Development of Conservation Agriculture Systems Globally# Kassam Amir1*, Derpsch Rolf2, Friedrich Theodor3 1School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, UK 2International Consultant for Conservation Agriculture/No-till, Asunción, Paraguay 3Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, La Paz, Bolivia *Corresponding author, Email: amirkassam786@googlemail.com
Online published on 22 March, 2022. Abstract This manuscript outlines the development of Conservation Agriculture (CA) system globally in terms of its origin, pioneers and champions, main drivers for its spread, CA systems involved, regional adoption, challenges and future prospects. Reducing soil disturbance by tillage began in the United States in the 1930s in response to the devastation caused by mouldboard ploughing and prolonged drought in the mid-west prairies that led to the phenomenon known as the ‘dust bowl’. Initially, a number of soil and water conservation practices was developed, which include contour ploughing, bunding and terracing. Stubble mulch farming was also developed and this became a forerunner of no-tillage farming which appeared in the 1940s in the United States and led to the term conservation tillage. Realizing that tillage was the root cause of soil erosion and degradation, the term conservation tillage was replaced by the term Conservation Agriculture in 1997 at the meeting of the Latin American Network for Conservation Tillage (Red Latino Americana de Labranza Conservacionista, RELACO) in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. Since 1998, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been promoting the CA concepts and the practical application of the three interlinked principles (along with other complementary good agricultural practices) with further development of the universal applicability of the principles and their practical applications, as we now know them. In 2015-16, CA had spread over 180 M ha of cropland globally, the area being equally split between the Global North and Global South. Since 2008-09, the global rate of annual expansion of CA cropland has been about 10.5 M ha. While the main drivers that have contributed to the adoption and spread of CA, namely, the impact of soil erosion and degradation on crop productivity, increased cost of production particularly due to high cost of energy, dysfunctional ecosystem services in agricultural lands due to tillage agriculture have been included, the need for sustainable production intensification, climate smart agriculture and pro-poor agricultural development strategies has also been discussed. Top Key words: Dust bowl, conservation tillage, stubble mulching, no-till, soil mulch cover, crop diversity, drivers. Top |