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Integrated Soil, Water and Nutrient Management in Conservation Agriculture
Closed for proposals
Project Type
Project Code
D15009CRP
305Approved Date
Status
Start Date
Expected End Date
Completed Date
9 April 2010Description
Conservation agriculture (CA) is a management system that maintains a continuous soil cover through surface retention of all crop residues, reduced or zero tillage, and the use of cove or green manure crops in rotations. CA is practiced on a total of 72 Mha of cropland worldwide, with the proportions of total croplands under CA being 47.5 % in Latin America, 36.7 % in North America, 12.5 % in Australia and 3.3 % in the rest of the world. CA has potential application in all agroecological zones, and is expected to expand rapidly in Asia and more gradually into Africa and Europe as socio-economic conditions permit. Many positive benefits are claimed for CA including inter alia reduced soil erosion, improved soil fertility, better water relations, soil organic matter accumulation, reduced soil compaction, increased soil biodiversity, resilience to climate change and greenhouse gas mitigation, all of which interact in a complex way to increase agricultural productivity and system sustainability. However, there is a paucity of experimental data to support many of these claims. The overall objective of the CRP is to enhance the productivity and sustainability of farming systems through a better understanding of the principles and practice of conservation agriculture. More specifically, the individual and interactive effects of conservation tillage practices, residue management, crop rotations, nutrient and water inputs on soil organic matter stocks, resource use efficiency, agricultural productivity and environmental quality will be investigated. The project will be implemented in 2005 and preference will be given to scientists and institutions with experience in nuclear techniques and on-going research in conservation agriculture, so that the CRP can be fully integrated with existing experiments and available resources.
Objectives
To enhance the productivity and sustainability of farming systems through a better understanding of the principles and practice of conservation agriculture
Specific objectives
To quantify the individual and interactive effects of conservation tillage practices, residue management, crop rotations, nutrient and water inputs to increase soil organic matter, resource use efficiency, agricultural productivity and environmental quality
Impact
1. It created an effective network of research scientists and national agricultural research systems (NARS) involved in CA research and promotion.
2. It increased awareness and stimulated interest in the unique role of nuclear techniques in acquiring new knowledge of key physical (e.g. water retention), chemical (e.g. C sequestration) and biological (e.g. BNF) processes in CA.
3. It generated new knowledge and a database on soil-water-plant relationships in CA, including C sequestration, nutrient and water use efficiencies and greenhouse gas emissions.
4. It paved the way for the implementation of projects in CA under the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Programme.
Relevance
Conservation agriculture (CA) is a management system that maintains a continuous soil cover through surface retention of all crop residues, reduced or zero tillage, and the use of cover or green manure crops in rotations. CA is practiced on a total of 105 Mha of cropland worldwide, with the proportions of total croplands under CA being 45.5% in Latin America, 38.5% in North America, 9.1% in Australia and 6.9% in the rest of the world. CA has potential application in all agro-ecological zones, and is expected to expand rapidly in Asia and more gradually into Africa and Europe as socio-economic conditions permit. Many positive benefits are claimed for CA including reduced soil erosion, improved soil fertility, better water relations, soil organic matter accumulation, reduced soil compaction, increased soil biodiversity, resilience to climate change and greenhouse gas mitigation, all of which interact in a complex way to increase agricultural productivity and system sustainability.
The relevance of this CRP is that it has placed CA on a firmer scientific footing by generating data which support or challenge some of the claimed benefits of CA mentioned above. However, due to the limited scope of the CRP because of financial and time constraints, it was possible to address some, but not all of the proposed benefits of CA. Nevertheless, the CRP should act as a catalyst to stimulate further research through the creation of a research network which has introduced the NARS participants to the unique role that nuclear techniques can play in generating data that cannot be obtained using conventional techniques. The expansion of CA into new regions will ultimately depend on the demonstrated benefits of CA and a better understanding of the scientific basis of CA.