This document discusses conservation agriculture experiences in North Africa. It describes how no-till systems were introduced in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria starting in the 1980s and mid-1990s. No-till has proven an alternative for sustainable agriculture by improving water use efficiency and wheat yields while reducing impacts of variable rainfall. However, challenges remain around residue management, developing affordable no-till equipment, and optimizing crop rotations and management practices under the integrated crop-livestock systems common in North Africa. Overcoming constraints like knowledge-sharing and equipment access will be important for further adoption of conservation agriculture.

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.