Amir Kassam University of Reading (UK) and FAO

1. Mobilizing greater crop and land
potentials: Integrating System of Rice
Intensification with Conservation
Agriculture.
Amir Kassam
University of Reading (UK) and FAO
SRI-LMB Regional Workshop 2018, 1-2 November 2018, Bangkok, Thailand

2. Soil productive capacity (vs. fertility) is derived from several
components which interact dynamically in space and time:
• Physical: architecture - pore structure, space & aeration
• Hydrological: moisture storage -
infiltration
• Chemical: nutrients, CEC, dynamics
• Biological: soil life & non living fractions
• Thermal: rates of biochemical processes
• Gravity: retention & flows of liquids
• Cropping system: rotation/association/sequ
A productive soil is a living system
and its health & productivity depends
on managing it as a ‘complex’ biological
system, not as a geological entity.
Soil as a ‘complex’ biological system,
not just as a geological entity
2

3. Biodiversity – above and below ground
oil food
ebs…
o-evolved
ant-
icrobiome
lations
bove ground
od webs &
abitates for
atural
nemies of
ests
est-predator
ynamics
round-nesting
rds, animals
nd insects
3

4. 4

5. her
● 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
Eco-agriculture landscapes: harmonizing multiple
objectives at farm, community, landscape scales
5

6. Harnessing environmental (ecosystem)
benefits from Land
Water cycling Carbon cycling Atmospheric
circulation
6Source: The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005)

7. “Dirt – the erosion of civilizations”
by David R. Montgomery
(Prof. of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington
in Seattle, leads the Geomorphological Research Group, member
of the Quaternary Research Centre):
• Soil is a thin skin of earth
• Soil formation is very slow
• In human history entire empires
have disappeared due to soil
degradation (Greeks, Romans, Maya
etc.)
• Soil tillage was the first agricultural
operation performed.
• Any level of continuous mechanical
soil tillage results in degradation
processes exceeding by far the
natural soil formation processes
= Not sustainable
• = Not optimal, if in use

8. BUT Conventional land preparation
regular tillage, clean seedbed, exposed
Effects:
• Loss of organic matter
• Loss of pores, structure soil compaction
• Destruction of biological life & processes 8

9. With rice ……
9

10. What happens in a tilled soil?
• it loses cover and protection
• reduced biodiversity: more bacteria, less major species
• oxygen is added, accelerating decomposition of organic
matter; water soluble nutrients are released
• connected macro pores are destroyed; water infiltration
rates reduced;
• aggregate stability destroyed, water & nutrient retention
capacity destroyed
• contaminated waters leave as surface runoff with soil,
organisms, nutrients (mineral or organic origin), pesticides,
and as groundwater with leached minerals
• For wetland rice – a quasi hydroponic sub-optimal situation
The root problem: Loss of soil health & function

11. Rain
Run-off
(erosion)
leaching
Soil Structure
Organic Matter
Soil Biota
Soluble elements
of organic or synthetic origin
Tilled soil Not-disturbed soil
Destination of Rainwater

12. TILLAGE AGRICULTURE -- Erosion
12

13. 13
Google image, 16 February 2014

14. Soil degradation world map – GLASOD (FAO 2000)
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 – 89% our ecosystems degraded or severely
degraded, only 11% in reasonable shape; 400-500 M ha abandoned
“soil degradation can get us before climate change does”
All agricultural soils show signs of degradation

15. (Brisson et al. 2010)
Stagnating Yields (yield gap) under
Conventional Tillage Agriculture
Rising-plateau regression analysis of wheat yields throughout various
European countries
15
But inputs and input costs going up, diminishing returns setting in,
This is also true to crops in low income countries including with rice

16. FOR AGRICULTURE (AND SOCIETY)
• Higher production costs, lower farm
productivity and profit, sub-optimal yield
ceilings, poor efficiency and resilience
FOR THE LANDSCAPE (AND SOCIETY)
• Dysfunctional ecosystems, loss of biodiversity,
degraded ecosystem services -- water, carbon,
nutrient cycles, suboptimal water provisioning &
regulatory water services etc.
16
Consequences of tillage-based agriculture
at any level of development

17. “Sustainable Intensification” of crop production is
described in the book “Save and Grow”. Technically, it
should allow the highest possible production,
with minimum inputs, with best efficiency &
resilience & without any lasting damage to
the environment, assuring all the ecosystem
services from a healthy environment.
But how to achieve such multiple objectives?
The new Paradigm: Sustainable Intensification &
Land/Ecosystem Management

18. System of Rice Intensification
• Crop management – v. different
• Water Management - v. different
• Nutrient Management - different
• Root system development – v. different
• Soil biota - root relationship – different
• Phenotype – v. different
• Better performance - yield & quality, factor
productivity, less seeds & other inputs,
resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses,
• Better climate change adaptability & mitigation

19. System of Rice Intensification
• But conventional land preparation – puddling
& hence need to aerate the soil
• Soil biota all mixed up & not fully developed
• Crop biomass not always returned and often
burnt
• Soil-mediated ecosystem functions partially
harnessed or not at all e.g. water, carbon etc
• Focused on rice crop, not rice-based cropping
system (SCI for individual crops)
• But SRI certainly can add value if integrated
into Conservation Agriculture

20. What is Conservation Agriculture?
3 Principles of ecological sustainability – FAO definition
• No or minimum mechanical soil
disturbance by – seeding or planting
directly into untilled soil & no-till weeding
• Enhance and maintain organic matter
cover on the soil surface – using crop
biomass, stubbles, cover crops to protect
& feed soil life & health
• Diversification of species -- both annuals
and perennials - in rotations & associations,
involving annuals & perennials, with legumes
Key element: Conservation Agriculture is a
combination of resource conserving
practices simultaneously creating synergies
between them for optimization & sustainability.
Along with other Good Agricultural Practices

