representative sample of 1901 wheat fields in Morocco to analyze the impacts of partial or full adoption of all three components of the CA system. Model results show that adoption of the complete CA system leads to 307 kg/ha (35 %) higher yields, US$99/ha (44 %) higher gross margins, and 23 kg/capita/year (38 %) more consumption of wheat relative to the conventional system. Adopting only two of the 3 pillars also leads to improved livelihood indicators compared to adoption of only one or none of the pillars. But adoption of one pillar is better than none. They conclude transition from the conventional system to CA requires the following: (1) flexibility to let farmers incrementally adopt one or more of the CA components, learn at their own pace, use some of the benefits, and improve it over time to exploit the full potential of the CA system with close follow-up and technical support from experts and extension specialists; and (2) sustained policy and institutional supports that provide incentives for farmers to adopt and for the private sector to be actively involved, especially in service provision.
This paper concerns issues of weeds in direct seeded rice (DSR) rather than no-till rice, but had some interesting results. They suggest that DSR can save water, labor, energy, reduce GHG's and improve soil properties so would be an important management system for rice in the future. However, weed control is essential to achieve high yield and resource efficiencies. Herbicides are one solution, but efficacy is influenced by weed species present. This study evaluated pre- and post-emergent herbicides on weeds, crops, economics, water productivity and nutrient efficiencies. Results showed treatments reduced weeds by 68-84% compared to an unweeded control. Net returns were also positive and even better than a weed free control. They concluded that integrating herbicide use with brown manuring and hand weeding was the best practice. In the brown manuring treatment, Sesbania aculeata was broadcast in the rows between the line sown rice, with this legume killed using 2,4 D after 28 days after seeding.
This study in Finland looked at soil physical, chemical and biological properties, erosion and carbon allocation to soil physical fractions between CT and NT at a clay soil site after 10 years. After 10 years various soil properties and earthworm total density, mass and species richness were determined. Total soil erosion was 56 % less in NT than in CT although surface water discharge was higher in NT. NT had a clear effect on the topsoil physical structure by decreasing the pore size and increasing soil aggregate size. This paper didn't mention residue management. The results showed that NT is an effective method to reduce erosion rates but other means to increase carbon input especially below the topsoil layer are likely required to achieve a significant increase in the carbon stock of boreal clay soils.
This interesting paper looks at the use of digital tools to allow farmers to access mechanization using the Uber model. This service provider provision for smallholder farmers was compared in India and Nigeria. How does it work in practice? And what is its potential to reduce the transaction costs of tractor service provision, both for tractor owners and for smallholders who use tractor services? For the empirical analysis, a mixed-methods approach was applied involving approximately 400 respondents and comprising net-maps (a participatory mapping tool), focus group discussions, interviews with tractor owners and other stakeholders, and a survey among farmers. Overall, the paper shows that Uber for tractors is a pioneering concept, but investment in enabling conditions, such as digital literacy and network coverage, is required to harness the full potential of such digital innovations for smallholder farmers in the developing world.





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