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Vasantrao Nail Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani, profile picture
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CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE : CONCEPTS, UTILITY AND APPROACHES

The seminar presented by Dr. S. P. Zade focuses on conservation agriculture, emphasizing its principles such as surface crop residue retention, minimal soil movement, and crop rotation to enhance sustainability and productivity. Key benefits include improved soil health, increased biodiversity, and economic gains for agricultural livelihoods. The seminar also discusses the current adoption of conservation agriculture practices globally and in India, along with resource conservation technologies aimed at addressing challenges like soil degradation and erosion.

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Soil Health• Soil Science•
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Seminar on Presented by Research Guide Dr. S. P. Zade Assistant Professor, COA, Parbhani. Seminar Incharge Dr. Syed Ismail Head of Dept. SSAC, COA, Parbhani. DEPARTMENT OF SOIL SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY VASANTRAO NAIK MARATHWADA KRISHI VIDYAPEETH PARBHANI
 Conservation agriculture is based on maximizing yield and to achieve a balance of agricultural, economic and environmental benefits.  Conservation agriculture useful for meeting future food demands and also contributing to sustainable agriculture.  Conservation agriculture helps to minimizing the negative environmental effect and equally important to increased income to help the livelihood of those employed in agril. Production.  Introduction of conservation technologies (CT) was an important break through for sustaining productivity
• Enhance biodiversity and improves the value of environment. • Conservation agriculture improve soil water-use efficiency, enhance water infiltration , and increase insurance against drought. • Thus, conservation agriculture is based on the integrated management of soil, water and agricultural resources in order to reach the objective of economically, ecolagically and socially sustainable agricultural production.
OR
What is conservation agriculture?
Comprises three basic Principles (components)  Surface crop residue retention  Minimal soil movement  Crop rotation
 Globally, CA is being practiced on about 125 M ha.  USA has been the pioneer country in adopting CA systems and currently more than 25.5 million ha land is under such system. Countries where CA practices have now been widely adopted for many years in USA (26.5 M ha), Brazil (25.5 M ha), Argentina (25.5 M ha), Canada (13.5 M ha) and Australia (17.0 M ha).  France and Spain are the two countries where CA was being followed in about one million ha of area under annual crops. Source: Bhan and Behera, (2014). International soil and water conservation research 4 (2):1-12.
 The total area under no-tillage/zero tillage in India it is about 3.43 mha.  Efforts to adapt and promote resource conservation technologies have been underway for nearly a decade.  Spread of conservation agriculture have been made through the combined efforts of several SAU’s, ICAR institutes.  CA technologies is taking place in the irrigated regions of Indo-Gangetic plains where rice-wheat cropping system dominates.  CA systems have not been tried or promoted in other major agro-eco regions like rainfed semi-arid tropics, the arid regions. Source: Bhan and Behera, (2014). International soil and water conservation research 4 (2):1-12.
Increasing the productivity of land and water and capital to meet human needs while preserving the integrity of the natural ecosystems.  Conserve and enhance the quality of natural and human resources.  Better quality food for consumer.
 Need of Conservation Agriculture  Soil Compaction  Soil Erosion  Soil Degradation  Hike in prices of fertilizers  Availability of Labour  Declining fertility of soil
Resource Conservation Technologies 1. Precision land leveling 2. No-till systems 3. Crop residue management 4.Cover crop 5. Crop diversification
Components of Conservation Agriculture 1. In situ management of crop residues 2. Engineering measures Contour bunding Graded bunding Terracing Contour trenching 3. Adoption of micro-irrigation system 4. Mulching 5. Tillage 6. Integrated nutrient management in soil .
Fig: 1. Contour bunding Fig: 2. Graded bunding Fig: 3 Terrace farming
Fig: 9. Relay Cropping system Fig: 10.Strip Cropping system Fig: 11. Cover Crops Fig: 12. Paddy straw mulch for brinjal
Cover crops improve the stability of the CA system Capacity to promote an increased biodiversity in the agro-ecosystem. Beneficial for areas of eroded and degraded soils.
