This document discusses conservation agriculture and its principles of minimum soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover, and crop diversification. It summarizes that conservation agriculture, also known as no-till agriculture, can reverse soil degradation and sustainably intensify agricultural production by maintaining soil health and structure. The three principles of conservation agriculture, when practiced with other complementary techniques, provide an appropriate solution to issues of soil erosion, water pollution, and loss of biodiversity caused by conventional tillage agriculture.

1. Conservation Agriculture:
Principles, Land Management and Ecosystem Services
Amir Kassam* and Theodor Friedrich**
*School of Agriculture, Policy and Development
University of Reading, UK
**Plant Production and Protection Division (AGP)
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN
www.fao.org/ag/ca
Societa Italiana di Agronomica XL Convegno Nazionale
Universita degli Studi di Teeramo, 7-9 settembre 2011

2. Ecological Sustainability: now not a
desirable option but a necessity
Economic and social sustainability
depend on it; recuperation of any
damage depend on it; rehabilitation
of degradation land and ecosystems
depend on it

3. What does this mean for agriculture and
land management?
• Need to link/integrate Production with
Sustainability = harnessing increase output
and productivity with ecosystem services
• One new strategic goal of FAO: Sustainable
Crop Production Intensification (SCPI)
• Conservation Agriculture is the core strategy
of SCPI = applied sustainable agriculture,
now enshrined in the FAO publication Save &
Grow

4. ● Fotos
grandes. Solo
arrastra una
nueva imagen
y pásala para
átras
Path to waterfall on private property brings income to locals in the
form of ecotourismMonteverde Cloudforest Reserve
provides important source of water in
landscape and downstream
Windbreaks provide habitat and
corridors for wildlife, control erosion
and protect livestock from wind
Shaded coffee extends wildlife habitat from reserve and
reduces erosion
All fences are live rows of trees
Coffee, corn, sugar cane and other products are sold at
a local cooperative
Ecoagriculture landscapes: harmonizing multiple
objectives at farm, community, landscape scales

5. The “promised land” today:
view from mount Nebo towards Jordan Valley
(suggested reading: Dirt – the erosion of civilizations by
David Montgomery)

6. therefore:
tillage is incompatible with sustainable
agriculture!
further promotion of tillage-based agriculture
is not a wise strategy anywhere
Tillage has an unacceptable
environmental footprint
Soil
degradation/
erosion
>
natural
soil
formation
=
NOT
sustainable

7. Agricultural degradation with tillage
– Loss of organic matter
– Compaction & sealing – structure & porosity
– Erosion, water & wind
– Waterlogging, flooding & avalanches
– Agrochemical pollution
– Contamination with microorganisms
– Loss of (functional) biodiversity below and above
– Loss of soil health
– Loss of water resources, quantity & quality
– Loss of productive capacity and functions
– Loss of ecosystem goods & services

8. The Current Dominant Agricultural
Production Paradigm
Low soil carbon farming paradigm of intensive
tillage (disrupting and debilitating many important
soil mediated ecosystem functions) and leaving the
soil and the landscape exposed/unprotected and
starved of organic matter is the root cause of our
degradation (loss of soil health – soil agro-
biodiversity, soil structure, compaction, runoff and
erosion, and weed/pest infestation).

9. The Current Dominant Agricultural
Production Paradigm
This is being exacerbated by: (a) applying
excessive mineral fertilisers on to farm land
that has been losing its ability to respond to
inputs due to tillage-induced degradation,
and (b) reducing or doing away with crop
diversity and rotations (which were largely in
place around the time of WWII).

10. Post-WWII agriculture policy
Reliance upon ‘new’ high yielding seeds, more
intensive tillage and big machines, combined
with even more chemical fertilizers, pesticides
and herbicides, and mono-cropping.
This became the accepted paradigm for
intensification, and promoted globally --
referred to as the Green Revolution paradigm
of the 50’s and 60’s.
The results ….

11. The Current Dominant Agricultural
Production Paradigm
The above situation is leading to further
problems of increased threats from pests,
diseases & weeds against which we are
applying even more pesticides & herbicides &
further damaging agro-biodiversity and
polluting the environment.
Consequence: Large negative externalities &
unnecessary costs to farmers & society &
planet

12. Consequences of tillage-based agriculture
at any level of development
• loss of OM, porosity, aeration, biota (=decline in soil health -> collapse of
soil structure -> compaction & surface sealing -> decrease in infiltration)
• water loss as runoff & soil loss as sediment
• loss of time, seeds, fertilizer, pesticide (erosion, leaching)
• less capacity to capture and slow release water & nutrients
• less efficiency of mineral fertilizer: “The crops have become ‘addicted’ to
fertilizers”
• loss of biodiversity in the ecosystem, below & above soil surface
• more pest problems (breakdown of food-webs for micro-organisms and
natural pest control)
• falling input efficiency & factor productivities, declining yields
• reduced resilience, reduced sustainability
• Poor adaptability to climate change & mitigation
• Higher production costs, lower farm productivity and profit, degraded
ecosystem services

13. High tillage intensity causes
soil erosion: 840‘000 t / year
(PRASUHN, 2009)

14. TILLAGE AGRICULTURE
SOME CONSEQUENCES

15. Tillage-induced Carbon Dioxide Loss
CO2CO2
Reicosky

16. Depleted water infiltration
due to soil compaction

17. picture: Dr. Strobel, LfA/Germany
Erosion & water pollution from tillage agriculture
silting

18. Soil degradation and ruoff can cause
water pollution
- suspended solids
- nutrients
- pesticides
- microroganisms
(Case study in GB)