21. Ecological foundation for sustainable & regenrative
agricultural production is provided by application of
Conservation Agriculture principles
No/Minimum
soil disturbance
Soil Cover Crop Diversity

22. Conservation Agriculture – Ecological foundation
…alone do not respond to all the challenges
of achieving a Sustainable Intensification –
not a panacia.
They needs to be complemented by all
good practices known.
But CA practices provide an ecological
base or foundation for Sustainable
Intensification as a necessary
set of conditions. Applicable
to all land-based
Systems, rainfed
& irrigated including
organic &
rice-based systems
No/minimum
soil disturbance
Soil Cover Cropping Diversity
Integrated
Pest
Management
Integrated
Plant
Nutrient
Management
Integrated
Weed
Management
Integrated
Water
management
Sustainable
mechanization
Compaction
management,
CTF
Permanent
Bed and
Furrow
Systems
System
of Rice
Intensification
Good seed
Genetic potential
Genetic resources mgmt.
Pollinator/
Biodiversity
management
Sustainable
land management

23. What does CA do
Crop
Diversity
No-Till
plus OM
Management
Soil
structure &
biota
Nutrient &
water
cycling
Plant
Insect pests
& diseases
Weed
management
Ecological
Processes
Spiral of
Regeneration &
Intensification
Integrated
CA systems
Anderson, R.L. 2005

24. CA works because …..
……It is regenerative, self-repairing & self-protecting
production and livelihood system, produces larger
and stronger phenotypes because it pays
attention to maintaining:
• Ecological foundation of production systems
• Soil health, biology and functions
• Plant root system’s relationship with soil
• Enhanced biodiversity above and below the ground
• Environmental (ecosystem) benefits to society
• Maximum efficiency & resilience (& profitability)
• Maximum output with minimum input: optimization24

25. Conservation Agriculture
CROP
• Increased & stable yields, productivity,
profit (depending on level and degradation)
• Less fertilizer use (-50%), also no fertilizer
less pesticides (-20->50%), also no pesticides
• Less machinery, energy &
labour cost (50-70%)
• Less water needs (-30-40%)
LAND
• Can feed more people (carrying capacity)
• Lower impact of climate (drought, floods, heat, cold) &
climate change adaptation & mitigation
• Lower environmental cost (water, infrastructure)
• Rehabilitation of degraded lands & ecosystem services
Wheat yield and nitrogen amount for different
duration of no-tillage in Canada 2002 (Lafond
2003)
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
0 30 60 90 120
nitrogen (kg/ha
Grainyield(t/ha)
20-year no-tillage
2-year no-tillage
Patterns of benefits with CA – small or big farms

26. Example 1-- Canada: Carbon offset scheme in
Alberta, Canada
Sequestering soil Carbon with CA and trading offsets with regulated
companies to offset their emissions by purchasing verified tonnes
(from ag and non-ag sectors)
Source: Tom Goddard et al.
26

27. Itaipu dam today (source: Itaipu Binacional)
Water resources are threatened by
conventional tillage agricultural practices.
Conservation Agriculture is an alternative to
reduce impacts on river’s quality and to
maintain a higher level of productivity and
sustainability.
Cultivating Good Water Programme
27
Example 2 -- Watershed services in Parana Basin, Brazil

28. 100
Dustbowl
1930 20001950
USSoilConservationService
conservationtillage
dustbowl
Siberia/USSR
Faulkner(US)–Fukuoka(Japan)
commercialno-till/US
firstno-tilldemonstrationinBrazil
Oldrieve/Zimbabwe
adoptionBrazil
plantiodiretonapalha
experimentsinChina,IndogangeticPlains
Newboost:Canada,
Australia,Kazakhstan,
China,India,Pakistan,
Russia,Ukraine,
Europe...;Africa
Argentina,Paraguay;
1980 1990
Firstno-tillintheUS
IITAno-tillresearch
50
Mill.ha
History and Adoption of CA (2015/16). Since
2008/09 increasing at 10 M ha annually
1970 2010
180 Mha
firstno-tillfarmersinUSA
FirstWCCAinMadrid
28
2015
150

29. CA is practiced at all scales:

30. CA is applicable to all crops & cropping systems:
Cropping systems:
soya
wheat
corn
vegetable
rice
potato
perennials
agroforestry

31. 31
Two-wheel no-till seeder – small
farmers, Bangladesh
No-till rice
In North Korea
Multi-row tine ‘Happy Seeder’ –
medium farmers, India
No-till rice
In Bihar India

32. CHINA: innovation with raised-bed, zero-till SRI field;
measured yield 13.4 t/ha; Liu’s 2001 yield (16 t/ha) set
provincial yield record and persuaded Prof.Yuan Longping 32
CA-SRT rice-based system, Saguna Baug,
Maharastra, India – Mr. Chandrashekhar

33. • CA and SRI and CA-SRI pioneers and
champions needed everywhere
• CA needs policy support & incentives;
avoiding contradictory policies
• Farmer associations & empowerment,
farmers’ participatory engagement
• Equipment: a big bottleneck but being
resolved; also biggest saving potential
• Public, private & civil sector institutional
support, education/vocational training,
research/science/technology – all
stakeholders need to engaged in service of
CA
Support needed:

34. CA-SR: agriculture of the future – the future of agriculture
More information
amirkassam786@googlemail.com
http://www.fao.org/ag/ca
http://www.conservation-agriculture.co.uk/
Join the CA-CoP!
Thank You!
June 2011