My presentation in the INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE Strategies for the Promotion and Uptake in the Central and West Asia and North Africa Region 5-7 July 2017 Konya, Turkey

1. One must wash eyes,
look differently to
things, words must
be washed,
We should
understand that life
would miss
something if now
worm existed.
Sohrab Sepehri (1964)
A notable Iranian poet and a painter (1928-1980).

2. Adoption and promotion of CA in Iran
M. E. Asadi
Irrigation and water scientist
Department of Agricultural Engineering Research,
Golestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center
iwc977127@yahoo.com
www.ganrrc.org.ir

3. Outline

4. Why CA?
 Population growth and the need for more calories
 Water Scarcity
 Tillage, Erosion
 Soil compaction and decreasing of soil fertility
 Environmental Pollution
 Higher production costs in agriculture
 Crop Yield Fluctuations
 Salinity
 Poor Drainage
 Climate change, Drought and Aridity

5. Iran in the subtropical region and dry ring of the world.
Annual rainfall 250 mm <
𝟏
𝟑
global average annual rainfall (860 mm).
More over, the amount of Iran rainfall has high coefficient variability.

6. The Iran plateau is mainly deserted, and most of the places (except northern and north western regions)
have between 70 to 220 mm rainfall per year .
Semi Arid
Mountains
Forests
Arid

7. Precipitation Pattern Evaporation pattern
Only 3% of Iran’s land area (4.7 million ha)
receives above 500 mm/y precipitation.

8. Percent of total water resource used for agriculture
in different parts of the world
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
W
orld
A
frica
A
sia
E
uropeO
ceania
N
orth
A
m
erica
C
entralA
m
erica
S
outh
A
m
erica
C
hina
Iran
M
exico
%WaterResourceUsedfor
Agriculture
Fresh water use in Agriculture

9. 7/3/2017 9
Irrigation challenge:
Low WUE, soil structural degradation and accelerated erosion.
The inefficiency of irrigation: due to deep percolation and tail water runoff
losses, which cause individual field efficiency to be low.
Evaporation
Deep percolation
Runoff
50 - 70 %

10. Approximately in Iran 18.5 million ha are under cultivation, of which 8.5 million
are irrigated and 10 million ha are rainfed.
ICID 2016

11. 11
Top 10 groundwater abstracting countries

12. Land Subsidence due to over extraction of groundwater
ICID 2016

13. Tillage, Erosion
‫حفاظتی‬ ‫کشاورزی‬ ‫به‬ ‫پرداختن‬ ‫ضرورتهای‬‫د‬‫کشور‬ ‫ر‬

14. For every 1 cm increasing the depth of soil plowing, the amount of soil that needs to be
displaced will increase about 150 tons per hectare, which can not be achieved without
significant increases in fuel costs.
Conventional Tillage by moldboard plow

15. Conventional Tillage by moldboard plow
Tillage operations account
for 60% of the energy
consumed in agricultural
operations.

16. Distribution of soil salinity in Golestan province:
 292800 ha<2 dS/m
 107000 ha=2-4 dS/m
 98000 ha=4-8 dS/m
 55000 ha=8-16 dS/m
 6200 ha>16 dS/m
Result: Salinity & water stress are two important problems in
this region

17. Change in Iran’s harvested land area and average yield (left), and the
population and net value of international trade of the agricultural products
(right) over the 25 years.
While the total cultivated cropland area has been fluctuating around 12 million ha over the past 25 years, the average crop
yield has increased from 2.8 to 6.4 ton/ha - giving rise to an increase in the annual crop production from 29 to 74 million ton
between 1990 and 2015. Nevertheless, the yield and production tonnage of the cereals- which account for 80% of the
harvested croplands - have virtually stayed flat and the rise in the average crop yield and total production is solely due to the
increase in the production of vegetables (sabzijät and jälizi) and fodder.

18. 2616
2724
3439
2786
3192
2985
2224
3196
3642
4458
3683
3475
3083
3509
3519
3408
3552
3141
3627
2569
3706
2920
2038
2150
2162
2166
2341
2305
1361
2085
2017
3476
2210
2228
1405
1669
2758
2484
2224
2102
2808
1020
2328
2571
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
irrigated
dry land
Comparing the yield of irrigated and rain fed wheat in 22 years

19. Residue burning in more than 120000 ha
Crop residues (straw of wheat) are generally burned immediately after
harvest to facilitate seedbed preparation for the succeeding crops
(Maize, soybean and rice).

20. 10 tonBiomass per ha
30%HI (Mean of 10 years)
7 tonTotal Residues (Except Grain)
3 tonCollected straw per ha
4 tonBurning per ha
Incorrect wheat residue management
With 156000 ha irrigated wheat in 2006 624000 ton burning
In 25 years period 15, 600,000 ton
100 ton dry organic matter per ha is burned in 25 years

21. Consequences of 1 ton straw burning
3 kg Fine
particles
60 Kg
((CO
1460 Kg
CO2
199 Kg
Ash
2 Kg
(SO2)

22. Iran-ICARDA Food Security Project.
Beginning year 2016-17 (5 years)
The main objective of the project is to enhance Iran’s food security by
increasing the production of rainfed wheat-based systems by 25% within five
years.
Where will the future gains come from? Advances in crop yield from 1968-’99
Crop Breeding: 22% - Improved agronomic management: 48% - Unexplained: 24%
CA-based crop management technologies and practices can ensure a food
secure Iran.

