Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - December 2022
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Conservation Agriculture in rainfed annual crop production in South Africa.

Strauss, J.A., Swanepoel, P.A., Laker, M.C. & Smith, H.J. 2021. South African Journal of Plant and Soil. 38 (3) 217-230.

https://doi.org/10.1080/02571862.2021.1891472

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

In South Africa, arable land for crop production and permanent pastures accounts for 10–12% of the total land surface. South Africa is classified as semi-arid, with the average rainfall below the global average.This paper describes the role CA can play in more water use efficient agriculture that is not only for grain crops  but also other agricultural commodities. This review highlights the results of research to date and the challenges for practicing rainfed conservation agriculture in South Africa.

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Impact of Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Practices on Phosphorus Dynamics under Maize-Based Cropping Systems in a Sub-Tropical Soil.

Anil, A.S., Sharma, V.K., Jimenez-Ballesta, R., Parihar, C.M., Datta, S.P., Barman, M., Chobhe, K.A., Kumawat, C., Patra, A. & Jatav, S.S. 2022. Land. 11 (9). Article number 1488

https://doi.org/10.3390/land11091488

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This study was designed to look at the impact of long-term CA on soil organic and inorganic P fractions under maize-based cropping systems with different tillage and cropping systems. The 3 tillage systems were NT, Permanent beds and CT. There were 4 cropping systems with maize, wheat and various legumes. P was fractionated from 2 soil depths, 0-5cm and 5-15 cm.  Results showed that a higher amount of soluble and loosely bound P (SL-P) was detected in ZT among the inorganic P fractions, whereas iron-bound P (Fe-P), aluminum-bound P (Al-P), reductant soluble P (RES-P) and calcium-bound P (Ca-P) were found higher in CT in both soil depths. Significant synergistic effects of winter legume (chickpea) with summer legumes (sesbania and mungbean) in crop rotation were observed on SL-P, Labile Po, Humic acid-Po, Alkaline phosphatase and MBP at 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depths. 

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Do fallow in the off-season and crop succession promote differences in soil aggregation in no-tillage systems?

Fernandes, M.M.H., Coelho, A.P., Silva, M.F. & Fernandes, C. 2022. Geoderma. 412. Article number 115725.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.115725

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

The aim of this paper is to look at the effects of fallow in the off season and grass/grass and grass/legume crop successions on soil aggregation in NT systems. The study was done on fields with different land uses for more than10 years in SE Brazil. Three NT maize land uses yielded 3 groups: NT- with  fallow in the off season; NT with legumes in off season; and NT with maize in the off season. Forest land (F) was used as a check for soil aggregation and CT a a low conservation system. They found that the absence of soil surface cover throughout the year in an NT system was as harmful to soil aggregation as a CT system. The NT-grass system resulted in higher organic C and aggregate stability than the NT-legume system. They also found that that fallow in the off-season promotes a NT system with low soil conservation.

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Conservation Agriculture: Analysis and prioritization of socio-ecological factors operating at farm levels in Ohio, USA

Chatterjee, R., Islam, R., Acharya, S.K. & Biswas, A. 2022. Environmental Science & Policy. 138. 1-10.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.09.015

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This study was done in 40 counties in Ohio, USA to assess socio-ecological factors operating on CA farms. Results show that owner farmers of the 230 selected farms had no hesitation in adopting CA as the future of farming and to address food security and mitigate climate change. 60% of the respondents do not till their field, 80% leave crop residues on the soil surface, and 97% follow crop rotations. Finally, the CA farmers have achieved 10 to > 40% fuel savings. Grazing animals were also integrated into CA systems, adding animal manure to their farms. They conclude that more farmers should be encouraged to to adopt CA practices in the future.

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Novel resource conservation technologies for increasing the production and productivity of rice-wheat cropping system in Indo-Gangetic plains of India

Sharma, J., Sharma, B.C., Bharti, V., Sharma, A. & Shubham, J. 2022. Journal of Eco-friendly Agriculture. 17 (2) 235-242.

https://doi.org/10.5958/2582-2683.2022.00047.8

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

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.