 Integrated plant nutrient management • Is an intelligent use of optimum combination of organic, inorganic and biological nutrient sources in specific crop, cropping system and climatic situation so as to achieve and sustain optimum yield and to improve or maintain soils physical, chemical, and biological properties • Integrated plant nutrient management is beneficial to maintain soil fertility, sustainable agricultural production, increase availability of nutrient from all resources and minimizing loss of nutrient.
The physical manipulation of soil for the purpose of • Management of previous crop residues • Control of competing vegetation • Incorporation of amendments • Preparation of a seedbed
 Conservation tillage is defined as: "any tillage or planting system in which at least 30% of the soil surface is covered by plant residue after planting to reduce erosion.”  No tillage, minimum tillage, reduced tillage and mulch tillage are terms synonymous with conservation tillage.  Appropriate tillage practices are those that avoid the degradation of soil properties but maintain crop yields as well as ecosystem stability.  Conservation tillage provides the best opportunity for halting degradation and for restoring and improving soil productivity.  In recent years interest in conservation tillage systems has increased in response to the need to limit erosion and promote water conservation.
1) Zero Tillage: Soil is completely left undisturbed from planting to harvest except sowing and nutrient application. Weed control is only by herbicides. 2) Strip Tillage: Strip-tillage is a form of conservation tillage that clears crop residues in a narrow zone of soil and loosens subsoil layers prior to planting. 3) Reduced tillage Little soil disturbance before sowing to break the crust, loosen compact soil and prepare seedbed. Weed control by herbicides or some secondary tillage. 4) Mulch Tillage: It includes any CT system other than no-tillage, strip tillage, or ridge- tillage that preserves 30 % or more surface residues.
Fig: Different types of minimum tillage Fig: Direct drilling in previous crop residues Fig: Stubble mulch tillage Fig. Zero tillage
 CROP RESIDUE  Part of plant left after harvest  Need of conservation agriculture to enhance soil physical, chemical and biological properties
 Soil structure : Favor the formation of aggregates.  Bulk Density & porosity : Decreases the bulk density of soil & increase the porosity of the soils.  Hydraulic conductivity : Increase hydraulic conductivity by modifying soil structure microspores.  Soil temperature : Increases the minimum soil temperature in winter and decrease soil temperature during summer due to shading effect.  Soil moisture : Reduces evaporation rate due to increase in amount of residues on the soil surface.
 Benefits of conservation agriculture  Improve the sustainability of different production system.  Provide soil as sink for carbon dioxide.  Improve water infiltration.  Improve habitation of organism.  10-17% yield advantage over conventional tillage.  Enhance biodiversity and improve the value of environmental services.  Water saving by 20-35%. Source : Joshi (2009). Indian journal of agri. Econ 66 (1): 53-63.
Availability of residues.  Skill of operation.  Marginal lands.  Economic problem.  Large investment costs may discourage adoption  The perceived risk of adopting CA may serve as a barrier Source : Joshi (2009). Indian journal of agri. Econ 66 (1): 53-63. Constraints in adoption
Year Rainfall (mm) Runoff (mm) Soil loss (ton/ha.) BBF FOG BBF FOG 2003 1058.0 163.0 (15.4%) 214.9 (20.3%) 2.0 2.9 2004 798.2 124.0 (15.5%) 183.3 (23.0%) 0.7 1.5 2005 946.0 177 (18.7%) 246 (26.1%) 1.4 3.1 2006 1513.0 502 (33.2%) 873 (57.7%) 3.5 6.4 Source: Bhattacharyya et al.,(2015) Sustainability 7, 3528-3570.
Effect of Tillage and Mulch on Soil and Crop
Treatments Bacteria (cfu x 10-6) g/soil Fungi (cfu x 10-4) g/soil Actinomycetes (cfu x 10-3) g/soil T1 CT-Flat 52 25 10 T2 CT-FIRB 58 25 11 T3 CT-permt FIRB 52 27 13 T4 MT-flat 54 23 12 T5 MT-FIRB 63 29 15 T6 MT-permt FIRB 55 24 10 T7 Zero tillage 74 35 21 SE(m)+ 3 1.4 1.1 CD(5%) 6 3 2 CT-Flat (conventional tillage on flat surface), CT-FIRB (conventional tillage on furrow irrigated raised bed), MT-flat (Minimum tillage on flat surface), MT-FIRB (Minimum tillage on FIRB), MT-permanent FIRB (Minimum tillage in permanent FIRB), Location: Tamilnadu Source: Bama et al.,(2017). International journal of chemical studies,5 (5): 480-4085.
