Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - March 2026

This paper looks at wheat production in subtropical systems where terminal heat, lodging and erratic rain are common climate induced stresses. The data is collected from 8 locations in India. There were two tillage treatments; CT and NT and permanent raised beds (PRB). They had early and timely planting dates and 3 wheat varieties. Results show that NT and PRB significantly reduced lodging and increased grain yields compared to CT. Early sowing (early November) and the use of lodging-resilient varieties reduced crop lodging, improved crop performance, and increased wheat grain yield compared to late sowing (late November) and the lodging susceptible variety.

This research from Brazil studied the SOC stocks to 1-meter deepth for 3 land uses; native vegetation (NV), no-till system (NTS) and plough based tillage (PBT) from 63 sites collecting 3402 soil samples from the Atlantic Forest biomes and Cerrado of Brazil. There was a significant loss of SOC stocks from the PBT compared to the NV treatment.  The SOC stocks of 16 NTS sites exhibited levels that exceeded those under NV, and SOC stock was restored from 80 to 100 % of its NV levels in 27 other NTS sites across the Brazilian biomes. The duration of NTS to restore SOC stock to that under NV ranged from 36.4 to 55.0 years for the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes, respectively. 

This 4-year study in the Lower Mississippi Delta on farm size plots compared soybean yield and soil health benefits comparing CT with NT. Both plots were under maize for 11 years prior to growing soybeans using CT and NT soil management for each plot. Results showed that NT compared to CT, in the 0-20 cm layer, increased soil bulk density (rho), total nitrogen (TN), and soil organic carbon (C) but field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) decreased in the 10 cm below the soil surface under NT. Yields of soybeans over the 4 years were similar for CT and NT plots. But NT resulted in less expenses without affecting soybean yields.

This paper looks at the impact of CA on durum wheat in Tunisia as a possible way to mitigate climate change. They looked at yield and water use efficiency. They assessed this over 12 years looking at conventional (CT), minimal (MT) and no-till (NT). Note that their weather data shows a significant decrease in precipitation and increase rain-free days over these 12 years. Results showed that NT had the smallest decrease in yield and the smallest coefficient of variation and thus greater stability. They concluded that the benefits of CA are particularly pronounced in years with extreme drought events, highlighting the importance of adopting such agricultural innovations to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

This paper studies the effects of no-till (NT) and residue over the long- and short-term (24 and 3 years) in a semi-arid area of Mexico in a maize-oat-triticale system established in 1995. There were 6 treatments: plow+harrow (PH), harrow (H), multi-plow (MP), No-till (NT), NT with 33% residue, and NT with 66% residue. Soil quality was increased with NT + R by increasing SOM but also total carbon and enhanced microbial abundance. Tillage treatments, however led to lower SOM and lower yields. Differences were also visible soon after the experiment was initiated.

This is an interesting article that looks at adding no-till potatoes after rice in the Sundarbans of West Bengal, India. The no-till potatoes is diagrammed in this paper and consists of applying a 10cm layer of compost on the soil surface, planting the potato tubers on this compost and then covering the tubers with 20 cm of paddy straw as a mulch. This area after rice is normally left fallow. This experiment was conducted over 8 years to intensify cropping systems and improve farmer incomes. The first 2 years was used to identify suitable potato germplasm. This cropping expansion improved soil health, conserved moisture and reduced labor and costs. The analysis of the estimated adoption also showed that more than 90% adoption is likely to be achieved within a decade.

This interesting article looked at 650 scientific papers to provide an analysis of global scientific production on Conservation Agriculture (CA) and its relationship with climate change mitigation. There has been a significant increase in publications in the last 30 years on sustainable. agricultural practices including key themes on no-tillage, SOC, and GHG emissions. Results indicate that CA research is increasingly focused on its potential to mitigate climate change, particularly through practices like no-tillage, vegetative cover, and crop rotation. This analysis underscores the importance of CA in addressing climate challenges and offers insights into emerging research areas, such as regional adaptations and the long-term effects of no-till systems. The findings aim to guide future research and policy development in sustainable agriculture and climate mitigation. 