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Targeted timing of hairy vetch cover crop termination with roller crimper can eliminate glyphosate requirements in no-till sunflower

Antichi, D., Carlesi, S., Mazzoncini, M. & Barberi, P. 2022. Agronomy for Sustainable Development. 42. Article 87.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-022-00815-2

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This paper looks at the impact of no-till and cover crops on soil health with sunflower following durum wheat in an on-farm trial in Italy. Direct sowing of sunflower following the dead mulch of a roller-crimped hairy vetch was compared with the use of glyphosate to terminate the vetch and control weeds. In this 3-year experiment, they compared three vetch termination stages (early: pre-flowering; Intermediate: beginning of flowering; late: 70% flowering) and three glyphosate rates (Nil, half and full). Vetch biomass increased from early to late termination and the extra biomass resulted in lower weed biomass. Treatments had inconsistent effects on weed diversity and composition, largely determined by the interactions between treatments and seasonal (different years) or local factors. They conclude that targeted timing of roller-crimped hairy vetch in no-till sunflower can result in equal agronomic and economic performances as addition of glyphosate.

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Effects of Conservation Tillage on Soil Properties and Maize Yield in Karst Regions, Southwest China

Bai, L., Kong, X., Li, H., Zhu, H., Wang, C. & Ma, S. 2022. Agriculture. 12 (9). Article number 1449.

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12091449

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This article looks at the impact of conservation tillage in maize in the Karst rocky region of SW China where desertification is a serious environmental problem. This 2-year study compared no-till + straw cover against traditional tillage (TT) in maize on soil properties and yield. The NT treatment increased soil moisture by 3% while reducing bulk density by 7% and total N by 5% in the top 30cm compared to TT. Nt treatments also increased maize yield by11% compared to TT. They conclude that NT + residue retention is  better for long-term environmental sustainability in the arid region.

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Ch 9. An Approach to Understand Conservation Agriculture

Dey, A., Patel, S. & Singh, H.P. 2022. Pages 204-218. In. Kumar, P., Pandey, S.K., Singh, S.K., Singh, S.S. & Singh, V.K. (Eds.) Sustainable Agriculture Systems and Technologies. John Wiley & Sons. Chichester, UK. 376 pages.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119808565.ch9

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This is chapter 9 of a new book looking at different sustainable sustainable agricultural systems. This chapter looks at CA as a possible way to increase productivity while protecting the environment in India and the Rice-Wheat areas of the IndoGangetic Plains. The chapter explains that CA has multiple agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits. However, in this region adoption of CA has many constraints and challenges including availability of skilled labor, burning of crop residue, alternate use of crop residue for feed and fuel, time taking process, and less information about conservation practices. The authors suggest the various stakeholders work together to promote CA in South Asia.

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Conservation Agriculture in Maize-based Cropping System of Nepal: A Review

Kaduwal, S., Karki, T.B., Neupane, R., Bhattarai, R.K., Chaulagain, B., Ghimire, P., Gyawaly, P. & Das, S.K. 2022. Agronomy Journal of Nepal. 6 (1) 119-131. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajn.v6i1.47953

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This review looks at CA, its constraints and what is needed in a maize-based system in Nepal, where little has been reported in Nepal despite the results being promising. Some of the constraints found include machinery, competition for residues between CA and livestock, skilled manpower, and overcoming the mindset of using tillage. But CA was found to reduce costs of production, improve resource efficiency including water and nutrients and increase yield. This management system should be promoted in the hills and Terai areas of Nepal.

