Conservation Agriculture Principles Making Sustainable Agriculture Real Prof. Paula Triviño-Tarradas (1,2) Prof. Dr. Emilio J. González-Sánchez (1,2) (1) European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF) (2) University of Cordoba (Spain) ptrivino@ecaf.org www.ecaf.org
Soil degradation processes are very expensive -unaffordable- for EU Society SOIL DEGRADATION Erosion Organic matter decline Compaction Salinisation Landslides Contamination Biodiversity decline ANNUAL COSTS 0.7 14.0 billion 3.4 5.6 billion Cannot be estimated 158 321 million Up to 1.2 billion per event 2.4 17.3 billion Cannot be estimated (European Commission, Soil Thematic Strategy, 2006) The total costs of degradation would be up to 38 billion annually for the EU
River Thames, London House of Parliament Guadalquivir river, Spain
The main cause of soil degradation is soil tillage
Stagnating Yields in Europe Rising-plateau regression analysis of wheat yields throughout various European countries (Brisson et al. 2010)
The principles of Conservation Agriculture No or minimum mechanical soil disturbance by seeding or planting directly into untilled soil Enhance and maintain organic matter cover on the soil surface using crop residues and cover crops to protect & feed soil life Diversification of species both annuals and perennials Conservation Agriculture is a combination of several resource conserving practices simultaneously creating synergies between them for optimization & sustainability. Conservation Agriculture enhances the resilience of natural resources and promotes agricultural practices that favour a circular economy.
Conservation Agriculture is a holistic approach to sustainability Conservation Agriculture Improved Productivity & Ecosystem Serv. Soil/Water Protection & Fertility Soil Organic Carbon / Organic Matter All Production Systems & Agroecologies Permanent cover Minimum / no soil Species diversity residues/cover crop disturbance / crop rotations
Ecological Foundation of CA Systems CA does not solve ALL problems (NO panacea) but complemented with other good practices CA base allows for high production intensity and sustainable agriculture in all landbased production systems (rainfed & irrigated, annual, perennial, plantation, orchards, agroforestry, croplivestock, rice systems) Real Sustainable agriculture Pollinator/ Biodiversity management Sustainable mechanization Integrated Water management Compaction management, CTF Permanent Bed and Furrow Systems Integrated Pest Management No/Minimum soil disturbance Good seed Genetic potential Genetic resources mgmt Integrated Plant Nutrient Management Soil Cover System of Rice Intensification Integrated Weed Management Crop Diversity
CONVENTIONAL FARMING Modification of the environment to seed (soil) CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE Adaptation of the plant and the technology to seed in different environments (system)
No-tillage in Switzerland
No-tillage in Italy
No-tillage in France with Cover Crops
No-Tillage in Germany
No-tillage in the UK
No-tillage in Spain
Groundcovers in permanent crops
A healthy soil in agriculture is a living biological system
Benefits Runoff and Erosion control The same field, the same slope, the same crop! Conventional tillage Conservation Agriculture No-tillage + residues
Benefits of Conservation Agriculture Climate change mitigation Carbon sequestered in the soil (t/ha) after 4 seasons in Conservation Agriculture 10,8 12 10 8 6,4 6,2 CARMONA LAS CABEZAS DE SAN JUAN 6 4 2 0 RABANALES Increased to 56% of carbon sequestration over conventional agriculture Results of the LIFE+ Agricarbon project. www.agricarbon.eu
Benefits of Conservation Agriculture Energy reduction 30% 26% 25% 18% 20% 15% 12% 10% 5% 0% Trigo Wheat Girasol Sunflower Leguminosa Legumes Average reduction of 19% of energy consumption compared to conventional agriculture. Results of the LIFE+ Agricarbon project. www.agricarbon.eu
Cost savings thanks to Conservation Agriculture Conservation agriculture has provided cost savings of 9.5% in wheat, sunflower in 21.6% and 14.4% in legumes. 700 Production costs ( /ha) 600 WHEAT Conventional Tillage Agriculture LC Conservation Agriculture + Precision Agriculture AC+AP 500 400 LEGUMES SUNFLOWER 300 200 100 0 Results of the LIFE+ Agricarbon project. www.agricarbon.eu
50 1930 1950 1970 1980 adoption Brazil plantio direto na palha Dustbowl 1990 New boost: Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Spain...; Africa First WCCA in Madrid Source: FAO, Kassam et al. (2015) experiments in China, Indogangetic Plains Argentina, Paraguay; Oldrieve/Zimbabwe IITA no-till research first no-till demonstration in Brazil dustbowl Siberia/USSR 100 commercial no-till/us first no-till farmers in USA Faulkner (US) Fukuoka (Japan) First no-till in the US US Soil Conservation Service conservation tillage Mill. ha History and global adoption of CAadoption of Worldwide Conservation Agriculture 157 mill ha 2000 2010
Conservation agriculture gives answer to Global Challenges (Europe 2020 Strategy) Recognized as Climate Smart Agriculture by UN-FAO Key for some of the Sustainable Development Goals Crucial agent for the COP21 4x1000 initiative and for CAP
What we need now to make Sustainability real in CAP? Diversity of Rural Areas Climate change Natural Constraints Environment Biodiversity Production Productivity CAP 2020 Competitiveness Farm income
Benefits of Conservation Agriculture Increased soil carbon sink effect Less CO2 emissions Increased farmer profitability Less production costs Maintaining crop yield Improved biodiversity Drastic reductions in fuel consumption Reduction of the time needed for farm work Increased in water use efficiency
Thank you for your attention ptrivino@ecaf.org www.ecaf.org