Global CA-CoP CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

for sustainable agriculture, land use and ecosystem management


Dear Subscribers,

Please see herebelow the November Cornell CA Scoopit newsletter.

Thank you Professor Hobbs for sharing.

Apologies for any cross-posting.

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, 31 Oct 2021 at 19:21
Subject: November Cornell CA Scoopit newsletter
To: Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>


Dear Amir: Here is our November 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. Please use this link since we had to move our web site to a new server and this links takes you to the CA web site.

Many thanks for helping to distribute this. Peter

Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - November 2021
Powered by Scoop.it
This study assessed the relationships between soil health and cropping system performance for three maize-based cropping systems in New Caledonia. There were two CA systems compared a conventional tillage system: direct seeding into dead mulch (CA-DM) and into a stylo living mulch (CA-LM). Soil health was evaluated using Biofunctool®, a set of ten in-field tools that assess soil carbon transformation, structure maintenance and nutrient cycling functions. Weeds, maize growth and yield components were monitored using a Structual Equation model (SEM). Soil structure maintenance and nutrient cycling functions were higher under CA-DM and CA-LM than under CT, and carbon transformation function was higher under CA-DM than under CT and CA-LM. Overall, the soil health index (SHI) was 1.3-fold higher under CA systems than under CT.
This Ethiopian study assessed the long-term impact of different conservation management systems (CMS) on soil organic carbon (SOC) using the DAYCENT model over a 30 year period. The management systems considered were minimum tillage, crop residue (CR) retention, fertilization and their combinations.Data came from studies in the literature. The alternate systems were compared with the business as usual treatment (BAU). Results showed CMS increased SOC in the 0-20 cm layer compared to BAU. The individual effect of fertilization, CR retention or minimum tillage management practices on SOC stock were lower than the response of the combined conservation management practices. They conclude that the combined 50–75% CR retention, NT, and increased N fertilization have a potential to increase SOC sequestration in resource-limited smallholding croplands. 
This study evaluated in the short-term (7 months) the dynamics of several abiotic and biotic soil parameters under contrasting tillage systems in France. Three tillage systems were investigated: conventional tillage (with the soil inverted up to 25 cm depth) reduced tillage (limited to the first 7–8 cm depth) and no-tillage. Collembola and earthworms were sampled at each plot using standard methods. Abiotic parameters (bulk density, SOC stock, Mean Weight Diameter (MWD) and aggregates size) and microflora (microbial and fungal biomass and their activity) were also monitored and used as explaining factors. They conclude that overall, conservation tillage can foster one of the numerous services provided by the soil compartment, namely the soil biodiversity and therefore improve soil quality and health.
I attached this book information for people interested in CA in Africa. The book will be available in December 2021. Agriculture in Africa today faces major challenges including increased costs, climate change effects and a need for more sustainable production intensification methods. This book looks at Conservation (no-tillage) agriculture as a major alternative sustainable agriculture practice in Africa including its spread to various African countries in the past decade as more development and research has enabled its extension and uptake. The material was presented at the Second Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 9-12 October 2018. The main theme of the Congress was: Making Climate Smart Agriculture Real in Africa with Conservation Agriculture: 
Nepal has enacted an agricultural agenda on mechanization to improve , productivity, address labor scarcity, economic growth and sustainability. Yet Nepal has yet to see substantial mechanization in agriculture. This research aimed to provide a baseline to understand progress made towards Agri-mechanisation on the Nepal Terai. They used a non-binary ‘Stepwise Process of Mechanisation’ framework  for this investigation. Across nearly all machinery, a primary reason for limited progression to sustained adoption was a lack of service providers, a manifestation of limited machinery ownership, meaning current broad subsidy programs aimed at procurement may not be achieving intended outcomes. With targeted intervention, rapid rural mechanisation is possible in the near future in Nepal. This work lays the foundation for future work to explore the drivers, implications and inclusiveness of agri-mechanisation, utilising the identified typologies, both in Nepal and more broadly where increased nuance in understanding the status of agricultural mechanisation is warranted.
This seven years study was done to study the effects of different tillage practices and residue levels on weed shift, diversity and crop yields. Results show that annual weed species were dominant in conventional tillage (CT) and reduced tillage (RT), whereas a shift towards perennials was observed in zero tillage (ZT). CT recorded lower weed densities after 7 years. A shift in dicot weed species with higher weed density and biomass and a small decrease in monocot weeds was observed in ZT. The anchored residues 10 and 30 cm, recorded lower monocots and total weed count over no residue. They conclude that integrated weed management (combination of herbicide and removal of chance weeds) are efficient strategies to minimise the weed infestation in CA and these methods not only reduce the over reliance on herbicides but also improve the productivity of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.), castor (Ricinus communis).




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