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Conservation agriculture improves agronomic, economic, and soil fertility indicators for a clay soil in a rainfed Mediterranean climate in Morocco

Devkota, M., Devkota, K.P. & Kumar, S. 2022. Agricultural Systems. 201. Article number 103470.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103470

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

Climate change is causing declining rainfall (more variability) and increasing temperature extremes and when added to declining soil fertility, food security in rainfed Morocco is threatened. The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate agronomic, economic, and soil fertility indicators under CA and conventional tillage (CT) using field experimentation (medium-term) and simulation modeling (long-term) for a clay soil in Morocco. They looked at the effect of CA on wheat, barley, lentil and chickpea to determine yield, stability, profits, WUE, and soil fertility. They also used Dynamic simulation modeling to assess the long-term effect of adopting CA and CT in these cereal rotations. Both their 5-year field experiment and the modeling showed that adoption of CA improves a range of agronomic, economic and soil fertility indicators compared to CT.

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Effect of Conservation Tillage and Precision Nitrogen Management on Wheat: A Review.

Shukla, A., Kumar, M. & Shukla, A. 2022. International Journal of Plant & Soil Science. 34 (21) 87-97.

https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2022/v34i2131245

 

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This paper reviews CA use in wheat in India, since wheat represents a major 60% crop system in Indian agriculture represents the backbone and the future of the country's economy. This study aimed to review the research studies where precision nitrogen management technologies were applied in conservation agriculture and discussed the effects of these tools and techniques on wheat growth, productivity, and nutrient usage efficiency (NUE). Their findings concluded that productivity and NUE of wheat grown in furrow irrigated raised beds (FIRB) performed better while zero tillage fared better economically than other tillage methods.Precise nitrogen management involving LCC, SPAD, NE, GS, and targeted yield not only increased growth, yield and NUE but also turned out more profitable than a blanket application of N.  

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Ch 1. Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification: Global Options and Opportunities.

Kassam, A., Saharawat, Y.S. & Abrol, I.P. 2022. In. Sharma, A.R. (Ed.) Conservation Agriculture in India: A Paradigm Shift for Sustainable Production. 17 pages. Routledge, London.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003292487-2

 

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This introductory chapter of the new book on CA in India writes about the importance of CA as one management system important for future sustainable production of food and agriculture globally. The indicate that CA is opening up ways of food production that are more profitable, improves livelihoods and enhances ecosystem services. They recommend CA needs to be promoted for the benefit of the farmer, wherever he or she may be farming, however poor or rich, small or large, as well for the society and the planet. All disciplines and people have a role to play because the option and opportunity, which we all must seize, is at the level of a paradigm change. The paper also provides data on the adoption of CA globally.

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Differential Response of Soil Microbial Diversity and Community Composition Influenced by Cover Crops and Fertilizer Treatments in a Dryland Soybean Production System

Narayana, N.K., Kingery, W.L., Shankle, M.W. & Shanmugam, S.G. 2022. Agronomy. 12 (3) Article number 618.

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12030618

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This study looks at the impact of various soil management practices on soil microbial diversity in a no-till dryland soybean system in the USA. Treatments included cover crops and nutrient management including the use of poultry manure. Targeted amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA and ITS2 genes was used to study the bacterial and fungal community composition. Poultry litter amendment and cover crops significantly influenced soil bacterial diversity. Fertilizer sources had different bacterial populations while cover crops influenced the fungal communities. Differential enrichment of advantageous bacterial (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria) and fungal (Mortierellomycota) phyla was observed across the treatments. They propose a long-term study to provide more inferences on soil microbial community response to management changes.

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Double zero tillage and foliar phosphorus fertilization coupled with microbial inoculants enhance maize productivity and quality in a maize–wheat rotation.

Harish, M.N., Choudhary, A.K., Kumar, S., Dass, A., Singh, V.K., et.al., 2022. Scientific Reports. 12. Article number 3161.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07148-w

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This study evaluated a maize-wheat system (MWCS) using 4 crop establishment and tillage practices: Flat bed (FB)–conventional tillage both in maize and wheat; Raised bed (RB)–CT in maize and ZT in wheat); FB but ZT both in maize and wheat); Permanent raised bed (PRB–ZT both in maize and wheat. Also five P-fertilization practices. Double zero-tilled PRBZT–PRBZT system significantly enhanced the maize grain, starch, protein and oil yield by 13.1–19% over conventional FBCT–FBCT. P50 + PSB + AMF + 2FSP, integrating soil applied-P, microbial-inoculants and foliar-P, had significantly higher grain, starch, protein and oil yield by 12.5–17.2% over P100. They conclude that double zero-tilled PRBZT–PRBZT with crop residue retention at 6 t/ha per year along with P50 + PSB + AMF + 2FSP while saving 34.7% fertilizer-P in MWCS is the best treatments.

