Conservation agriculture for resource use efficiency and sustainability

Good afternoon

Topic of the seminar

“Conservation agriculture for enhancing resource use efficiency and sustainability”

Speaker Jagat Bahadur Debbarma

M.Sc. (Agri.) 6th year2011-AMJ-27

CA/AAU- Jorhat( Assam,India)

Agricultural resources

Land

Labour

Capital

Water

Machinery

Fertilizers &

other chemicals

After green revolution

Food production has more than doubled since 1960s

Food production per capita has grown

Food price has fallen

Production of Important Commodities(India)P

rod

ucti

on

(M

t)

NRCAF (2011)

India's food grain production is projected to grow by 0.6 % to 247.6 million tonnes (Mt) in 2012-13 as against 246.2 Mt in 2011-12

The rice production is projected to exceed 100 Mt in 2012-13, while wheat production is pegged at 87.3 Mt

The production of coarse grains is projected to rise by 0.7% to 42.3 Mt in 2012-13

Pulses production is estimated to have decreased by 3.7 % to 17.5 Mt

India’s present scenario

Production of non-food crops is projected to fall by 1.6% in 2012-13

Crop production is projected to decline by 0.6 % in 2012-13 due to lower output of cotton and sugarcane production

Cotton production is projected to dip by 7.8% to 32.2 million bales in 2012-13

The sugarcane production is projected to fall by 0.9% to 342.5 Mt in 2012-13

Major oilseeds production is expected to grow by 3 % in 2012-13 but Production of groundnuts is estimated to have declined by over 17% to 6.9 Mt

Source: Centre for monitoring Indian economy, 2012

Projected Demand of Important Commodities(India)

D

em

an

d

( M

t)

NRCAF (2011)

Current production status

Conventional Agriculture

Fertilizers to increase crop yields.

Pesticides & herbicides to protect crops.

Antibiotics and hormones to increase productive efficiency of crops & livestock.

Heavy tillage operation.

Intensive cropping practice.

Impact of conventional agriculture

Land exhaustion

Soil erosion

Soil compaction

Nitrate run-off

Loss of biodiversity

Pollution

Threat to crop species

Habitat destruction

Contaminated food

Threat to farmers

Decline in GW table

Natural imbalance

20% of the world’s coral reefs were lost and 20% degraded in the last several decades

35% of mangrove area has been lost in the last several decade

Withdrawals from rivers and lakes doubled since 1960

Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

5-10% of the area of five biomes was converted between 1950 and 1990

> 2/3 of the area of two biomes and >1/2 of the area of four others had been converted by 1990

Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

Flows of biologically available N in terrestrial ecosystems doubled

Flows of phosphorus tripled

> 50% of all the synthetic N-fertilizer ever used has been used since 1985

60% of the increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 since 1750

Human-produced Reactive Nitrogen

Humans produce as much biologically available N as all natural pathways and this

may grow a further 65% by 2050Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

Total reactive N deposition from the atmosphere

Humans have increased the species extinction rate by as much as 1,000 times

10–30% of mammal, bird, and amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction

Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

The distribution of species on Earth is becoming more homogenous

The population size of the majority of species across a range of taxonomic groups are declining

Growth in Number of Marine Species Introductions in North

America and EuropeSource: Millennium ecosystem assessment

Continued…

Ecosystem services and poverty reduction

Status of Provisioning Services

Service StatusFood Crops

Livestock

Capture fisheries

Aquaculture

Wild foods

Fiber Timber +/–

Cotton, Silk +/–

Wood fuel

Genetic resources

Bio-chemicals, medicines

Fresh water

Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

Source: OUAT, Bhubneswar

Conservation Agriculture

The term 'Conservation Agriculture' (CA) refers to the system of raising crops without tilling the soil while retaining crop residues on the soil surface. (FAO)

Defined as minimal soil disturbance (no-till) and permanent soil cover (mulch) combined with rotations, as a more sustainable cultivation system for the future. (Peter R. Hobbs).

