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Conservation Agriculture-1.pptx

Conservation agriculture is a set of soil management practices that minimize soil disruption and maintain permanent soil cover. It includes no-tillage or zero tillage, maintaining crop residues as soil cover, and crop rotation. Adopting conservation agriculture provides several benefits like increased soil moisture retention, reduced soil erosion, and decreased production costs. It also improves soil structure and fertility while reducing the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides. However, understanding and implementing the new system poses challenges that require long-term research and technological developments. Overall, conservation agriculture helps ensure sustainable soil and farm management for increased and improved agricultural production.

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CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE: A Paradigm Shift in Sustainable Farming Practices Mr.Arpit Shashank Roll No:2621110 sem- 4th(B2) B.sc (Hons) Agriculture
Threat to the Natural Resources Land Degradation • About 5 billion tonnes soil and 6 million tonnes of nutrient loss reported every year. The loss of precious topsoil is comparatively higher in dry land areas due to low moisture and poor soil covering vegetation and residues • Hence protection of top soil especially in rain fed areas is most crucial for sustainable agricultural production Sources:United Nations in India and TERI
Threat to the Natural Resources Groundwater Depletion • The average groundwater levels have been declining at a rate of 2.6 cm per year between 1996-2017(Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment).
Conventional practices Excessive soil tillage • Runoff loses • Soil erosion • Nutrient leaching • CO2 emission Straw burning • Loss of micro organisms • Environment pollution Adverse consequences of burning of crop residues Emission of : Methane Carbon monoxide Nitrous oxide sulphur dioxide
Conservation Agriculture What is Conservation Agriculture (CA) ? CA is a set of • Soil management practices • It minimize the disruption of the soil's structure, composition and natural biodiversity. Agronomic practices included in CA are based on three core principles Permanent Soil Cover No Tilling the Soil Crop Rotation and Cover Crops (Derpsh, 2001)
Why Zero or Minimum Tillage? Reduction in costs, time and power consumption Reductions in weeds Reduction in soil erosion Avoid release of CO2
Why soil cover? • More soil organic matter and available nutrients • Promotes biological activity • Soil enrichment & improved soil structure • Increased water infiltration • Better root penetration and crop growth • Less soil erosion • Less weed pressure
Why Crop rotation? • Breaks pest and disease cycle • Enhances nutrient cycling and reduces nutrient imbalances • Improves soil fertility and reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers • Increases biodiversity and ecosystem resilience source:blogspot.com
Water infiltrates rapidly The long term trial of the soil conservation service of Bern, Swiss, compares ploughing and direct drilling Conservation Agriculture since 12 years 1 2 3
Tillage effects on water infiltration and ground cover Tillage type Water Infiltration (mm/minute) Ground Cover (%) No-till 2.7 48 Chisel Plough 1.3 27 Moldboard Plough 0.8 12 No-till field Conventional tillage No-till field Conventional tillage
Water management in Conservation Agriculture Intensive and deep tillage • Practiced in our farming systems for thirty years • Quick degradation of the soil surface and structure • Repeated tillage, heavy traffic on the field and the lack of organic matter and bioactivity lead to a horizontal layering of the soil. • The rainfall infiltration is reduced and bare soil is exposed to erosion and run-off. • The water is not stored in the soil Conventional tillage
No/zero tillage • No/zero tillage preserves the natural cover on the soil surface • The vertical organization of the profile due to roots, earthworms and biological activity • Better infiltration and the reduction of run off and erosion is achieved • The soil is capable to store water quickly during the rainy season and to release it during growing season • The farmer saves inputs, avoids pollutions and reduces flood risks. Water management in Conservation Agriculture No-till field
OLD PARADIGM NEW PARADIGM Soil tillage is good for crop production Tillage is not necessary for crop production Crop residue is a waste product burn/bury them with tillage implement Crop residues are valuable products and must remain on soil surface as mulch Bare soil for months and years is good farm sanitation Permanent soil cover is essential Focus on soil chemical processes Focus on biological soil processes Chemical pest control is the first option Biological pest control be first option Soil erosion is acceptable and unavoidable risk in farming Soil erosion is a symptom that unsuitable methods are being practiced at the source Concepts of Agricultural production and management
Benefits of Conservation Agriculture(CA) Increased crop yield(200-500 kg per ha) in IGP(Indo Gangetic Plain) region Cost reduction by about Rs. 5760 per ha(5-10 prcent) Conservation of moisture and nutrients of soil(up to 20-30%) Energy saving,especially of tractor time saved by 60-90% In IGP 1 million barrel oil saved if zero-tillage practice adapted in about 3.5 mha area Reduces air pollution,soil erosion,soil compaction Increase beneficial microbes that harm by burning residues Reduced incidence of weeds Crop diversification opportunities Sources:S.Bhan and U.k Behera, 2014.International soil and water conservation research.International Soil and Water Conservation Research, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2014, pp. 1-12
Challenges in Conservation Agriculture: Understanding the system Building a system and farming system perspective Technological challenges Long -term research perspective
• In agriculture, the only way to improve production in terms of both quality and quantity is to conserve or to improve soil fertility. • Good soil structure and permanent cover allow the reduction of mechanization, fuel consumption and irrigation. • Good soil fertility can reduce the need of fertilizers. • Conservation Agriculture is an effective way to ensure soil protection and fertility and therefore to reduce inputs without compromising yields, or even achieving better production level.
References  Atsuko M, Hirofumi U and Maki K (2017) Synergistic effects of light quality, carbon dioxide and nutrients on metabolite compositions of head lettuce under artificial growth conditions. J:Food Chemistry 218: 561-568  Deng X and Dou Yingtong, H (2018) Robust closed-loop control of vegetable production in plant factory J Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 155: 244- 250  Dong C, Shao L, Fu Y and Wang M (2015) Evaluation of wheat growth, morphological characteristics, biomass yield and quality in Lunar Palace-1, plant factory, green house and field systems J Acta Astronautica 111: 102-109.  Hu P, Lin B, Yang Y and Hwang S (2018) A Frame work of intelligent plant factory system. J Procedia Computer Science 131: 579-584
Contd…  Joshi J, Zhang G, Shen S, Supaibulwatana K A, Watanabe C and Yamori W (2017) A combination of downward lighting and supplemental upward lighting Improves plant growth in a closed plant factory with artificial lighting J HortScience 52: 831-835  Keat C K and Kannan C (2015) Development of a Cylindrical Hydroponics System for Vertical Farming J Agri Sc. and Tech. 5: 93-100  Ohashi K, Imai and Kobayashi, W (2015) Yield and fruit quality of several wild and domestic tomato cultivars grown in an environmentally controlled agricultural facility (plant factory) ISHS J Acta Horticulture 1170: 989-994  Kozai T, Takagaki M and Niu G (2016) Plant Factory Pp. 297-315. Academic Press
Contd… • Nishikawa T, Fukuda H and Murase H (2013) Effects of airflow for lettuce growth in the plant factory with an electric turntable J IFAC Proceedings 46: 270-273 • Shimizu H, Saito Y, Nakashima H, Miyasaka J and Ohdoi K (2011) Light Environment Optimization for Lettuce Growth in Plant Factory J IFAC World Congress Pp 605-609 • Touliatos D, Dodd I C and McAinsh M (2016) Vertical farming increases lettuce yield per unit area compared to conventional horizontal hydroponics J Food and Energy Security 5: 184-191 • Wikipedia https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_Farming Date of access 2/12/2018
THANKS !