Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - April 2026

This review looks at the role of conservation agriculture (CA) needed to transform agriculture to a sustainable intensification that will be needed to positively influence climate change issues, biodiversity, future food security and soil health. The Authors contend that CA offers the only universally applicable agricultural practices that can be adopted at scale and speed, across all agro-ecological zones within the coming 1–2 decades. The paper presents the rationale, evolution, and prospects of CA across the world. The review presents information on CA adoption globally and estimates the potential for expansion to 2050. The Authors summarize that CA "offers a universally applicable agricultural practice that can be adopted at scale and speed."

This paper presents results from a long-term experiment from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources since 1999. The study site is located in the San Joaquin Valley. 19 years of reduced tillage with cover crops (CTCC) was compared with conventional tillage without cover crops (STNC). Results showed CTCC increased surface soil carbon by 50%, nitrogen by 83%, and air filled porosity 2.5 fold at high water potentials compared to STNC. CCTC respiration rates also increased over 100% under wet conditions, that the authors suggest is due to formation of macropores that become microbial hot spots upon re-wetting that results in accelerated carbon cycling. The authors conclude that "their findings highlight that soil structure–moisture–microbe interactions represent a critical frontier for optimizing conservation agriculture for carbon sequestration, requiring a balanced approach to tillage, organic inputs, and irrigation management to minimize rapid carbon losses. 

This Brazilian paper looks at Crop–livestock–forest integration (CLFI) systems that can enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) content within various aggregate size classes, thereby improving soil productivity and its capacity for atmospheric carbon (C) sequestration.  Treatments included long term CFLI with pasture rotation, CFLI with crop rotation, continuous conventional cropping (CCC), permanent pasture without and with fertilizer. The native Cerrado was used as the check. Results showed that after 23 years of CCC, SOC was reduced by 53%. compared to the Cerrado check. The CFLI treatments had much less SOC loss. They conclude that "the findings highlight the potential of CLFI systems to store carbon in the soil and promote macroaggregate formation, comparable to pastures established for 25 years and the native Cerrado. 

The Author highlights the accomplishments made in South Asia since the 1960s that has resulted in this region feeding 28% of the world’s population on 5% of the global land area. "This is the most densely populated region globally, with 2.3 billion people in 2023 (more than that of Europe and North America combined) and covering a land area of about 5.2 M km2. The population of SA, increasing at the rate of 1.7% per year, is expected to double by 2050. He concludes that "The balanced use of fertilizers, the adoption of system-based CA (using drip fertigation and complex crop rotations), and C farming are critical to enhancing SA’s NUE and FUE and sustainably increasing agronomic productivity."

This article from China uses amplicon sequencing to determine how tillage practices impact microbial communities in plots that have strip till maize (ST), and maize plus residue (ST+R), and rotary tillage maize (RT). Compared to RT, ST and ST+R increased the Shannon diversity index of microbial communities. The paper presents more detailed results. The Mantel test showed that soil bacterial communities were significantly correlated with electric conductivity (EC) and available potassium, while soil fungal communities were significantly correlated with EC and soil organic carbon. They conclude that "strip tillage could improve microbial community diversity and microbial regulation of the N and S cycles in black soil, providing a microbiological perspective for conservation agriculture. 

This interesting paper from India looks at Arbuscular mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) and Glomalin soil protein using CA management (no-till and weed management) and comparing with conventional in a cotton-maize system. They also had treatments with Sesbania green manure cover crop. Weed management included W1: Chemical weed control, W2: Herbicide rotation, W3: Integrated weed management and W4: Single hand-weeded control. The results showed that CA resulted in higher AMF and Glomalin than conventional. They concluded that "In general, the examined parameters in the study are highly supported by zero-till + crop residues, and can be considered indicators for monitoring agroecosystems and soil health"

This paper from Texas (semi-arid area) looks at legume and non-legume cover crops (CC) in crop rotations on crop yields, SOC sequestration, GHG emissions, water use efficiency and the farm carbon footprint compared to business as usual (BAU). They also looked at the long-term impact of these practices using the DSSAT model. The results showed that the CC resulted in significant agronomic and environmental benefits compared to BAU. They conclude that "their findings emphasize the critical role of CCs in climate-smart agricultural strategies, highlighting the need to optimize rotations and nutrient management practices to sustainably intensify agriculture in semi-arid regions. 