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Greenhouse gas emissions from the wheat-maize cropping system under different tillage and crop residue management practices in the North China Plain

Pu, C., Chen, J-S., Wang, H-D., Virk, A.L., Zhao, X. & Zhang, H-L. 2022. Science of the Total Environment. 819. Article number 153089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153089

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This 4-year study assessed the effects of tillage and crop residue management on GHG emissions. They found that no-till (NT) decreased N2O emissions by 22.6% compared with conventional tillage (CT) in winter wheat but there was no difference between tillage practices in summer maize. Crop residue retention (+R) increased N2O emissions by 28.1% and 26.7% compared with residue removal (−R) in winter wheat and summer maize seasons, respectively. NT soils took up more CH4 compared with the CT soils in summer maize seasons. Crop residue retention improved the maize yield compared with the residue removal treatments. They conclude that no-till practice could be an option to mitigate non-CO2 GHG emissions in the wheat – maize cropping systems. 

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Conservation agriculture affects soil organic matter distribution, microbial metabolic capacity and nitrogen turnover under Danish field conditions.

Wacker, T.S., Jensen, L.S. & Thorup-Kristensen, K. 2022. Soil and Tillage Research. 224. Article number 105508.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2022.105508

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

The aim of this danish study was to investigate how CA induced SOM stratification affects carbon and nitrogen turnover. Two Danish farms were selected with conventional ploughing (CP) and CA. They looked at SOM stratification to 50cm depth from the two treatments. They also looked at C and N mineralization patterns in lab incubation studies. Average stratification ratio, the ratio between soil C and N content in the upper 5 cm and at 20–30 cm, the depth of the plough layer in the ploughed system, was 1.86 and 1.61 under CA and 1.04 and 1.06 under P. Carbon respiration from intact soil core incubation was affected by soil total carbon content, and showed stronger stratification in CA than in P. They conclude that carbon and nitrogen mineralization, as well as microbial metabolic capacity were strongly affected by an increased stratification ratio of organic matter in CA.

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Long-term conservation agriculture increases nitrogen use efficiency by crops, land equivalent ratio and soil carbon stock in a subtropical rice-based cropping system

Kader, M.A., Jahangir, M.M.R., Islam, M.R., Begum, R., Nasreen, S.S., Islam, Md.R., Mahmud, A.Al., Haque, M.E., Bell, R.W., & Jahiruddin, M. 2022. Field Crops Research. 287. Article number 108636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2022.108636

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This paper from Bangladesh looked at intensively grown (3 crops per year) rice-based cropping systems and various management options. This 9-year study examined various 2 soil disturbance - strip tillage (ST) and conventional tillage (CT); two residue retention levels –15% residue by height (low residue, LR) and 30% residue (high residue, HR) and five N rates (60%, 80%, 100%, 120%, and 140% of the recommended N for a rice-wheat-mungbean system. Rice yields were comparable between the two tillage systems for up to year-6, wheat for up to year-3 but mungbean yield markedly increased in ST from year-1. Introduction of ST increased land equivalent ratio by 26% relative to CT, N use efficiency and partial factor productivity. They conclude that by practicing CA with increased residue retention under strip tillage, the crops had higher N use efficiency, grain yield, land equivalent ratio and annual gross margin in the rice-wheat-mungbean cropping system.

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Review of Research Progress on Soil Organic Cover Machinery in China

Lin, H., He, J., Li, H., Li, H., Wang, Q., Lu., C., Li, Y. & Jiang, S. 2022. Agriculture. 12 (9) Article number 1311.