23. The project targets a
total of 905,000 ha of
wheat, barley, and
chickpea in
Kermanshah, Kurdistan,
Lorestan, and East
Azarbayjan

24. Since 2008 Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture has been importing direct seeding planter–
tools which help farmers improve soil and soil moisture conservation. Recently, seeders
and other CA equipment have begun to be produced by private manufacturers within
the country. Boukan Kaveh Sazeh-Kesht Company is one of the agricultural machinery
factories in Iran that has successfully developed and manufactured CA machines.
CA History in Iran

25. Promoting CA-farming practices that involve minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil
cover and the use of crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase
profits and protect the environment – is a keystone of Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture’s
current strategy to conserve soil and water and make farming more sustainable.
Adoption of CA by Iran
CA area 2016-2017
150 000 ha.
Reduced tillage 2016-2017
1 500 000 ha.

26. Golestan province area: 20,311.6 km2 is situated in south east of Caspian Sea.
The main agricultural crops of the province are cereals, cotton, oilseeds.
Total under cultivation lands in 2015 were calculated as 650,000 ha, of which 65%
is relevant to the cultivation of wheat and barley, 29% to the kinds of industrial
cultivation and 5% is allocated to the cultivation of kinds of rice.
Caspian Sea
Republic of
Turkmenistan
Central arid Iranian desert

27. Zoning weather in Golestan province
From wet areas (South) gradually to the Mediterranean and semi-arid to arid regions (North)

28. Golestan Status in Country
1.3 % of Country Area
1.87 % of Country water
2.4% of Country Population
3.5% of Irrigated Land
5.2 of Rainfed
Soybean 65% Production (1)
Canola 44 % Production (1)
Caviar 65 % Production (1)
Olive Orchard Development up to 150000 ha (2)
Cotton 17% Production(2)
Tobacco 17% Production (3)
Paddy 10 % Production (3)
Wheat 10% Production (3)
Hydrothermal Fish (4)
InComparison
WithCountry
CountryRanking

29. Why raise the beds?
Iranian Bed
Planter

30. 5 Feb 2017
5 Apr 2017

31. 4 May 2017

32. “TAKE IT TO THE FARMER”
Research and extension through the transfer of sustainable technologies and training of farmers
Farmers First

33. Take it to the farmers
Turning research into impact

34. Global, regional & national
training: Building Capacity

35. Global, regional & national
training: Building Capacity

36. Our promotional activities

37. Our promotional activities
Daily public Newspaper 2014

38. ‫کشاورزی‬ ‫مهندسی‬ ‫و‬ ‫فنی‬ ‫تحقیقات‬ ‫موسسه‬
AERI
Soil sample without residueSoil Sample with residue
Our promotional activities
Soybean field-2015

39. Take it to the farmers

42. Take it to the farmers-Farmers First
Demonstration site
June 7 2016 Sowing
July 9 2016
July 26 2016

43. Maize with residue burning Maize with residue
A two-year comparison of water consumption in soybean and maize fields shows that the number
of irrigation runs decreases 2 times.
Which one consumes less water? Left or Right

44. CA soybean Conventional Soybean
Side by side field in 2016.
Which one consumes less water? Left or Right

45. Snow cover last more on no tilled field (Left) than tilled one (Right).
Sarmil village, Delanco district, Kermanshah province.
20th Dec. 2016

46. Chick pea weed control by spraying
Paraquat ( Gramaxon) between the rows
Same field after some days

47. Equipment designed for Chick pea weed control by spraying
Paraquat ( Gramaxon) just between the rows

48. Chick pea weed control by spraying
Paraquat ( Gramaxon) between the rows

49. 30 ha field of no till autumn chickpea planted with Aske no till seeder
in Kamyaran, Kurdestan, Iran
29th April 2017

50. 30 ha field of no till spring chickpea
planted with Aske no till seeder
in Hosein abad, Kurdestan, Iran
April 2017
No till Vetch planted with Aske no till seeder
in Charoymaq, Esat Azarbayejan , Iran
29th April 2017

51. Mixing seed with fertilizers
Loosening the walls
Clogging rows with residue
Existing Risks
Seeds contacts with
residue
‫کشاورزی‬ ‫مهندسی‬ ‫و‬ ‫فنی‬ ‫تحقیقات‬ ‫موسسه‬
‫مکانیزاسیون‬ ‫و‬ ‫کشاورزی‬ ‫ماشینهای‬ ‫مکانیک‬ ‫مهندسی‬ ‫تحقیقات‬ ‫بخش‬
AERI
Influence and coverage of seed area

52. 53
Many people don’t realize that soil, especially
healthy soil, is full of life.
Bacteria, algae, microscopic insects,
earthworms, beetles, ants, mites, and fungi, all
together, their value has been estimated at $1.5
trillion a year worldwide.
Importance of soil
Soil is gold and very precious
…….treat it well.

53. Future Needs
 Crop Residue Management

54.  Machinary Replacement
Future Needs

55. please don't burn me
Let's stay on the soil surface
Thank you