Agriculture in Moldova in Europe is affected by climate change, market issues and costlier input costs. This paper looks at the a comparison of CA and conventional methods in regards to economic efficiency of their main field crops: wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed, and sunflowers. Their results have significant benefits for CA in terms of profits and better use of natural resources. They collected data from 25 suitable farms from 2020-2024 and the results show CA improves profits, reduces fuel use and mechanical operations resulting in lower costs, better yield stability when drought is an issue. They conclude that the adoption of CA by farmers would help farmers address climate risks and improve their efficiency in use of natural resources in this country.

This research from NW India analyzed data from a 17-year long term experiment that concentrated on crop establishment, tillage and residue management in a rice-wheat system. This cropping system and region of India is impacted by residue burning and GHG emissions. The experiment had 5 scenarios from the traditional system of puddled transplanted rice followed by tillage before planting wheat with all residues removed (Traditional) to NT direct seeded rice (NTDSR), NT wheat (NTW) and 1/3rd residue retention (RR) of both rice and wheat. Among the scenarios the NTDSR-NTW-RR one achieved the highest carbon management index across both the soil layers, indicating a reduced need for carbon management due to higher TOC  compared to the traditional system. They conclude that "reduced or no tillage combined with residue retention in RWS holds substantial potential for increasing carbon sequestration, reducing net GHG emissions, and lowering carbon footprints. Additionally, this practice offers an alternative to crop residue burning, a significant contributor to air pollution in the western IGP."

Manual methods of farming are common in Africa and also in Zimbabwe where this paper was written. It measures the fuel consumption needed to use a two-wheel tractor to relieve the drudgery of manual farming in this country. This is important for calculating the cost of mechanizing agriculture and GHG emissions. This study measured fuel consumption for 2-wheel tractors in direct seeding for sorghum and pearl millet crops in sandy soils at varying speeds of operation. The information in this paper can be used by farmers and other operators of 2WTs for planning the fuel quantity and budgetary requirements.

Burning of crop residue by farmers so they can easily prepare land for the next crop is common in India that creates a health issue by polluting the air. It also contributes to C02 and black carbon emissions that then affects climate change negatively. This paper points out that the introduction of the Happy Seeder from Australia allows farmers to sow the next crop without removing the previous crop residue and so is an effective alternative to burning. However, the supply of this seeder is limited and this delays planting of wheat after rice that results in lower wheat yields. This paper looks at how this predicament can be resolved in India through Government policies. 

This paper describes a way to map accurately the area and fields in Belgium that practice CA management. They point out that monitoring of CA adoption is usually dependent on farmer declarations or field inspections that are not very accurate. In this paper 247 fields using CA in 2020-2021 were used to develop a classification model for predicting CA by combining remote sensing and census data. The census data provided the data for annual crops and cereals in the rotation. The paper explains what remote sensing was used to measure the extent of soil cover, soil disturbance, to construct a classification model distinguishing fields under conservation from those under conventional practices. Their results showed 15.5 % (2875 fields) out of 18,516 cropland fields can be classified as conservation agriculture. These fields tend to adopt non-inversion tillage and have diverse crop rotations.

This interesting paper reviews through 150 peer-reviewed studies published from 2013-2024 the impacts of rotation and cover crops, the former an important pillar of CA and the latter a valuable addition to CA for weed control and providing surface mulch when it is possible to include. They identified papers that identified impacts by monitoring and modeling. Results show that rotation can increase yields, enhance soil moisture retention, fertility and mitigate pest, weed, and disease pressures while improving environmental sustainability. The paper also reviews modeling frameworks to simulate rotation practices. The paper discusses agricultural effects, environmental and soil health impacts, modeling and monitoring approaches, and limitations and future research directions. They conclude that "these insights provide actionable guidance for farmers, extension agents, and policymakers to design more resilient and sustainable cropping systems tailored to local environmental and economic conditions."