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12091311

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This paper looks at ways to solve the issue of managing soil organic cover in CA in China. It looks at the effects of this organic mulch and what equipment/machinery works best. The aim of this review was to improve the soil organic cover quality and reduce energy consumption by reviewing the common and commercial equipment available in China. The current problems and technical difficulties of the machines were expounded. Simultaneously, the method of design and optimization of the device (chopper, spreader, rotary tiller, and plow) and its key parts (blades, discs, and plows) were reviewed and compared. Their conclusions look at future directions for soil organic cover technology and machinery development including clarifying the soil organic cover effect, selecting the suitable soil organic cover patterns, and developing soil organic cover machinery.

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Factors influencing the adoption of conservation agriculture by smallholder farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Nkonki-Mandleni, B., Manenzhe, N.G. & Omotayo, A.O. 2022. Open Agriculture. 7 (1) 596-604. https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2022-0098

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This study looks at the factors that affect the adoption of CA in Southern Africa using a structured questionnaire from 273 smallholder farmers. The results showed that the respondents’ age, access to credit, visits by extension agents, and training
showed a significant influence on the adoption of CA practices by farmers. They concluded that extension agents need to guide and train farmers including illiterate farmers on CA through all inclusive services.

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Land Use, Productivity, and Profitability of Traditional Rice–Wheat System Could be Improved by Conservation Agriculture.

Hossain, M.M., Begum, M. & Bell, R.W. 2022. Research on World Agricultural Economy. 3 (2). Article number 516.

http://dx.doi.org/10.36956/rwae.v3i2.516

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This is an interesting paper from Bangladesh on their rice-wheat systems and the benefits that could be obtained by adopting CA based on recent research on-farm over two year on this topic. The conventional system (CS) was plowing followed by three manual weedings without residue from the previous crop. This was compared with CA where  Pre-plant herbicide + single tillage + pre-emergence herbicide + post-emergence herbicide; under rice–wheat and rice–wheat–mungbean systems. The CA was the more cost effective establishment system compared to CS one. Productivity increased in all three crops and by 43% when mungbean was included in the system. 

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Effects of Straw Mulching and Reduced Tillage on Crop Production and Environment: A Review

Du, C., Li, L. & Effah, Z. 2022. Water. 14 (16) Article number 2471.

https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162471

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This paper looks at various impacts on water of various sustainable agricultural measures. Straw retention and reduced tillage were mentioned as the most successful measures in arid and semi-arid regions. As such this review looks at these two factors in respect of SOM, soil moisture, soil temperature, soil microorganisms, soil enzyme activity, soil fertility, soil carbon emissions, pests, weeds, soil erosion, water use efficiency and yield under different tillage systems. Straw mulching increased SOM, soil moisture and reduced drought, but can increase pest and diseases and change the microbial community. But straw mulch does enhance WUE and yield. Reducing tillage maintained soil integrity, which is conducive to soil and water conservation.

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Soil organic matter fractions in an Oxisol under tillage systems and winter cover crops for 26 years in the Brazilian subtropics.

Amadori, C., Conceicao, P.C., Casali, C.A., dos SantosCanalli, L.B., Calegari, A. & Dieckow, J. 2022. Bragantia: Soil and Plant Nutrition article. 81. Article number e3622.

https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4499.20210352 

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This study aimed to assess after 26 years the long-term effect of conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) combined with winter cover crops, black oat and oilseed radish, and fallow on C accumulation and stabilization in a  clayey Oxisol in Southern Brazil. Soil samples were collected from 3 depths. NT had a higher percentage of macroaggregates and C stock in this size-class, and also higher C stock in bulk soil, free-POM and occluded-POM fractions than CT in 0-0.05 m depth due to higher input of biomass and minimum soil mobilization in NT. Oat and radish had higher C stock in macroaggregates than fallow in 0.05-0.10 m depth. They conclude that after 26 years of NT improved C accumulation and stabilization, mainly in the superficial layer. Also winter cover crops favored the formation and stability of macroaggregates.

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Bacterial Communities in the Rhizosphere at Different Growth Stages of Maize Cultivated in Soil Under Conventional and Conservation Agricultural Practices.

