Conservation agriculture for smallholder farmers in rainfed and irrigated systems in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain: lessons learned.

2022 ◽  
pp. 443-457
Author(s):  
Md Enamul Haque ◽  
Richard W. Bell ◽  
Mohammad Jahiruddin
Keyword(s):  
Weed Management ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Farm Level ◽  
Transplanted Rice ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Simple Technology

Abstract Conservation Agriculture (CA), which delivers multiple benefits for crop cultivation, is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. However, CA is not a single, ready-made or simple technology that can be adopted everywhere without necessary farm-level refinement. The CA practitioners may need to incorporate changes in practices and each needs a few years of experience to fully learn how to optimize the technology on a particular crop on each farm. Implementation of CA is challenging in resource-limited, intensively cropped and rice-based smallholder farms. This chapter is a reflection on lessons learned during the last two decades of research, farmers' adoption and service providers' (LSP) feedback on CA practice in rainfed and irrigated systems where farmers grow three crops per year including at least one transplanted rice crop. The researchers review smallholder farmers and LSP affordable and preferred CA planters, and the performance of CA in crop establishment and management, weed management, role and involvement of farmers' groups, farm level benefits, rice and upland crops. Case studies are also presented on the benefits of CA practice including resources optimization, long-term trends of crop yield and profit margin, soil organic carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas (GHG) implications. These lessons may be useful for new practitioners, extensionists, researchers, teachers, students and policy planners to implement CA in smallholder regions considering food security, soil health and livelihoods and their contribution to mitigation of global warming.

Lessons learnt from concern worldwide's conservation agriculture interventions in Malawi and Zambia, 2010-2018.

2022 ◽  
pp. 361-370
Author(s):  
Carl Wahl
Keyword(s):  
Financial Stability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Seed Selection ◽  
Result Concern ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Agriculture Extension ◽  
Supply Systems

Abstract Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a gateway technology intended to build both the productivity and resilience of smallholder farmers. Since 2010, the Ireland-based NGO Concern Worldwide has been promoting CA with extremely poor farmers in Malawi and Zambia. In the context of the specific regions within both countries, similar conditions of limited labour capacity, low financial capacity, poor soil health and constrained agriculture extension services were the primary barriers to the poorest farmers. Initial CA projects utilized broad, standardized approaches to CA with subsidized inputs that led to yield increases, but saw limited non-subsidized adoption. As a result, Concern has adapted its approaches to CA to better accommodate and embrace innovation by lead farmers, understanding different adoption strategies for follower farmers and working to improve input supply systems to meet farmers' needs. However, major constraints to adoption remain for the poorest and, going forward, CA projects will need to incorporate robust strategies for household financial stability such as the graduation model; fostering greater innovation by lead farmers within CA principles to meet local contexts; and integrating seed selection and saving for non-commercialized food crops to spur large-scale adoption of CA by the poorest farmers.

scholarly journals Factors influencing the adoption of conservation agriculture practices among smallholder farmers in Mozambique

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Chichongue ◽  
Andre Pelser ◽  
Johan V. Tol ◽  
Chris Du Preez ◽  
Gert Ceronio
Keyword(s):  
Cell Phone ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Cover Cropping ◽  
Ecological Regions ◽  
Health Decline ◽  
Female Headed Households

This study aimed to identify the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ decisions to adopt four different conservation agriculture (CA) practices (i.e. minimum tillage, intercropping, cover cropping and crop rotation) in Mozambique. A non-probability sampling approach, incorporating both purposive and accidental sampling types, was followed. Three agro-ecological regions, followed by four provinces, were purposely selected. In addition, Accidental sampling was used to select 616 smallholder farmers from 38 communities in the three agro-ecological regions where CA projects were historically implemented by several NGO institutions. A questionnaire was administered to the 616 selected smallholder farmers. A descriptive logit model was applied in STATA to determine the probability of respondents adopting CA practices. The findings show that 44.6% of smallholder farmers adopted one or more of the CA practices, and 55.4% did not. It was also clear that most farmers did not adopt all components CA. Results obtained revealed that household size, animal ownership, communication assets (such as television, radio, and cell phone) and group membership had a positive influence on CA adoption. Interestingly, female-headed households were more likely to adopt CA. Awareness of soil health decline is an important factor determining adoption. The study concluded that the reasons for adoption are site-specific and a ‘blanket approach’ to promote adoption of CA is unlikely to be successful.

scholarly journals Smallholder Farmer Innovation and Contexts in Maize-Based Conservation Agriculture Systems in Central Malawi