This paper collected data from 89 experimental sites globally and 10 from China. Their study evaluated potentially mineralizable carbon (PMC) using first-order kinetic fitting, and specific PMC (SPMC, PMC/SOC) to elucidate patterns of SOC mineralization under CA and its moderation by climatic, environmental, and soil factors. The paper describes the detailed results. They proposed a conceptual model highlighting nonlinear relationship between stable SOC pool and SOC, emphasizing how the relationship between C sequestration and emission reduction can be optimized under crop rotation. They also suggested future research look into microbial pathways in SOC mineralizationand their role in balancing mineralization and sequestration.

Sugarcane is an important bio-energy crop in India buy yields are low. This paper looked at ways to improve productivity by using CA based tillage, surface residue retention and nutrient management. There were 3 tillage treatments, conventional (CT), reduced (RT) and just one cultivation. Residue was with and without. After tillage beds were formed for planting sugarcane. Results showed yields were better for the one cultivation and RT compared to CT and adding residue was better than no residue. The paper also describes the use and results from fertilization and energy consumption. They conclude that integrating reduced tillage, trash retention and appropriate fertigation practices has a potential to improve sugarcane productivity vis-a-vis profitability, and sustain soil and environmental quality in sugarcane production systems, as prevalent in water scarcities regions.

This paper looks at the impact of CA and fertilization on durum wheat in a dry region of the Mediterranean. They looked at two wheat genotypes and compared NT with CT and two fertilizer treatments. They then evaluated environmental, economic, technical ad quality traits. One wheat variety was better than the other. NT was better yielding than CT. Low emission fertilization did not reduce crop performance and its combination with NT showed a higher economic net return. They conclude. that these two treatments improved environmental, and economic sustainability but also the health qulaity of wheat under water limited situations.

This paper from Malawi looks at ways to overcome the problem of climate change impacts that have affected food production. They looked at improved varieties on total productivity and nutrition under maize-legume CA systems over 13 years of on-farm experiments in Malawi. the 3 main treatments were 1. CT of sole maize planted on raised beds; 2. NT of sole maize on retained ridges + residue; and 3. CA maize intercropped with either cowpea, pigeon pea or groundnut on retained beds using NT. The results showed that total system nutrition was highest on the 3rd main treatment. The yields of maize were significantly higher in the 2nd and 3rd treatments irrespective of the variety grown. They conclude that "Conservation agriculture and NT systems have more influence on productivity of smallholder farms, despite the genotypes used (hybrids or OPVs)."

This paper from Iran looks at the effect of 5 years of CA managment on the quality and diversity of soil macrofauna in rainfed in semi-arid areas of Iran. Treatments included conventional moldboard tillage (CT), reduced tillage with a Delta  model and roller (RT1), Chisel plow and roller (RT2) and no-tillage. There were 3 subplots with no residue, 1/3 residue and 2/3 residue. Wheat rotated with chickpea was the cropping pattern. The results showed that no-tillage led to a significant increase in macrofauna biodiversity in both wheat and chickpea soils. Also keeping 1/3 residue led to an increase in macrofauna diversity.

This paper from India looks at the causes of a plateau in rice-wheat yields in South Asia. They used a 2-year on-farm study to look at wheat productivity in a RW system. They introduced various system optimization practices (SOP) that include legume inclusion, NT wheat, Direct seeded rice, and bed planting. Benefits of SOP's were reduced global warming potential, reduces water use, reduced weed density, higher partial factor productivity, wheat yield and net return increases, lower energy use compared to traditional practices. They conclude that wheat production with SOP's of legume inclusion and zero tillage achieve higher productivity and profitability with less environmental footprint in the Indo-Gangetic Plains and similar agroecological regions.