It is the collective umbrella term commonly given to no-tillage, direct-drilling, minimum-tillage and/or ridge-tillage, to denote that the specific practice has a conservation goal of some nature. (Baker et al. 2002)

Scenario 1 – Farmer practice

Tillage CT

Residue management

Removal

Crop health As usual

Nutrient management

As usual

WCCA 2011, Brisbane, Australia

Rice – Wheat

Scenario 2 : Best Available Practice

WCCA 2011, Brisbane, Australia

Tillage CT-ZT-CT

Residue management

Anchored-removal - incorporation

Crop health Best Available

Nutrient management

Best Available

Rice – Wheat - Mungbean

Scenario 3 : Conservation Agriculture

Tillage ZT-ZT-ZT

Residue management

Retention -Anchored- Retention

Crop health Best Available

Nutrient management

SSNM based

WCCA 2011, Brisbane, Australia

Rice – Wheat - Cowpea

Wheat grain/equivalent yield (t/ha) during 2009-10

WCCA 2011, Brisbane, Australia

Source: Laik R, Saharawat Y, Singh SS, Ladha JK, 2011

Rice grain yield (t/ha) during kharif 2010

WCCA 2011, Brisbane, Australia

CD (5%): 0.88

Source: Laik R, Saharawat Y, Singh SS, Ladha JK, 2011

Aims & Objectives Conserve, improve and more efficient use of available

natural resources for sustainability.

Minimum soil disturbance by adopting no-tillage and minimum traffic for agricultural Operations.

Leave and manage the crop residues on the soil surface.

Adopt spatial and temporal crop rotation to derive maximum benefits from inputs and minimize adverse environmental impacts.

Integrated management system like INM,IPM,IWM,IFS.

Conservation vs

Conventional

Cropping System Productivity ( t/ha)

Conventional Organic Conservation

GM-Basmati Rice- Wheat 12.6 13.0 13.6

Turmeric-Onion 19.2 36.9 36.6

Summer Groundnut-Garlic 25.3 29.1 29.4

Maize-durum Wheat-Cowpea (F)

11.4 12.6 12.3

Rice-Garlic + Mentha 24.9 31.0 32.2

Rice equivalent yield (t/ha) of different systems under various management

practices at PAU

Source : Sharma et al., 2010

Microbial population under conventional and CA rice farming

Source: Surekha et al. , 2010

conservationConventional

Source: Working group report on CA,Haryana

FAO, 2008

Conservation AgricultureConventional Agriculture

Fresh and residual effect of organic manure in rice-chickpea cropping sequence

Treatment Rice Grain Yield (q/ha) Chickpea Grain Yield (q/ha)

1995 1996 1997 Average 1995 1996 1997 Average

Control 32.1 31.3 19.7 27.7 10.8 7.1 7.5 8.5

Sesbania rostrata48.6 50.8 50.2 49.9 14.6 10.2 14 13

Sunhemp 30.4 50.6 46.9 45.6 13.7 8.1 12 11.3

Poultry manure 44.75 51.8 51.7 49.4 16.7 11.2 15 14.3

FYM 36.75 49 38.2 41.3 11.7 8.9 11 10.5

Nadep Compost 39.30 50.7 43.7 44.6 13.9 9.3 11 11.6

80:50:30 NPK 46.25 51.6 48.8 48.9 11.7 8.5 10 10.3

CD(5%) 2.3 2.2 2.8 - 1.2 0.9 2.9 -

Source: Singh et al,2001

Source: Lumpkin & Sayre

Grain yield in CA and conventional agriculture

Source: CIMMYT,2008

Components & practices adopted in

CA

Mulching Strip cropping

Multiple-cropping Contour cultivation

Inter-cropping Zero tillage

Terracing Crop rotation

FranceUruguay

GermanyItaly

ChinaSpainBrazil

United States ArgentinaAustralia

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

0.850000000000001

0.93

0.99

1.11

1.39

1.46

1.77

1.95

4.18

12

Million hectares

countries with most organic agricultural land 2010

FiBL-IFOAM Survey 2012

Manures application

Grain yield (kg/ha) C.D(0.05%) Straw yield (kg/ha) C.D(0.05%)

without green manure

green manure incorporation

without green manure

green manure incorporation

Control 2150 3317 316.5 3433 5305 292.7FYM @15t/ha 2650 3975 99.4 4237 6359 143.1

