Conservation Agriculture Systems: soil health and landscape management

Publication date: 20/01/2020
Extent: 68 pages

Contributions by: Don Reicosky, Soil Scientist Emeritus USDA-ARS and University of Minnesota, USA

Chapter synopsis: At the core of Conservation Agriculture (CA) is the transformation towards soil health and systems management innovation with emphasis on regenerative carbon management. This chapter documents the role of CA systems in relation to soil health and soil function. The three principles of: 1) permanent organic crop residue soil cover; 2) diverse crop rotations and cover crop mixes; and 3) continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance, of CA systems, along with complementary supporting practices, are fully discussed. Then follows a section on plant carbon and its impact on hydrology and water use efficiency. The author concludes that a strong partnership is needed among all social, economic, and political sectors to promote innovation, adoption and success of Conservation Agriculture systems in light of the need for global food security.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2019.0048.03