Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - March 2026

This is a paper from Uzbekistan on wheat where agriculture is 25% of the national GDP. The study looks at ways to close the yield gap in wheat. They used reviews, crop modeling and machine learning to identify ways to improve wheat yields. The simulations optimized seeding dates, nitrogen fertilizer rates, cultivar selection, and water management practices as ways to be self sufficient in wheat by increasing yields from 4.55 to 6.62 t/ha. Conservation agriculture also showed a 26 % increase in yields compared to conventional tillage. Other results showed that high-yielding, stress-tolerant wheat varieties released after 2010 increased wheat productivity, seeding between September 15 and October 15 maximized yields, while delayed sowing reduced yield by up to 57 kg ha−1 day−1. Seed rates of 160–180 kg ha−1 also helped reduce the yield gap. They concluded that these findings hold relevance for wheat production in other arid and semi-arid regions facing similar food security.

This paper used the ARMOSA process-based crop model to simulate the contribution of different CA components to soil organic carbon stocks sequestration at 0-30 cm depth compared to conventional in three different regions (Central Asia, N and S Europe). Simulations looked at current and future climate conditions.  Five cropping systems were used. The paper concludes the simultaneous adoption of all the three CA principles becomes more and more relevant in order to accomplish soil C sequestration as an urgent action to combat climate change and to ensure food security.

This paper looks at a rainfed, winter wheat system from 2019-2023 in Uzbekistan. They were looking at identifying a suitable rotation system for winter wheat under no-till using chickpea (CH), safflower (SA), flax (FL), barley (BA), and canola (CA) compared with continuous Winter wheat. Results showed that the integrated effect of NT x crop diversification x residue retention positively affected crop productivity. The best rotation was a rotation with CH-WW-SA-WW. This rotation alongwith SA-WW-CA-WW had the highest WW yields. The lowest were with the conventional tillage system. Residue mulch also consistently improved yield compared to no mulch. They conclude that using NT and incorporating a second crop in the rotation with WW and retaining residue on the soil surface  can help rehabilitate rainfed croplands.