This paper from Poland was based on a long-term experiment started in 1999 and evaluated in 2016-2019. The crop studied was faba bean and looked 4 tillage systems; conventional (CT), reduced (RT), strip (ST) and no-till (NT). Over the 4 years there were two favorable years and two with prolonged drought with the weather conditions affecting faba bean yields more than tillage.The highest faba bean seed yield was obtained in 2017 when they ranged from 6.73 t ha−1 in NT to 7.64 t ha−1 after ST and they conclude that NT and ST are the most sustainable. NT provides the best soil protection and
conservation, but in favorable weather conditions, it limits the yield level of faba beans.

This paper looks at the rice-wheat system in Eastern India where smallholder farmers are using excessive water and nitrogen with soil degradation. They used field studies and a crop simulation model to assess resilience, viability, and sustainability of this cropping system under CA with different irrigation methods and nitrogen rates. They had 4 treatments from the puddled transplanted rice (PTR) and zero-tilled wheat (ZTW) with flood irrigation to direct seeded rice (DSR) fb ZTW with sub-surface drip irrigation and 75% and 100% recommended N and a N control plot. The DNDC model accurately predicted soil mineral N. DSR-ZTW with drip irrigation  enhanced sustainability and productivity compared to PTR-ZTW and reduced methane emissions by 70-80%. This system also provided the highest system yield, lowered water losses and improved N use efficiency, and reduced GHG emissions. 

This paper looks at land in the Lower Mississippi Delta where 70% of the land is furrow irrigated and where NT and bed planting issues hinder NT adoption. Ridge making and furrow maintenance are crucial in this area. This paper looked at the impact of adopting long-term NT compared to conventional tillage (the traditional system). NT increased soil total nitrogen, organic matter, organic sulfur, magnesium, calcium, cation exchange capacity, and stored soil water compared to CT during 4 years of soybean production following 11 years under corn. CT resulted in loss of nutrients as a result of disturbing the soil surface. CT also developed a thick plow pan at 10cm depth. I wonder if they should think of having permanent NT beds with residue retention that is practiced successfully in other parts of the World.

This 5 year study from Lithuania,  looked at soil physical and earthworms as indicators of soil health following conventional (CT) and no-tillage (NT) across 3 rotations; three crops per rotation (with three variants), two-crop rotation (with two variants), and monoculture winter wheat. Earthworm abundance had a strong negative association with bulk density and a positive correlation with total porosity in the upper soil layer. Earthworm numbers were similar between CT and NT. Rotations affected earthworms more than tillage with with 3 and 2 crop rotations having more earthworms than monoculture.

This paper looked at the combined influence of tillage and crop management (conventional (CT) and no-tillage (NT) with living mulch (LM)) and weeding regimes on nematodes, free living and parasitic in the Madagascar highlands 7 years after the establishment of the experiment. Results showed that the population of free living nematodes was almost 4 times more in NT+LM than CT. But plant parasitic nematodes were the same in abundance for both tillage treatments but differed in taxonomic  composition. They concluded that CA and no-weeding proved beneficial for promoting free-living nematode communities but also to decrease the overall plant parasitic pressure through plant diversification. As no weeding may nonetheless affect crop yield, a trade-off has therefore to be found to promote soil ecosystem services while maintaining crop production.

This paper provides an overview of the science and farmers’ expectations of conservation tillage (CST) in six European countries, including Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Poland where traditional intensive tillage results in soil erosion, loss of SOM, and soil degradation. This review looks at the adoption on CST in these countries and looks at the current progress and future prospects. CST provides adequate soil cover, minimizes erosion, and encourages biological activity and organic matter accumulation that results in improved soil productivity and resilience against additional degradation and climate variation. Results showed a high level of diversity in readiness and willingness to accept, as well as different levels of knowledge about the adoption of CST, but adoption is increasing and this represents a key way to slow soil degradation and adapt to climate change.

