Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - April 2026

This paper from Nepal looks at the issue of crop field fragmentation  that farmers use to ensure irrigation and rainwater in rice and wheat growing areas. This requires lots of labor and reduces the area for planting crops. The paper looks at the possible use of laser land leveling (LLL) to overcome these problems. Obviously, smallholder farmers cannot own a laser leveler so the paper looks at using service providers to allow these smallholders to benefit from this technology. They found that farmers were willing to pay for LLL services. The paper goes on to discuss LLL in relation to farmers with higher land acreages and farmers with low irrigation access.

This review discusses the potential of soil and crop management practices such as minimum/reduced/no-tillage, use of organic manure, balanced and integrated plant nutrient application, precision land leveling, precision water and pest management, residue management, and cropping system optimization to maintain the C-equilibrium between soil and atmosphere and to enhance the C-sequestration in the long run. Results of meta-analysis show a potential 36% increase in soil organic C stock in the top 0–15 cm layer in this region. The authors conclude that there is an urgent need for scaling up and accelerated adoption climate resilient technologies to increase soil C-sequestration. Policies and programs need to be devised for incentivizing farmers to adopt more C-neutral or C-positive agricultural practices.

Chapter 17 in a 2021 book, "Improving Cereal Productivity Through Climate Smart Practices". An article looking at laser land leveling combined with CA to produce more crop per drop of water. But the chapter also looks at other factors besides NT that are required and obtained by adopting CA. It concludes that to achieve the higher productivity and profitability, adoption of a multipronged strategy of using improved varieties, balanced fertilization, appropriate irrigation, and weed management practices are a must.

This paper looks at the rice-wheat system of South Asia (13.5 mha) but within the IGP where there are 10.3 mha. This intensive cropping system that is vital for food security in India has several environmental issues including depleted SOC, declining water tables, decreased soil fertility and reduced factor productivity. The paper describes various resource conserving technologies (RCT's) such as direct seeded rice (DSR), system of rice intensification (SRI), aerobic rice, brown manuring, crop residue incorporation, furrow irrigated raised bed system (FIRBS), zero tillage (ZT) and leaf colour chart (LCC) that not only improved the production and productivity but also maintained soil health. New emerging technologies like system of wheat intensification (SWI), LCC application for nitrogen management, bed transplanting in rice followed by laser levelling in wheat with zero tillage wheat, incorporation of rice residues over conventional transplanting also showed promising results.

This article quantifies the effect of Best Management Practices (BMPs) on crop productivity, income, water saving and water balance components and identifies gaps for future research by reviewing 108 published studies from South Asia. Adoption of conservation measures helped enhance crop yields by 200–1000 kg/ha, reduced cost of cultivation and enhanced incomes by US$ 10–200/ha/year. They also enabled annual water saving in the range of 50 mm to 300 mm by either conserving residual soil moisture or saving irrigation water resulting in enhanced water productivity. Direct seeding rice and laser leveling were effective in water saving and reducing costs of production. Rain water harvesting was also a valuable practice. They conclude that the review revealed the ample scope of integrating in situ and ex situ interventions to build system-level resilience in smallholder farming systems.