This study was conducted on 21 fields in the Paris Basin (France). Allfields were planted to winter wheat the previous year and a variety of crops and or cover crops in the next year. Soil microorganisms, mesofauna and macrofauna were collected in these 21 fields under conventional, organic or conservation agriculture, either long-established or transitioning, ranging in tillage intensity, pesticide treatment intensity and organic inputs. Recent conservation systems had positive effects on Coleoptera larvae density, earthworm density and biomass, and negative effects on fungal abundance (10–20 cm depth). Recent organic systems benefited earthworm density and biomass, and fungal diversity. The authors conclude that "Overall, conservation and organic agriculture benefit different taxa, and reduced tillage could offer the greatest benefits by promoting soil taxa and their interactions. 

This report from CIMMYT, Mexico looked at yield and economics of wheat and maize in a 21 year old experiment comparing these two crops on conventional tilled beds to permanent beds with varying residue levels. They also added tied ridges in the furrows to see if they could offset the negative effects of removal or crop residues. Permanent bed planting (PBP+R) plus residue showed better yields compared to the CT beds. PBP plus full residue also yielded better than partial residue but partial residue with tied ridges had equal yields to PBP plus full residue. But treatments with partial residue and tied ridges results in higher net returns because of the value of residue for animal feed, although this is contingent on the market for residues. 

This paper from the UK looked at seven key mycorrhizal and endophytic fungal structures from soil samples taken from 5 mixed cover cropped and 5 conventionally managed fields growing spring beans. The cover cropped sites grew the CC in the Winter, whereas the conventional one was tilled heavily and then left fallow until planting a spring crop in March. Results showed that wherever CC were grown there were significantly higher abundance of hyphae, arbuscules, vesicles, moniliform hyphae, and microsclerotia, but not spores or chlamydospores. They conclude that "Since these structures are known to be associated with nutrient exchange, overwintering and long-term survival, energy storage, and branching and inoculation, cover cropping practices are likely to improve the functioning of mycorrhizal and endophytic fungi."

This review article looks at the importance of plant residues with no-till and rotation (CA management). The paper mentions that rotations have spread throughout the World, but only one or two of the three principles of CA are. used in practice with no-till and crop residue more efficient at using rainfall and a more resilient agricultural system compared to conventional tillage but also no-tillage without residues. Without residues, yields are reduced. The authors show that "In areas with low rainfall, the yields were highest obtained in farms that combined NT treatments and the use of crop residues, whereas in rainfed areas with conventional (CT) systems, when residues were removed from NT systems, wheat and maize yields were drastically reduced." Also in many small-scale farms, the residue yield is low and has many competing uses. Crop residues are generally burned in the fields or fed to livestock. They conclude that NT+ R is needed for CA to be successful and adding rotation can provide even better results. 

This paper from India looked at the long-term impacts of CA management on water infiltration in soils and also determined the effectiveness of Kostiakov, Green and Ampt, and Philip models in predicting the infiltration rates. Treatments included permanent broad bed (PBB), PBB with residue (PBB+R), permanent narrow bed (PNB), PNB with residue (PNB+R), zero tillage (ZT), and ZT with residue (ZT+R) and conventional tillage (CT). Initial infiltration rate was maximum in PBB+R, which was 111.5% higher than in conventional tillage CT (lowest). PBB+R had the highest infiltration, followed by PNB+R>ZT+R>PBB>PNB>ZT>CT. In other words residue was important for improving infiltration. The Kostiakov model performed the best for predicting infiltration rates.

This paper from Pakistan reviews using existing literature the impact of CA on SOC, GHG fluxes, soil health and crop yield. The found that CA management significantly increased soil properties including physical (bulk density, water retention, and aggregate stability), chemical (pH, nutrient availability, and C:N ratio) and biological (microbial and enzymatic) activity. They conclude that "These improvements are critical for maintaining soil health and boosting agroecosystem resilience to climate change. The findings underscore CA as an effective strategy for preserving SOC, improving soil quality, reducing agriculture's environmental footprint and enhancing climate change adaptation in agricultural systems."