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Limson Kaluzi ◽  
Christian Thierfelder ◽  
David W. Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Crop Residues ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Yield Enhancement ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Linear Interaction ◽  
Ample Evidence

The increased threat of food insecurity and climate change requires more sustainable ways of agriculture intensification in African smallholder farming systems. Ample evidence confirms that maize-based conservation agriculture (CA) systems lead to increased soil health and yield enhancement yet their overall uptake remains low in Africa. An array of studies on challenges and solutions to CA systems conducted in southern Africa principally focussed on the views of scientists, often neglecting the views of CA farmers. Therefore, this study assessed farmer decision making, innovation and contexts during implementation of maize-based CA systems in communities of central Malawi. A survey involving interviews with 226 CA farmers was deployed, triangulated with key informants comprising extension workers and policy makers. The study showed that about 58% of smallholder farmers did not adapt CA practices to their circumstances because they were strictly following change agents’ recommendations. The major challenge noted was competition for crop residues due to mice hunters and grazing livestock. Local by-laws initiated by the communities have started to privatise the crop residues and its grazing. However, other innovations were often not documented by extension workers, consequently neglecting more than half of the potential solutions provided by farmers. The establishments of a National Conservation Agriculture Task Force and CA guidelines are positive developments for coordination of stakeholders and harmonisation of CA messages in Malawi. However, for greater adoption, non-linear interaction and learning must be encouraged in practice by fully embracing innovative farmers and the voices of the pool of stakeholders with varying experiences.

scholarly journals Sustainable Weed Management for Conservation Agriculture: Options for Smallholder Farmers

Agriculture ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Sims ◽  
Sandra Corsi ◽  
Gualbert Gbehounou ◽  
Josef Kienzle ◽  
Makiko Taguchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weed Control ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Integrated Weed Management ◽  
Resource Base

Land degradation and soil fertility deterioration are two of the main causes of agricultural production stagnation and decline in many parts of the world. The model of crop production based on mechanical soil tillage and exposed soils is typically accompanied by negative effects on the natural resource base of the farming environment, which can be so serious that they jeopardize agricultural productive potential in the future. This form of agriculture is destructive to soil health and accelerates the loss of soil by increasing its mineralization and erosion rates. Conservation agriculture, a system avoiding or minimizing soil mechanical disturbance (no-tillage) combined with soil cover and crop diversification, is considered a sustainable agro-ecological approach to resource-conserving agricultural production. A major objective of tillage is supposed to be weed control, and it does not require very specific knowledge because soil inversion controls (at least temporarily) most weeds mechanically (i.e., by way of burying them). However, repeated ploughing only changes the weed population, but does not control weeds in the long term. The same applies to the mechanical uprooting of weeds. While in the short term some tillage operations can control weeds on farms, tillage systems can increase and propagate weeds off-farm. The absence of tillage, under conservation agriculture, requires other measures of weed control. One of the ways in which this is realized is through herbicide application. However, environmental concerns, herbicide resistance and access to appropriate agro-chemicals on the part of resource-poor farmers, highlight the need for alternative weed control strategies that are effective and accessible for smallholders adopting conservation agriculture. Farmers in semi-arid regions contend with the additional challenge of low biomass production and, often, competition with livestock enterprises, which limit the potential weed-suppressing benefits of mulch and living cover crops. This paper reviews the applicability and efficacy of various mechanical, biological and integrated weed management strategies for the effective and sustainable management of weeds in smallholder conservation agriculture systems, including the role of appropriate equipment and prerequisites for smallholders within a sustainable intensification scenario.

IMPACT OF WHEAT ESTABLISHMENT METHODS AND WEED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON WEED FLORA, YIELD AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE OF WHEAT IN RICE-WHEAT CROPPING SYSTEM

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
MOHAN SINGH ◽  
OMBIR SINGH ◽  
ROHITASAV SINGH
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
Phalaris Minor ◽  
Weed Population ◽  
Metsulfuron Methyl ◽  
Transplanted Rice ◽  
Weed Flora

