Conservation Agriculture-based Sustainable Intensification

Conservation Agriculture

Conservation Agriculture(CA) is defined as a sustainable agriculture production system comprising a set of farming practices adapted to the requirements of crops and local conditions of each region, whose farming and soil management techniques protect the soil from erosion and improve its quality and biodiversity, and contribute to the preservation of the natural resources, water and air, while optimizing the yields.

CA are based on three core principles

1. Minimum soil disturbance.
2. Maintenance of permanent soil covers.
3. Cropping system diversity, crop rotations

                                                                                                            source-FAO.org

The adoption of CA has been successful in the rainfed areas. But south Asia have complex farming system. Because farmers of south Asia follows 2-4 crops in a cycle and our agriculture is connected with poultry farming, fisheries, animal farming. So it is complicated to apply this principles of CA. So, we have to go beyond Conservation Agriculture and discuss about Conservation Agriculture based Sustainable Intensification.

Agronomic Practices under CASI

Land preparation

•  Provide suitable environment for direct seeding
•  Land preparation covers a wide range of practices from zero-tillage or minimum tillage   which minimizes soil   disturbance through to a totally 'puddled' soil which actually destroys   soil structure.
•  Land preparation is important to ensure that the field is ready for planting
•  Control weeds
•  Recycles plant nutrient

Herbicide application

 With use of non-selective herbicides, all weeds can be removed in a single operation.

 If weed control is achieved with herbicides, the labour requirement is reduced.

 Weed management

•   Crop rotation and intercropping
•   Irrigation method- prefer drip irrigation
•   Mulching
•   Solarization
•   Use of healthy and clean crops seed
•   Destroy the weeds before sowing
•   Variety- initial fast growth

Nutrient management

• Diagnosis of nutrient deficiency

Increasing water use efficiency

•   Land leveling
•   Good irrigation method
•   Good agronomic management (Weeding, mulching)
•   Drainage facility
•   Short duration crops
•   Low water requiring crops

Machines for CASI

• Multi-crop zero tillage planter
• Laser and Leveler
• Combine Harvester with SMS
• Straw Reaper
• Mechanical Rice Transplanter
• Happy Seeder
• Paddy Straw Chopper
• Reaper Combiner

Combine harvester

Advantages of CASI

Productivity Benefits

•   Time saving 
•   Saving fuel
•   Labor saving by 15-40 person days ha-1
•   Reduce production cost by 4000-5000 INR ha-1
•   Reduce irrigation water application by 5-10%
•   Reduce weed population of particular species (P. minor) 
•   Increase crop yield
•   Increase in farm income
•   Increase water productivity 
•   Reduction in tillage passes number from 5-10 to 1
•   Advance the crop planting by 15-20 days

Economic Advantages

• CASI management practices reduce both labor use and  production costs by around -40% and increase gross margins by up to 25%. 
• Net profit gain approx 2.5-3.0 thousands/Acre
• Up to 80% of fuel used to establish a crop is conserved through CASI
• Up to 60% fewer person-hours are used per hectare compared with tillage. 

Soil Health

•  Healthier soils produce higher yields 
•  Soil health quick to degrade but takes time to improve
•  Healthier soils increase resilience to climate variability and change and facilitates   better human health
•  Chemical, physical and biological properties are all important for soil health 
•  CA practice improve soil health compared to CT practice 

Social Benefits

•  Alternative income generating activities
•  Reduce drudgery
•  Freeze women labour
•  Enhanced nutritional security
•  Diverse farm activities 

Source:

Sciencedirect.com, agmoocs.in,  fao.org, wikipedia.org, researchgate.net