This paper from India looks at Precision nutrient management (PNM) in CA management to improve wheat yields, profits, nutrient and energy efficiency. The field experiments used had 4 treatments; conventional tillage (CT) with and without residues, and permanent raised beds (PRB) with and without residues. Note the PRB's were not tilled. They also had 3 nutrient treatments: (i) soil test-based recommendation (NMSc1-STB), (ii) nutrient expert-based (NMSc2-NE), and (iii) Nutrient Expert + GreenSeeker (NMSc3-NE + GS). Results showed that the PRB+R was the best treatment in terms of wheat growth, phenology, nutrient balance, energy efficiency, and economic returns compared to the other treatments. In terms of nutrient management, NMSc3-NE + GS was the best treatment. They concluded that "The integration of PRB + R along with PNM optimized resource utilization and improved the economic index and energy budget, making the system more climate-resilient and a sustainable agri-food system.

This another report for a long-term experiment (60 years) from the Triplett Van-Doren No-Tillage and Crop Rotation Experiment established in 1962 in Wooster, Ohio, USA that was designed to evaluate the impact of no-tillage and crop rotation on corn and soybean yields. This experiment is conducted on two contrasting soils, one well-drained and one poorly drained. There were 3 tillage practices; moldboard, chisel and no-till with the residue from the previous crop left in the field and 3 rotations; continuous maize, a 2-year maize-Soybean, and a 3 year maize-forage-forage. Crop rotation was the main driver of long-term crop performance, with the most favorable responses observed when forage crops were included in the cropping system at both sites. Note the forage crops contained mixtures with legumes. The paper contains a lot of interesting data. They conclude that " By evaluating long-term trends, we found that no-tillage can be viable even in clay soils under temperate climates when perennial crops are included in the rotation system. Our results demonstrate that longterm crop yields can significantly benefit from the implementation of both practices adopted together in cropping systems."

This is an interesting article that looks at straw biochar's impact on soil fertility, GHG emissions, grain yield, carbon footprint (CF) and net ecosystem C budget (NECB) in an arid region in China based on a 2-year field experiment using 3 biochar quantities and comparing against no biochar. Their results showed that biochar significantly reduced soil GHG emissions, but the highest rate increased methane emissions. Biochar lowered the CF and enhanced the NECB, primarily through increased net primary production and improved soil fertility and crop yields. They conclude that "biochar improved crop yields, NECB, and soil carbon storage while reducing GWP, GHGI, and CF."

Tillage practices have been used by farmers for centuries to prepare soil, manage residues, and control weeds but with consequences for soil health and soil degradation. This global review critically examines and synthesises current research on the impact of various tillage practices like conventional (CT), reduced (RT), and no-till (NT) tillage systems on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), soil health and agricultural sustainability from scientific papers written on this subject. Some results presented show that CT increases C02 emissions through soil disturbance and oxidation of organic matter, while RT and NT reduce C02 and mitigate N20 and CH4 emissions. NT also enhances water retention and thus drought stress. The author concludes that "RT and NT practices emerge as pivotal strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing agricultural sustainability through improved soil health and water retention."

This paper presents some of the data from  a family farm in Ohio, one of the oldest continuous NT and cover crops adapted farms in Ohio since 1971. The objective of the study was to assess the effects of no-till (NT) management over 0, 6, 20, and 35 years in a rainfed corn-soybean system, incorporating cereal rye as a cover crop, on soil organic C (SOC) sequestration and total N accumulation across different pools. The results show a significant increase under NT compared to conventional for SOC, total N, microbial biomass C, active C, passive C, particulate organic C and N. They conclude that "long-term NT consistently facilitates SOC sequestration and total N accumulation in different pools, with these benefits distributed non-linearly across distinct SOC and total N pools at the 0-15 cm depth and linearly at the 15-30 cm depth in rainfed corn-soybean systems."

This review looks at the latest research on regenerative management strategies and the effects on soil organic carbon content and turnover, since the authors point out the importance of SOC for soil health. Regenerative strategies included CA, rotation, cover crops, organic management, biochar and agroforestry that all improve carbon sequestration. The conclusions are based on 283 studies that had both sort- and long-term field trials. They conclude that their research "outlines the benefits, challenges, and economic prospects associated with these strategies, emphasizing the significance of improving SOC management to promote soil sustainability and mitigate climate change consequences."