A field experiment was conducted at the Crop Research Centre of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar during continuous two years to study the weed flora, yield and nutrient uptake of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under different wheat establishment methods in main plots and seven weed management in sub plots. Phalaris minor was the most dominant weed at 60 DAS contributed 55.0 per cent of total weed population. Melilotusindica was the major non grassy weeds in wheat which contributed 11 per cent to total weed population during respective years. Sowing of wheat with zero tillage significantly reduced the Phalaris minor density as compared to conventionally tilled wheat after transplanted rice, 60 per cent Phalaris minor emerged from 0-3 cm in reduced and conventional tillage where as in zero tillage after transplanted rice there was 55 per cent emergence from 0-3 cm layer.The highest grain yield was obtained in two hand weedings done at 30 and 60 DAS and was at par with Isoproturon 1.0 kg ha-1 + Metsulfuron methyl 4 g ha-1 at 30 DAS and Clodinafop – Propargyl 60 g ha-1 at 30 DAS fb. Metsulfuron methyl 4 g ha-1 at 37 DAS. Zero tillage resulted in significantly higher uptake of NPK by wheat plants as compared to conventional tillage, whereas reduced tillage recorded minimum NPK, which was significantly lower over the other treatments of wheat establishment methods.

Weed management in conservation agriculture, its issues and adoption : a review

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 09-19
Author(s):  
J.K. SONI ◽  
V.K. CHOUDHARY ◽  
P. K. SINGH ◽  
S. HOTA
Keyword(s):  
Weed Management ◽  
Conservation Agriculture

scholarly journals Achieving Sustainability in Food Systems: Addressing Changing Climate through Real Time Nitrogen and Weed Management in a Conservation Agriculture-Based Maize–Wheat System

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5010
Author(s):  
Kapila Shekhawat ◽  
Vinod K. Singh ◽  
Sanjay Singh Rathore ◽  
Rishi Raj ◽  
T. K. Das
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Indian Agricultural Research Institute ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Maximum Yield ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
N Application ◽  
N Management

The proven significance of conservation agriculture (CA) in enhancing agronomic productivity and resource use efficiency across diverse agro-ecologies is often challenged by weed interference and nitrogen (N) immobilization. The collective effect of real-time N and weed management has been scarcely studied. To evaluate the appropriateness of sensor-based N management in conjunction with a broad-spectrum weed control strategy for the maize–wheat system, an experiment was conducted at ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute—in New Delhi, India, during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017. Weed management in maize through Sesbania brown manure followed by post-emergence application of 2,4-D (BM + 2,4-D) in maize and tank-mix clodinafop-propargyl (60 g ha−1) and carfentrazone (20 g ha−1) (Clodi+carfentra) in wheat resulted in minimum weed infestation in both crops. It also resulted in highest maize (5.92 and 6.08 t ha−1) and wheat grain yields (4.91 and 5.4 t ha−1) during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017, respectively. Half of the N requirement, when applied as basal and the rest as guided by Optical crop sensor, resulted in saving 56 and 59 kg N ha−1 in the maize–wheat system, respectively, over 100% N application as farmers’ fertilizer practice during the two consecutive years. Interactive effect of N and weed management on economic yield of maize and wheat was also significant and maximum yield was obtained with 50% N application as basal + rest as per Optical crop sensor and weed management through BM+2,4-D in maize and Clodi+carfentra in wheat crop. The study concludes that real-time N management, complemented with appropriate weed management, improved growth, enhanced agronomic productivity and endorsed N saving under a CA-based maize–wheat system in Trans Indo-Gangetic Plains.

scholarly journals Agricultural Conservation Practices and Aquatic Ecological Responses

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1687
Author(s):  
Richard E. Lizotte ◽  
Peter C. Smiley ◽  
Robert B. Gillespie ◽  
Scott S. Knight
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Harmful Algal Blooms ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Runoff ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Ecological Responses ◽  
And Function

Conservation agriculture practices (CAs) have been internationally promoted and used for decades to enhance soil health and mitigate soil loss. An additional benefit of CAs has been mitigation of agricultural runoff impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Countries across the globe have agricultural agencies that provide programs for farmers to implement a variety of CAs. Increasingly there is a need to demonstrate that CAs can provide ecological improvements in aquatic ecosystems. Growing global concerns of lost habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, increased eutrophication and associated harmful algal blooms are expected to intensify with increasing global populations and changing climate. We conducted a literature review identifying 88 studies linking CAs to aquatic ecological responses since 2000. Most studies were conducted in North America (78%), primarily the United States (73%), within the framework of the USDA Conservation Effects Assessment Project. Identified studies most frequently documented macroinvertebrate (31%), fish (28%), and algal (20%) responses to riparian (29%), wetland (18%), or combinations (32%) of CAs and/or responses to eutrophication (27%) and pesticide contamination (23%). Notable research gaps include better understanding of biogeochemistry with CAs, quantitative links between varying CAs and ecological responses, and linkages of CAs with aquatic ecosystem structure and function.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document