Conservation agriculture in North Africa experiences, achievements and challenges

1. Conservation Agriculture in
North Africa:
Experiences, achievements and
challenges
El Mourid M., Boulal H., El Gharras O.
19th March2014 Lusaka, Zambia :1st African Congress on Conservation Agriculture

2. Introduction
Rangeland ImprovementRangeland Improvement
adapted varietiesadapted varieties
andand SeedSeed PonPon ofof
ForagesForages
ByBy--productsproducts
ValorizationValorization
CactusCactus,, shrubsshrubs, ..., ... Feed blockFeed block Tech.Tech.
Alternative
feeds
Small ruminantSmall ruminant
managementmanagement

3. Experiences of CA in North Africa
Morocco
 Since 80th by INRA Morocco in semi-arid areas
 In wheat based system by using locales direct drill prototypes
 Early 2000s promotion of no-tillage system at farm scale
Tunisia
 Mid 90s in collaboration with CIRAD
 In sub-humid and semi-arid areas by using Brazilian direct
drills
Algeria
 In Mid 2000s by using imported direct drill

4. Achievements of CA in North Africa
No till system as an alternative for sustainable
agriculture in North Africa rain-fed regions.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Years
WheatGrainYield(tha-1)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Rainfall(mm)
No-Till Conventional Rainfall

5. Challenges of CA in North Africa
Residues management in an integrated crop live-
stock system.
 Development of adapted direct drill machines
and sprayers that can serve all farmers.
Cropping system, crop rotations and chain value
of proposed crops.
Crop management
Seed rates
Weed management
Crops fertilisation
Disease management
Harvest…

6. Conclusion
 Crop-livestock integration in North Africa lead to a specific
no-till system with no threshold soil surface residue cover.
 Whatever residues left on soil combined to limited soil
surface disturbance contribute to better water use
efficiency and production.
 The lately successful promotion of CA in Algeria, Morocco
and Tunisia has shown that it is possible to adopt CA.
 The major constraints to rapid CA adoption and its wide-
scale dissemination among farmers in North Africa remain
are luck of shared knowledge among farmers and the
unavailability of affordable NT drills in the region.