This article aims to better understand the interaction of no-till and residue management affect the soil microbiome. Soil was collected from a long term field trial that had CT and nt and plus and minus residue. Stubble management markedly altered both the taxonomic and functional composition of the prokaryotic community, the addition of stubble caused a significant increase in Proteobacteria, but a decrease in Chloroflexi compared with no stubble. Stubble retention increased the availability of carbon resources in the soil, resulting in a higher proportion of genes functional for metabolic activity and plant–pathogen interactions. However, tillage practice did not influence the structure or diversity of the soil prokaryote community.

This paper from Brazil looks at the problem of managing crop. residues during sowing in a no-till system. This research looked at four straw-cutting discs effect under three vertical loads, analyzing the energy performance in a maize- brachiária cropping system. They applied 3 vertical loads applied to 4 types of cutting disks. Data collected included mobilized soil, working depth, average drawbar force, horizontal force per area of mobilized soil, specific force, power demanded, hourly fuel consumption, and specific fuel consumption. They concluded that the Turbo disc reached the soil's lowest depths. Increasing the vertical load applied to the cutting discs results in greater disturbance to the ground.

In this study, a 20-year experiment was used to investigate the long-term effects of no-tillage in CA on soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) mineralization, plant N uptake, grain yields, and the grain quality of durum wheat. NT was compared with CT in a wheat/legume crop rotation. After 20 years the CA plot  had 43% more absolute potentially mineralizable N (N0) in the topsoil than the CT plots, with no significant differences observed in deeper soil layers (15–30 cm and 30–45 cm). Other comparisons are made in this paper for different wheat parts. Their results highlight the benefits of long-term CA adoption to increase soil N mineralization, providing a substantial base for N uptake during the critical growth stages of durum wheat, thus leading to increased crop yield. 

This article is concerned with the impact of climate change (CC) will have on the productivity of the rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia and India that is the breadbasket of these countries. This long term research looks at the potential of long term conservation agriculture (CA) management to address this CC issue. The paper describes 6 different production scenarios with one the traditional system and 5 others that have various improvements on the traditional system including just NT wheat, both NT rice and wheat, addition of a mung bean legume, NT maize and wheat, and one with sub-surface drip for irrigation (SSDI). They conclude that overall, soil organic carbon was higher in all CA scenarios compared to the traditional scenario. "By substantially enhancing soil health and crop productivity, as well as boosting resilience, CA emerges as a promising solution for meeting the increasing food demand in Northwest India and beyond and cropping seasons between and across regions."

CA is being used in this coastal area of the USA to improve soil health, reduce environmental impacts, and improve farmer profits. They commonly use cover crops, strip, minimal, and no tillage. The paper evaluates the changes in soil properties from various CA  practices. They evaluated 4 tillage systems: conventional, strip, minimal, and no-tillage; 3 winter cover crop systems; fallow, winter cash crop, and high biomass CC. They then measured 6 soil properties over 7 years. Altogether, soil carbon showed a more consistent response to conservation management than the other soil properties, which tended to show greater variability based on the time since tillage. They conclude that conservation practices need to be applied for multiple years in order to improve soil properties. 

This study looks at the impacts of no-till individually and with other CA practices on nitrous oxide (N20) emissions and yields using a review of 1270 observations from 86 peer-reviewed articles. Results sho that yields increased by 9.1% while reducing N20 emissions by 6.8% compared to conventional tillage (CT). The results also showed that reduction of N20 emissions and yields were even greater when using other CA practices like residue retention and rotations; reductions in N20 of 15% and increase in yields of more than 30%. The mitigation of N20 emissions was higher in dry versus humid climates. They conclude that "Smallholder farms in Central Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa appear particularly suitable for the adoption of conservation agriculture, whereas, in humid climates, high nitrogen (N) input management and silt-clay loam soil should be applied with caution.