Conservation Agriculture:

The practice of not plowing farmlands and leaving crop residue in the field
for improved soil fertility and water conservation.

Or

The interrelated principles of minimal mechanical soil disturbance, permanent soil cover
with living or dead plant material, and crop diversification through rotation or intercropping to
maintain and boost yields and increase profits, while reversing land degradation, protecting the
environment and responding to growing challenges of climate change.

Basic Principles of CA:

1. Minimal mechanical soil disturbance.

2. Permanent soil cover.
3. Crop diversification.

Conservation agriculture conserves natural resources, biodiversity and

labor. It increases available soil water, reduces heat and drought stress,
and builds up soil health in the longer term.

Conventional tillage: Conservation tillage;

0-15% crop residues More then 30% crop residues

 To reduce soil disturbance farmer practice Zero-tillage farming.

Intercropping: Crop rotation

Growing two or more crops at the Growing two different crops on
same time on the same piece of the same land in a sequential
land, manner.
Crop Residues:
Crop residues or stubble is the accumulation of dried up plants parts left on the field including
cover crops

Sustainable agriculture:
Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the
production of crops or livestock without damage to human or natural system

Impact of Agriculture on environment

Negative:
Positive:  Pollution(soil, water)
 Food, fiber & feed  Decrease soil fertility
 Contribute in the economy  Water losses
 Clean the environment  GHG emission
 State income  Reduced biodiversity
 Raw material for industry

Conservation agriculture
Benefits Challenges
 Save irrigation water  Wetlands and poor drainage soil
 Increase soil organic matter  Appropriate seeders are
 Suppress weeds necessary
 Reduced fuel cost  Farmers income
 Time saving  Lack of knowledge

Two factors needed for the successful adoption of conservation

agriculture are appropriate technologies and a favorable policy
environment. Locally-made
low-cost seeders are needed and require a local market for repair and
technical services to farmers.
The term “conservation agriculture” was coined in the 1990s, but the
idea to minimize soil disturbance has its origins in the 1930s, during
the Dust Bowl in the United States of America.
Why Conservation Agriculture?

1. Dust Bowl 1930 Prairies(Grassland)

2. Sustainable way of farming
3. Post-Green Revolution Period
4. Climate change Agriculture
5. Concentration of soil, water, labor and fuel

Limitations:
1. Little or no experience with new crops in an area which cause labor
shortage for that crop .
2. Temperature of the soil warmer as a result of heavy residues of previous
crop.
3. Small land holder is also a major problem to adopt CA technology as
economical yield is less then conventional yield.
4. CA is mainly depend upon chemicals which also effects the crop quality and
also environment problems.
5. Crop residues is used to fed animals in small farms so difficult to maintain
soil cover.
6. Policy makers are also a limitation in adoption of CA technology on large
nscale because it effects the overall economy of the country.
7. Political and economic crisis also effects the adaptation of new technology.

Motivations:

1. CA is important to reduced soil erosion as a result of mulching

as rain intensity is decreased as a result of soil cover so runoff
decreased ultimately soil erosion reduced. its a good thing to
conserve the soil .
2. CA also increased the soil physical and chemical properties by
mulching .
 3. Initial cost of farm operation reduced in CA as low use of fuel
ultimately profit increased at the rend
4. Fellow period between the crops reduced, the efficiency of the
land increased to grow new crop as a crop rotation.
5. Dust bowl was a major cause to promote minimal tillage or
soil cover which motivate people to came toward reduced
tillage.
6. People believed that mulch is a God Blanket to conserve the
soil or maintain the soil fertility.
7. Interest of world Agriculture institutes (FAO……..), NGO, Faith
based promotion of CA technology.
8. Support of initial inputs also enhance the adaptation of CA
technology in different country at small farmer level.

Prerequisites:
1. To adopt new technology in an area firstly need an extension work to
guide the local people to promote that technology.
2. At, Govt. level there is need of policy to adopt new technology.
3. Public-private partnership is important to introduced technology
phisibility in an area.
4. Related machinery is need in that area where technology have to
adopt
5. New germplasm have to introduced according to condition of that
areas.
6. In profitability point of view better marketing system have to
introduced to grow new crops in specific area.
7. Research departments have to find problems solutions

Concepts and Objective of Soil and Water conservation

 Soil & Water is a part of natural resource management

 Natural Resource management
Sustainable resources Poverty Reduction

 Soil & water conservation is a part of watershed management

Watershed: All the land water areas which contribute runoff in a common point

 Soil and water conservation is a participatory approach.