Mode of mulch application Tillage Mean Minimum Tillage Conventional Tillage Mulch on whole plot 41.4 39.1 40.3 Mulch on the lower 1/3rd of the plot 33.1 32.0 32.6 Strip Mulching 33.0 31.6 32.3 Vertical Mulching 25.6 25.0 25.3 Control Bare Plots 25.5 24.6 25.1 Mean 31.7 30.5 - Source : Bhatt et al., (2004) Int. J. Agri. Biol.,vol.6, No.1: 126-128.
No. of passes of 800 kg roller Soil dept (cm) Bulk density (Mg m-3) Percolation rate (cm /ha) Rice (IR-8) (q/ha) Wheat (Sonalika) (q/ha) 0 0-10 1.65 2.9 29.9 28.010-20 1.60 20-30 1.48 2 0-10 1.85 1.8 32.8 32.910-20 1.77 20-30 1.70 4 0-10 1.88 1.1 40.0 40.110-20 1.81 20-30 1.72 6 0-10 1.92 1.0 43.3 33.910-20 1.86 20-30 1.75 Mean - 4.2 2.6 Source: Ghildyal and Satyanarayana, (1965) J.Indian Soc. Soil Sci.13,149
Crop Slop (%) Grain yield (kg/ha) Increase (%) Ridge Flat Soybean( 1973) 0.3 2900 1890 53.4 0.6 2650 1740 52.3 1.2 3030 2390 26.7 Maize (1977) 0.3 3376 1610 106 0.6 3247 1704 88 1.2 3644 2642 38 Sorghum (1977) 0.3 3608 2638 38 0.6 3754 2445 54 1.2 3553 2717 30 Gupta et al., (1978) JNKVV Res. J. 12,73.
Tillage/ cover crop Soil properties and mineral nutrient composition pH OM (%) CEC (mol kg/ha) N (kg/ha) P (kg/ha) K (kg/ha) Tillage Conventional tillage 6.46 1.35 15 20 66 565 Non conventional tillage 6.17 2.12 15 20 98 670 LSD (0.05) 0.22 0.21 NS NS 26 96 Cover crop No cover crop 6.41 1.51 15 17 80 589 Crimson clover 6.17 1.99 15 33 85 643 Rye 6.36 1.69 14 10 82 621 LSD (0.05) 0.14 0.26 NS 11 NS NS Source : Reddy et al., (2003) Weed Sci. 51:978-994.
Tillage/Cover crop Total fungi Total bacteria FDA Log10 colani-forming units/g soil Log10 colani-forming units/g soil nmol fluorescein formed g-1 soil h-1 Tillage Conventional tillage 5.16 8.10 202 No tillage 5.36 8.19 317 LSD (0.05) 0.05 0.03 35 Cover crop No cover crop 5.12 7.97 197 Crimson clover 5.41 8.34 350 Rye 5.25 8.12 250 LSD (0.05 0.06 0.04 43 Source: Reddy et al.,(2003) Weed Sci. 51:978-994.
Effect of Straw and Crop Residue on Soil and Crop
Treatment Wheat grain yield (t/ha) 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 Mean Control 1.18 1.41 1.35 1.33 1.42 1.34 Straw incarporation 1.93 1.70 1.73 1.72 1.74 1.76 Straw mulch 2.30 2.27 2.21 2.25 2.51 2.31 Straw burning 1.89 1.72 1.89 1.80 1.90 1.84 FYM 2.40 2.41 2.35 2.45 2.29 2.38 Straw incorporation + FYM 2.55 2.79 2.88 2.79 2.86 2.77 LSD (0.05) 0.28 0.23 0.19 0.22 0.26 0.24 Mandal et al., (2004). Food Agri. Environment Vol.2(1);224-231.
Mode of application Tillage MeanMinimum tillage Conventional tillage Mulch on the whole plot 56.9 55.0 55.9 Mulch on the lower 1/3rd of the plot 52.4 53.5 53.0 Strip mulching 51.9 51.0 51.5 Vertical mulching 45.7 43.5 44.6 Control bare plots 44.1 40.7 42.4 Mean 50.2 48.7 - Source : Bhatt et al., (2004) Int. J. Agri. Biol.,vol.6, No.1: 126-128.
Mode of mulch application Tillage Mean Minimum Tillage Conventional Tillage Mulch on whole plot 294.2 212.8 253.5 Mulch on the lower 1/3rd of the plot 201.5 193.0 197.2 Strip Mulching 185.4 117.0 151.2 Vertical Mulching 114.8 100.1 107.1 Control Bare Plots 109.9 96.1 99.0 Mean 177.8 145.5 - Source : Bhatt et al., (2004) Int. J. Agri. Biol.,vol.6, No.1: 126-128.
Treatment Green gram (q/ha) Safflower (q/ ha ) Grain Straw Seed Straw T1 100% RDF NPK without incorporation of crop residue 9.04 11.72 16.14 14.94 T2 Incorporation of crop residue @2 t ha-1 4.45 4.27 9.56 8.76 T3 PSB 10 kg ha-1 + crop residue @ 2 t ha-1 + Alkali water irrigation passed through gypsum bed (30 cm thickness) 5.87 5.96 11.15 11.67 T4 50% RDF NPK with incorporation of crop residue @ 2 t ha-1 7.11 9.89 14.29 12.08 T5 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg ha-1 6.26 9.82 13.36 12.45 T6 50% RDF NPK+PSB 10 kg ha-1+ crop residue @ 2 t/ha 7.65 10.50 14.71 13.45 T7 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg/ha+ Crop residue @ 2t/ha + Alkali water irrigation passed through gypsum bed 8.85 11.66 15.55 13.81 ‘F’ test Sig. Sig. Sig. Sig. SE(m) + 0.20 0.38 0.42 0.37 C.D. at 5% 0.56 1.08 1.24 1.04 Source : Bhowate et al., (2017) Int.J.Curre. Microbial. App. Sci. 6(9):3717-3730
Treatment N Content (%) P Content (%) K Content (%) Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw T1 100% RDF NPK without incorporation of crop residue 2.71 2.11 0.49 0.29 1.19 2.24 T2 Incorporation of crop residue @2 t ha-1 2.52 1.90 0.37 0..19 0.97 1.92 T3 PSB 10 kg ha-1 + crop residue @ 2 t ha-1 + Alkali water irrigation passed through gypsum bed (30 cm thickness) 2.55 1.92 0.40 0.21 1.04 2.05 T4 50% RDF NPK with incorporation of crop residue @ 2 t ha-1 2.61 1.99 0.42 0.23 1.09 2.09 T5 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg ha-1 2.59 1.97 0.44 0.25 1.01 1.94 T6 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg ha-1 + crop residue @ 2 t/ha 2.62 2.05 0.45 0.26 1.11 2.17 T7 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg/ha+ Crop residue @ 2 t/ha + Alkali water irrigation passed through gypsum bed 2.68 2.08 0.47 0.27 1.18 2.21 F Test Sig. Sig. Sig. Sig. Sig. Sig. SE (m) + 0.01 0.01 0.013 0.01 0.011 0.012 C.D at (5%) 0.03 0.029 0.039 0.03 0.033 0.034 Source : Bhowate et al., (2017) Int. J. Curre. Microbial. App. Sci. 6(9):3717-3730
Treatment N uptake kg/ha P uptake kg/ha K uptake kg/ha Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw T1 100% RDF NPK without incorporation of crop residue 28.68 22.09 7.97 3.71 10.43 27.75 T2 Incorporation of crop residue @2 t ha-1 8.75 11.57 2.13 1.25 3.18 14.41 T3 PSB 10 kg ha-1 + crop residue @ 2 t ha-1 + Alkali water irrigation passed through gypsum bed (30 cm thickness) 13.11 13.92 3.27 1.78 4.76 17.83 T4 50% RDF NPK with incorporation of crop residue @ 2 t ha-1 21.48 18.14 5.62 2.57 8.21 23.14 T5 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg ha-1 22.00 16.82 5.19 2.68 8.26 22.04 T6 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg ha/1+ crop residue @ 2 t/ha 24.25 19.55 6.29 2.79 9.02 24.70 T7 50% RDF NPK + PSB 10 kg/ha + Crop residue@ 2 t/ha + Alkali water irrigation passed through gypsum bed 27.65 20.98 7.71 3.25 10.08 26.76 F Test Sig. Sig. Sig. Sig. Sig. Sig. SE(m) + 0.77 0.43 0.22 0.23 0.35 0.61 C.D. at 5% 2.16 1.22 0.68 0.67 1.08 1.71 Source : Bhowate et at., (2017) Int.J.Curre. Microbial. App. Sci. 6(9):3717-3730