19. Iguassu Falls, Brazil

20. Goal: To catalyze a shift towards integrated
agriculture & rural land use strategies
• Sustainable, climate-resilient, diverse food production to meet rural,
urban and export demand and food security needs for 9+ billion
• Sustainable biomass fuel, forest, fisheries production
• Conservation and restoration of wild biodiversity
• Protection of critical watershed functions
• Terrestrial climate mitigation
Outcomes:
• Compelling case for a new paradigm for farming & rural landscapes
• Leaders and innovators mobilized
• Action agendas developed and implemented

21. ● Fotos
grandes. Solo
arrastra una
nueva imagen
y pásala para
átras
Path to waterfall on private property brings income to locals in the
form of ecotourismMonteverde Cloudforest Reserve
provides important source of water in
landscape and downstream
Windbreaks provide habitat and
corridors for wildlife, control erosion
and protect livestock from wind
Shaded coffee extends wildlife habitat from reserve and
reduces erosion
All fences are live rows of trees
Coffee, corn, sugar cane and other products are sold at
a local cooperative
Ecoagriculture landscapes: harmonizing multiple
objectives at farm, community, landscape scales

22. An effective solution to degradation, and for
rehabilitation and sustainable intensification
• Minimizing soil disturbance by mechanical tillage and whenever
possible, seeding or planting directly into untilled soil, in order to
maintain soil organic matter, soil structure and overall soil health.
• Enhancing and maintaining organic matter cover on the soil
surface, using crops, cover crops or crop residues. This protects
the soil surface, conserves water and nutrients, promotes soil
biological activity and contributes to integrated weed and pest
management.
• Diversification of species – both annuals and perennials - in
associations, sequences and rotations that can include trees,
shrubs, pastures and crops, all contributing to enhanced crop
nutrition and improved system resilience.

23. These three sets of key practices in conjunction with other
complementary good crop management practices for
integrated crop nutrition, pest and water management, and
good quality seeds, appears to offer an entirely-appropriate
solution, potentially able to slow and reverse productivity
losses and environmental damages.
CA is a lead example of the agro-ecological paradigm for
sustainable production intensification now adopted by FAO
A remedy: a no-till system, Conservation
Agriculture (CA)

24. Farming now at a dangerous point:
Solution for sustainable farming has
been known for a long time
FAO definition: www.fao.org/ag/ca
Conservation Agriculture (CA)
is an approach to managing agro-ecosystems
for improved and sustained productivity,
increased profits and food security while
preserving and enhancing the resource base
& the environment. CA is characterized by
three linked principles, namely:
1. Continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance.
2. Permanent organic soil cover.
3. Diversification of crop species grown in sequences or
associations.

25. Once soil brought to good condition, avoid its unnecessary
disturbance, and plant seeds through the mulch

26. Land Preparation
Conventional:
regularly full tillage
CA: planting holes, ripping
or mulching, direct drill

27. Soil health: critical!

28. BUT CA: more than just no-till: “never till”
• with other best practices (good seed, IPM, IPNWM, IC-LS, agro-
forestry, ...) it is sustainable agriculture and ecosystem management
with reduced inputs & costs, & higher profits
• Saves 50% inputs & labour for small farmers, less drudgery, food
security
• organic matter and carbon recycling
• biodiversity
(rotation, soil life)
• biological processes
• stops erosion, reverses
degradation, aquifer
recharge (bio-pores)
• improved water quality
• climate change adaptation
and mitigation

29. ‘SUSTAINABILITY’
”Sustainability of land’s capacities to continue yielding plant
products and water year after year depends primarily on
maintaining the soil in fit condition for active life- processes of
the whole soil/plant system. This [also] relates to the on-
going generation and re-generation of the porous soil
architecture – the soil’s ‘self-recuperation capacity’ – with
respect to repair of damaged soil and to its .. resilience in the
face of adverse shocks of weather and/or of poor
management”.
(Shaxson, Kassam, Friedrich, Boddy, Adekunle, 2008, FAO/CA website).

30. Managing the System which works better!
(CA decision making guide / UK, 2001)

31. ● Fotos
grandes. Solo
arrastra una
nueva imagen
y pásala para
átras
Path to waterfall on private property brings income to locals in the
form of ecotourismMonteverde Cloudforest Reserve
provides important source of water in
landscape and downstream
Windbreaks provide habitat and
corridors for wildlife, control erosion
and protect livestock from wind
Shaded coffee extends wildlife habitat from reserve and
reduces erosion
All fences are live rows of trees
Coffee, corn, sugar cane and other products are sold at
a local cooperative
Ecoagriculture landscapes: harmonizing multiple
objectives at farm, community, landscape scales

32. Diverse landscape challenges require locally-
adapted solutions
Uganda Niger Kenya
Wide spectrum of integrated landscape approaches & practices
- Integrated watershed management - Landscape restoration
-Territorial development - Model forests
- Agricultural development corridors - Ecosystem projects
- Biological corridor - Others….

33. Environmental Services from CA
• Climate change mitigation – GHG emission
decrease, carbon sequestration, decrease in CO2
emissions from soil and fuel, N2O emission from
soil, CH4 emission from soil
- Carbon offset trading scheme in Alberta
- N20 reduction scheme in Alberta
• Watershed services
- Parana Basin 3, the Itaipú Dam Programa
Cultivando Água Boa
• Low carbon emission agricultural economy
- Brazil, Australia, Canada

34. Thank you for your attention!
More information:
http://www.fao.org/ag/ca
With CA
Agriculture can be part of the solutions,
not of the problems!