Navarro-Noya, Y.E., Chavez-Romero, Y., Hereira-Pacheco, S., Lorenzana, A.S de L., Govaerts, B., Verhulst, N. & Dendooven, L. 2022. Microbiology Spectrum. 10 (2) Article number 01834

https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01834-21

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This paper looks at the effect of agricultural practices in the maize rhizosphere on soil bacterial communities in Mexico. Maize and bulk rhizosphere soil from conventional (CP) and CA practices were sampled at three growth stages and used 16S rRNAto assess bacterial diversity and community structure. Results showed that CA positively affected soil bacteria compared to CP. The bacterial community in the maize bulk soil resembled each other more than in the rhizosphere of CA and CP. Although agricultural practices did not alter the effect of the rhizosphere on the soil bacterial communities in the flowering and grain filling stage, they did in the vegetative stage.

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Ch 17. Conservation Agriculture: The Future of Indian Agriculture

Gupta, R.K., Abrol, I.P. & Sharma, A.R. 2022. 11 pages. In. Sharma, A.R. (Ed). Conservation Agriculture in India: A Paradigm Shift for Sustainable Production. Routledge, London.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003292487-21

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This is last chapter in the book on CA in India, by Sharma, listed earlier. The authors indicate that CA has the potential to contribute to sustainability of food production and reversal of soil degradation in India. It also enhances the efficiency of applied inputs and optimizes land and water use. They also write that the CA approach has to be operationalized in an eco-regional or resource management domain framework and integrate the focus of research on short- and long-term resource use problems. CA also needs institutional innovations for organizing multi-disciplinary farmer participatory research teams that provide integrated solutions of regionally defined problems.

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Conservation Agriculture in India: A Paradigm Shift for Sustainable Production

Sharma, A.R. (Ed.). 2022. 370 pages and 17 chapters. Routledge. London. ISBN: 978-1-00-329248-7

https://www.routledge.com/Conservation-Agriculture-in-India-A-Paradigm-Shift-for-Sustainable-Production/Sharma/p/book/9781032273877#

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This is a new book published in 2022 that looks at many aspects of CA situation, adoption, management, and future outlook in India. The chapters cover the various aspects of crop management such as soil, water, nutrients, weeds, crop residues, machinery, and energy, in a range of environments, including irrigated and rainfed regions. The impact of climate change and the economic considerations behind the adoption of conservation agriculture are also discussed. There are 4 distinct sections as follows:

Part I: Conservation Agriculture: Global Scenario and Status in India - 4 chapters
Part II: Management Options for Higher Resource Use Efficiency -- 6 chapters
Part III: Soil Health and Greenhouse Gas Emissions -- 4 chapters
Part IV: Economics, Adoption, and Future of Conservation Agriculture -- 3 chapters.

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Ch 17. Building Resilience to Climate Change by Adopting Conservation Agriculture in the Smallholder Farming Systems

Parwada, C., Chipomho, J., Mandumbu, R. 2022. In. Mupambwa, H.A., Nciizah, A.D., Nyambo, P., Muchara, B. & Gabriel, N.N (Eds.) Food Security for African Smallholder Farmers. Springer, Singapore. Pages 281-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6771-8_17

Cornell Conservation Agriculture Group (soilhealth.org)'s insight:

This chapter 17 in the book "Food Security for African Smallholder Farmers" was selected to highlight the importance of CA adoption to help mitigate climate change in Southern Africa. Crop yields in the smallholder sector have continued to decline, and farmers whose livelihoods rely on agriculture are poor and food-insecure. This chapter provides a review on how the farmers can build resilience to climate change through adoption of conservation agriculture (CA). Conservation agriculture has several positive attributes, which enable crop productivity in semi-arid regions of southern Africa. Among other advantages, CA maintains or improves soil structure; reduces soil exposure to water and wind erosion; increases water infiltration and reduces loss through evaporation. Minimum soil disturbance slows organic matter breakdown and mineralization resulting in organic carbon build-up. 

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