Poultry manure @3.5t/ha

3453 4844 325.7 5522 7746 322.8

Vermicompost @4.3t/ha

3333 4774 140.5 5329 7638 202.4

Source: Deshpande and Devasenapathy, 2010

Effect of different organic sources of nutrients and green manuring on yield (kg/ha) of rice grown under lowland

conditions

Crop Stubble added

(kg/ha) Addition of nutrients (kg/ha)

Organic matter

N P K

Rice 4,200 1764 17.6 2.9 25.2

Sorghum 2,889 462 6.1 2.6 9.5

Maize 667 93 0.6 0.2 2.7

Ragi 3,111 899 43.5 3.8 20.5

Sesame 778 56 5.5 0.2 1.3

Cowpea 444 36 3.1 0.3 3.1

Source: Bisoyi,R.N.,2003

Crop residue potential in India

Cropping System Productivity ( t/ha)

Chemical Organic Integrated

GM-Basmati Rice- Wheat 12.6 13.0 13.6

Turmeric-Onion 19.2 36.9 36.6

Summer Groundnut-Garlic 25.3 29.1 29.4

Maize-durum Wheat-Cowpea (F)

11.4 12.6 12.3

Rice-Garlic + Mentha 24.9 31.0 32.2

Rice equivalent yield (t/ha) of different systems under various management

practices at PAU

Source : Sharma et al

Bamboo based cropping systemSL Product/Application Current Expected

Market (Rs. in Crore)Expected Market in 2015

(Rs. in Crore)

1 Bamboo shoots 4.8 300

2 Bamboo as wood substitute 10,000 30,000

3 Bamboo ply board 200 500

4 Bamboo ply board for use in Trucks & 1000

1000 3,408

5 Bamboo Flooring (domestic + Export)

200 1,950

6 Bamboo Pulp & paper 100 2,088

7 Bamboo Furniture 380 3,265

8 Building & Construction - 3,298

9 Tiny Cottage Industry 394 600

  Total 12,078.80 45,409

Planning Commission, GOI (2003)

Area under zero tillage bycontinent

Continent Area( ha) Per cent of total (%)

South America 556,30,000 47.6

North America 399,81,000 34.1

Australia & New Zealand

171,62,000 14.7

Asia 26,30,000 2.2

Europe 11,50,000 1.0

Africa 3,68,000 0.3

Total 11,69,21,000 100%

Source: Derpsch, R. and Friedrich, T., 2010

Successful results of CA

Source: World Agroforestry centre, Nairobi

Source: World Agroforestry centre, Nairobi

Source: World Agroforestry centre, Nairobi

Source: World Agroforestry centre, Nairobi

Advantages of CA

To Farmers

Reduced cultivation cost through savings in labour, time and farm power.

Improved and stable yields with reduced use of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides).

Enhance food security for millions of smallholders in the have developing world (Derpsch and Friedrich, 2009).

To Natural Resources

Improved biological activity and diversity in the soil

Reduced pollution of surface and ground water

Savings in non-renewable energy use and increased carbon sequestration.

Reduced soil erosion and restore soil fertility

Increase organic matter and biological activity.

Source: Working group report on CA,Haryana

Organic carbon in soil surface (%)

Initial After 4 years

After 11 years

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

ConservationConventional

Source: Working group report on CA,Haryana

Source: FAO,2007

Constraints in adoption of CA

Small farm holdings

Illiterate farmers

Rapid urbanization

Farmers are reluctant

Communication gap

Socio-economic problems

Future Strategies for CA in India

More area under laser levelling up to 2017

50 per cent area to be bought under CA

12 per cent of the total area under zero tillage up to 2014

Diversification of more area from rice to wheat

Relay cropping of wheat in 50 per cent of cotton area

FAO strategic objectives 2010-2019

Population Growth

Higher life expectancy, better nutrition demand

Pressure on natural resources

Demand on multiple agricultural outputs

Residue retention for nutrient cycling, soil moisture retention, reduced transpiration

Promote surface residue retention

Better weed management practices

Cultivar choices for CA

Promote public- private partnership for CA

Mapping of problematic soils and link to CA

Conclusion CA conserve and improves available natural resources for

sustainability.

It restores soil degradation and increases soil fertility.

It reduces the pollution ( Soil, Water and Air).

It gives more return to the farmers.

Food quality is maintained

“We know more about the

movement of the celestial bodies

than about the soil underfoot ”

Da vinci

THANK YOU