Effect of Integrated plant nutrient management on soil and plant
Treatment Depth (cm) pH EC (ds m-1) OC (g kg-1) 0-15 15-30 0-15 15-30 0-15 15-30 Control 7.74 7.55 0.16 0.16 2.8 2.1 100%N 7.21 7.38 0.17 0.16 3.5 2.5 100%NP 7.17 7.40 0.18 0.17 3.7 2.7 100%NPK 7.39 7.32 0.19 0.17 4.0 2.7 150%NPK 7.02 7.14 0.21 0.19 4.0 2.9 100%NP K+FYM 7.19 7.19 0.19 0.19 5.3 3.7 CD (5%) 0.23 0.18 0.02 NS 0.4 0.3 Source: Durani et al., (2017) Int.J. of Applied Research. 3 (9):525-532
Treatment Yield (qt/ha) Total uptake (kg/ha) Grain yield Straw yield N P K Control 19.1 31.9 37.2 5.7 23.2 100% N 26.5 64.6 69.8 9.3 48.3 100% NP 35.2 66.9 89.3 14.2 53.8 100% NPK 44.5 74.5 111.3 18.5 70.8 150% NPK 44.9 75.4 116.4 19.3 73.6 100% NPK+FYM 54.8 83.1 144.9 27.3 88.4 CD (5%) 6.7 10.5 13.7 4.4 9.0 Source: Durani et al., (2017) Int.J. of Applied Research 2017;3 (9):525-532
Treatment Soybean yield (Kg/ha) Grain yield Straw yield Biological yield T1 50% NPK 625 1850 2475 T2 100% NPK 900 1975 2875 T3 150% NPK 1150 2025 3175 T4 100% NPK+ HW 775 1725 2500 T5 100% NPK+Zn 775 1850 2625 T6 100% NP 825 1875 2700 T7 100% N 325 1750 2075 T8 100 % NPK +FYM (5t/ha) 1200 2038 3238 T9 100% NPK-S 750 2000 2750 T10 control 313 1738 2050 Sem + 35.77 82.30 95.19 C.D. (p=0.05) 103.80 238.83 134.62 CV(%) 9.37 8.74 7.19 Gupta et ai.,(2019) Bull. Pharmacol. Life Sci. Vol 8(4):116-122
Treatment Grain yield (q/ha) Straw yield (q/ha) Harvest index (%) Protein content (%) B:C ratio T1 : General RDF (RDF: 100:30:00 kg NPK/ha + FYM @10t/ ha) 53.35 77.10 40.68 7.87 1.31 T2: 75% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through biocompost 46.09 66.20 40.92 7.60 1.39 T3 : 75% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through vermicompost 47.89 66.72 41.48 7.79 1.25 T4 :75% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through FYM 44.15 65.68 39.71 7.41 1.24 T5 : control 28.66 45.11 38.52 6.78 0.96 SE m + 1.56 2.34 1.32 0.12 - C.D 5% 4.54 6.83 NS 0.35 - C.V .% 9.99 10.31 9.28 4.54 - Source : Imde et al.,(2017) Bull. Env.Pharmacol. Life Sci.,Vol 6(3): 352-355
 Conservation tillage practices play an important role in agriculture and improve the physical, chemical and biological properties and there by increase the crop yield.  Conservation practices such as mulching helps to conserve soil and water.  Integrated nutrient management increase the yield of crop.  Crop residue management combined with organic manure has significant effect on crop yield and improve the soil organic matter.  Conservation practices play important role in sustainable agricultural production.  Application of chemical fertilizers with organic manure is better to increase nutrient uptake by crop plants and increase crop yield.
CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE : CONCEPTS, UTILITY AND APPROACHES