Those activities at a local level, which maintain or enhance the productive capacity
of land including soil, water and vegetation in areas prone to degradation through
prevention or reduction of erosion, compaction or Salinity. (WOCAT)

 WOCAT: World overview of Conservation Approaches and Technology

Objective:

 To control Runoff thus conserve soil by erosion

 Soil compaction reduced
 Time of concentration of the runoff increased
 To reduced the velocity of the water
 To maintain soil fertility
 Harvest excess water
 Facilitate accumulation of soil particle
 Increases surface roughness
 Stabilize soil aggrigates

Factors:
1. Socio-Economic  Poverty
 Gender representation
2. Institutional  Strengthen of institutional power
3. Politics  Legal aspects
 Land rights
 Secure and functional land rights

Participation:
The innvolment of interest groups, political decision makers and local organization in
decision making processes and articulation of their interests.
 Conservation Measures:

Structural: Agronomic:

Engineering/Physical
Creating structures
For reducing erosion
Involves engineering practices, in which
initial investment is made
Terraces, ditches and retention
reseroristic
Expenses for build and maintain
Structural measure contain
runoff/sediments
Do not reduced tillage erosion
Biological/Vegetative
Agronomic measures
Focus on change in soil and crop
management practices
Reduced tillage, cover cropping, green
manuring
Can be adopt at farm land
Enhance or effects soil health
Alternate soil/crop management practice
available
Agron measure prevent runoff/erosion to
get initiated

Key Principal:
 Keep the soil cover
 Use management practices that increased aggradation and
infiltration
 Do not loosen the soil
 Land scape approached
 Focus on critical periods

Conservation Tillage

 The greatest soil cover/conservation practices of the 20th

century
 Intensity of tillage operations redused
 Crop residues ≥30%
  Organic matter increased so soil health increased
 Soil cover (Raindrop absorb by mulch)
 Soil Aggregation
 Erosion reduced
 Less soil movement

Conventional tillage Conservation tillage

Crop residues ≥0-15% Crop residues ≥30%

Ploughing Reduced tillage: No-tillage

Disking Disking Planting

Planting Planting spraying

Cultivators Cultivators

Evolution of conservation tillage:

Concept in 1930s after Dust Bowl

 Testing of chisel plowing in the Great Plains
 Mack Gowdy (Bull Tongue Scooter)
 Stubble mulch as a forerunner
 1940s , EH Faulkner book The plowman`s Folly
 Purdue university M-21 till planter
 2-4D

1950s CT research:
 Shifted from stubble mulch to reduced tillage such as plow planters, wheel
trackers

1950s-60s:
 Development of herbicides (Atrazine, paraguet)
  Post emergence for soybean
 Availability of no-tillage planter
 Weed control in pastures
 Growing grain crops
 Mulching conditions
 1973 no tillage farming
 1970 planters/drills
 Food security act
 21st century

Tillage System:

Conventional tillage: Conservation tillage:

≤15 % crop residues ≥30 crop residues

Preparatory tillage Intertillage

Zero tillage

Mulch tillage
Primary tillage: Ridging
Strip tillage
To prepare root bed Furrow
Ridge planting
Harrowing
Secondary tillage:
Earthing up
To prepare seed bed
Zero tillage describes a practice in which soil disturbance is limited only to the
spot where the seed would be placed. For example sowing of wheat after rice
using a zero tillage seed drill.

Minimum tillage or reduced-till is a loosely defined term. It involves

considerable soil disturbance though to a lesser extent than conventional tillage.
Mulch is any practice, material or idea to conserve soil moisture, soil and control
weeds.

stubble mulch tillage, the objective is to leave crop residue to serve as mulch.
It can control erosion and weeds especially during fallow periods.

Strip tillage or zone till is the disturbance of narrow strips in the soil where
seeding is done. The inter row zone remains undisturbed and covered with crop
residues. It is especially useful in poorly drained soils and for proper
management of phosphate and potassic fertilizers.
Ridge tillage or ridge plant is tilling of a small band of soil
on the ridges. The soil from top of the ridge is mixed with
crop residue between ridges. The soil is only disturbed for
fertilization. This system is particularly used for growing
vegetation.
 Control Erosion:
Erosivity:
 Rainfall characteristics to do soil erosion by
runoff
Energy of storm
Runoff energy
Can be reduced by:
 Decreased raindrop impact and runoff velocity
Erodiability:
 Varna ability of the soil to the erosion
Soil physical state
Organic matter, Soil Aggregates Size of macro
pores

Enhance structure, Soil aggregation, stability

1. Kind & no. of tillage operations

2. Management of previous crop residues
3. Improve soil quality

Soil Quality:
Capacity of the soil to function within the ecosystem boundary to sustain
biological productivity and to maintain environment quality plant and
animal health
 Soil Quality= f(Physical, Chemical, Biological)

Physical properties Chemical properties Biological properties

Structures Soil organic matter Biomass carbon
Macrospores Nutrient scarification Soil fanna
Available water capacity Cation exchange capacity Biodiversity
Bulk Density

Physical, Chemical, Biological properties can improved

Infiltration Leaching Gaseous flux

Runoff Nitrification
Aeration volatilization
Compaction
diffusion

Soil & water conservation practices

Contour Farming:

Lines of uniform elevations is called contour

 In hilly and steep slopes

 Round the hill farming

CF is the practice in which all agri-operations are carried out along the
contour lines.
CF is done where slope is ≤ 10%

Sedimentation and runoff losses Infiltration, organic matter and

decreased. intensity of rainfall increased

Check dam
Trenches

Wood Barrier

 Peripheral bunds
 Grass strips
 Stone lines
 Contour farrowing
 Planting pits

Overall reduce soil and water conservation

Limitations:

 Improper establishment of contour lines

 Maintainess of CL
 Choice of crops or Crop Rotation:

 To protect the soil resource

 To minimize production risks or crop failure
 Should be adjust to erratic precipitation pattern

We need to understand:

 Plant adaptation
 Robustness of cropping system
 Sequence of crops
 Fellow period
 Crop intensity while controlling pest pressure

Plant adaptation:

 High water use efficiency = Y/W

 Crop susceptibility to water deficit at critical stages

Door-enbos and Kassam (1979) used crop yield response factors, Ky, to quantify
the sensitivity of various crops to available water by growth stage and averaged
during the season.
 Yield achieved under water deficit conditions
Maize 1.15-1.25
Wheat 1-1.15
Cotton 0.85
Soybean 0.85

Cotton and soybean have similar mean crop sensitivity to seasonal water
deficit (Ky 0.85), but the greater sensitivity of soybean to water deficits incurred
during flowering and pod formation and fill often eliminates it from dryland
cropping sequences.
  Leaves :
 Erect type and needle shaped
 Reduced leaf area (wheat)
 Stomata on lower side of the wheat
 Hypo stomata or sunken stomata
 Extensive root system
 Early maturity
 C4 pathway (pearl millet, sorghum)
 Grow habit of the plant (determinet vs indertiment)
 High WUE/TE or low TR
 To utilize the stored soil moisture
 Maximum storage of water
 Utilize fellow period
 Adjust planting dates

CROP ROTATION:
Crop rotation is the technique of growing different crops on the same land over a definite
period of time in such a manner that the fertility of soil is least affected, and profit is
maintained. It is also called as ‘sequence cropping’.

A C D A
B D C B

AIMS:

 Increased biological/ economical yield

 Producing a forage product for animal/livestock
 Producing residues
Principles of Rotation:
1) Crop of the same family or of the same root system (shallow vs deep) should not
follow
each other. This helps maintaining soil structure. There is differential uptake of
nutrients
from different layers. Moreover, deep roots provide more biomass for microbial
activity.
2) Dicot crops should follow monocot crops e.g. potato/mustard/pulses followed by
rice/wheat/barley/oat/sugarcane
3) Long duration or perennial crops should succeed short duration seasonal crops
such as
sugarcane-cowpea
4) Exhaustive crops should follow by restorative crops to maintain soil fertility e.g.
cereal legume. Green manure crops should be included in a rotation
5) Fodder crops should be followed by food or some other crops e.g. berseem-maize
6) Crops grown on wet (anaerobic) soils should be followed by crops grown on dry
(aerobic) soil e.g. rice-wheat
7) Stiff stubble crops should be followed by crops requiring minimum inter cultivation
e.g.
sugarcane/cotton-fodder crops
8) Crops with problematic weeds should be replaced by multicut crops
9) Crops susceptible to diseases, insects pests should be replaced by resistant crops
10) Fallowing in rainfed/barani areas to conserve soil moisture, root out weeds, control
parasites, restore soil fertility etc.
11) Rotation should supply food grain and feed
 Agro-Forestry

 Agriculture + forests
 A land use system in which trees and shrubs are integrated are integrated into
crops/animals farming system

Benefits:

 Windbreaks
 Income diversification
 Wildlife habitat
 Microclimate
 Pollution control
 Utilization of marginal lands

1. Alleycroping:
Planting of rows of trees at wide spacing with a companion crop grown in the
alleys between crop rows.
 High value trees
 Cereals crops
 Vegetables crops
 Space the trees widely
 Orient trees in E-W
 Winds breaks
 Light penetration maximum
 Crop should be shade tolerant
 High temperature benefits
 Leaves are should be low

Limitations:

 Competition
 Sometime shade
 Act as a pest host
 Financial returns
 Herbicides drift
  Allopathic effects
2. Forest Farming System:
Grown understory crops whiten an established forests either a natural forests
or timber crops
 Shade tolerant
 Mushroom
 Ginserf, berries , mossses

3. Silvophasture system:
The integration of trees and grazing livestock system
 Income of livestock
 Cover land(save from erosion)

4. Riparian buffer system:

Trees or shrubs are planted along the streams, lakes, canals to helps filter
runoff from upstream agro or urban lands.
 Stabilize land
 Biodiversity

5. Transitional system:
Take advantages of the increased shading and microclimatic as tree mature.
Crop diversification: