Global CA-CoP CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

for sustainable agriculture, land use and ecosystem management


Dear Subscribers,

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

Thank you Peter for sharing.

 

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: Wed, 1 Dec 2021 at 13:34
Subject: December CUCA Scoopit newsletter
To: Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>


Dear Amir: Here is our December 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 - December 2021
Powered by Scoop.it
This paper presents the results of a global meta-analysis of studies assessing SOC and total N (TN) storage and dynamics in NT and tilled soils from the most important agricultural regions of the world. Overall, their results show that NT soils stored 6.7 ± 1.9 Mg C ha–1 and 1.1 ± 0.4 Mg N ha–1 more than tilled soils (0-to-100-cm depth) with an average of 16 yr of NT, in contrast with previous findings that found little or no soil organic C (SOC) accrual in NT soils as compared with full inversion tillage when soils are sampled deeper than 30 cm. However, C sequestration (+4.7 ± 1.9 Mg C ha–1 in the 0-to-60-cm depth with an average of 11 yr of NT) depended on the association of NT with increased crop frequency and the inclusion of legumes cover crops. Briefly, their findings indicate that NT can avoid SOC losses from tilled soils, partially offsetting CO2 emissions from agriculture. 
This is a new book in 2021 with links to the DOI and the Taylor and Francis website covering soil organic matter a primary determinant of soil functionality. This volume of Advances in Soil Sciences aims to accomplish the following: a) Present impacts of land use and soil management on SOC dynamics. b) Discuss effects of SOC levels on agronomic productivity and use efficiency of inputs. c) Detail potential of soil management on the rate and cumulative amount of carbon sequestration in relation to land use and soil/crop management. d) Deliberate the cause-effect relationship between SOC content and provisioning of some ecosystem services. e) Relate soil organic carbon stock to soil properties and processes f) Establish the relationship between soil organic carbon stock with land and climate Identify controls of making soil organic carbon stock as a source or sink of CO2. g) Connect soil organic carbon and carbon sequestration for climate mitigation and adaptation. Two chapters are listed above that describe the role of CA in SOM.
85% of N20 emissions are related to N fertilizer in agriculture. This paper looks at ways to reduce N20 emissions in agriculture by limiting optimal soil N and water for production of this GHG. The objective was to assess N2O emissions from different N management strategies under long-term tillage systems. Treatments included (a) source (compost and urea) and (b) placement (broadcast and surface-banded application of urea under conventional till and no-till systems). Overall, soil N2O emissions were affected by the availability of inorganic N and precipitation rather than tillage. Banded application of N increased overall N2O emissions by 30% compared with broadcast N application without affecting yield and N uptake. Synthetic N sources increased N20 more than organic ones but carbon content of organics could increase emissions.  .
This is another paper from the SSSA special section on CA. This study aimed to assess the effects of land use, tillage management, and crop diversification on soil physical quality of two long-term experiments in the Cerrado of Brazil through on-farm visual evaluation of soil structure (VESS) and soil physical parameters. Soil sampling was performed in 0-to-10- and 10-to-20-cm layers of four agricultural systems: soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]–fallow under conventional tillage (SF); soybean–fallow under no-till (SN); soybean–maize (Zea mays L.) succession under no-till (SM); and crop rotation under no-till including soybean, maize, grasses, and legumes (CR). Native vegetation was kept as a check (NV). The study highlights that intensified agricultural systems need to be coupled with strategies to reduce and/or control intensive machinery traffic.
This paper looks at mitigation practices for GHG emissions and indicate that agriculture can be both a source of GHG emissions and a sink. They indicate that CA is a suite of management practices that can be used to reduce emissions and/or enhance C sequestration in soils. The Conservation Agriculture Network is a network of the Croplands Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. The CA network identified reduced tillage, crop rotations, cover crops, residue management, and improved irrigation systems as some of the management strategies that can be used to achieve these goals. Ten peer-reviewed papers are published in this special section of the Soil Science Society of America Journal.They include seven field studies, two modeling studies (using field data), and one meta-analysis paper. Collectively, these articles provide examples of CA benefits related to reducing N2O emissions and enhancing C sequestration in soils.
This is an introduction to the special volume in the South African Journal of Plant and Soil. Four papers from this issue will be highlighted above for those interested in CA in South Africa. A 5th on the History of CA in South Africa was included in an earlier CUCA November Scoopit newsletter.CA has gained importance in this country over the last decade with reported adoption rates and interest by farmers. The various chapters provide an integrated discussion of the various contributions leading to the development of a research agenda around the key themes of CA in South Africa and the question of how CA approaches can contribute to sustainable intensification. Others focus on contributions in the fields of annual crop production, orchards and vineyards, irrigated agriculture, soil fertility management, soil surveying and weed control.








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