Next Steps for Conservation Agriculture
The origins, history, and recent advances in Conservation Agriculture (CA) are reported. CA is now practiced worldwide on some 200 million hectares, important for mitigating climate change and ensuring food security. Its bedrock is Zero Tillage (ZT) with crop rotation and retention of crop residues....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/12/2496 |
| _version_ | 1827674525974659072 |
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| author | John N. Landers Pedro Luiz de Freitas Mauricio Carvalho de Oliveira Sebastião Pedro da Silva Neto Ricardo Ralisch Eric Alan Kueneman |
| author_facet | John N. Landers Pedro Luiz de Freitas Mauricio Carvalho de Oliveira Sebastião Pedro da Silva Neto Ricardo Ralisch Eric Alan Kueneman |
| author_sort | John N. Landers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The origins, history, and recent advances in Conservation Agriculture (CA) are reported. CA is now practiced worldwide on some 200 million hectares, important for mitigating climate change and ensuring food security. Its bedrock is Zero Tillage (ZT) with crop rotation and retention of crop residues. CA approaches Organic Agriculture (OA) when coupled to biological control providing opportunity for OA to become truly sustainable. Ley Farming (LF) and agroforestry with ZT are important for carbon sequestration and land use intensification. Hidden cost: each ton of carbon immobilizes 83 kg of N, 29 kg of P, and 14 kg of S. Industry-backed Regenerative Agriculture (RA) variants have no scientific definition, but generally adopt CA. Sustainable, profitable, and compatible new technologies are emerging and CA needs to embrace them to present a holistic, sustainable package to the farmer. How? A single definition for agricultural sustainability via a multi-stakeholder world congress would standardize certification and de-confuse the market. RA describes exactly what CA does for soil health and all farmers need to unite around a new “Combined Regenerative Agriculture” (CRA) to lobby for adequate payments for environmental services. Expansion of CA is critical for world sustainability. Many gaps and constraints exist, especially for smallholders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:40:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-942fe57e6b8b410ca286ad8d840c6f43 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:40:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-942fe57e6b8b410ca286ad8d840c6f432023-11-23T03:22:47ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952021-12-011112249610.3390/agronomy11122496Next Steps for Conservation AgricultureJohn N. Landers0Pedro Luiz de Freitas1Mauricio Carvalho de Oliveira2Sebastião Pedro da Silva Neto3Ricardo Ralisch4Eric Alan Kueneman5Brazilian No-Till System Farmers’ Federation (FEBRAPDP), Honorary Director, Brasília 71680-368, BrazilBrazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Embrapa Solos, Rio de Janeiro 22460-000, BrazilSoil and Water Conservation, Secretariat of Inovation, Sustainable Development and Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Brasília 70043-900, BrazilBrazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Embrapa Cerrados, Brasília 70770-901, BrazilAgronomy Department, State University of Londrina (UEL), Londrina 86057-970, BrazilKueneman Consultancy, West Sacramento, CA 95691, USAThe origins, history, and recent advances in Conservation Agriculture (CA) are reported. CA is now practiced worldwide on some 200 million hectares, important for mitigating climate change and ensuring food security. Its bedrock is Zero Tillage (ZT) with crop rotation and retention of crop residues. CA approaches Organic Agriculture (OA) when coupled to biological control providing opportunity for OA to become truly sustainable. Ley Farming (LF) and agroforestry with ZT are important for carbon sequestration and land use intensification. Hidden cost: each ton of carbon immobilizes 83 kg of N, 29 kg of P, and 14 kg of S. Industry-backed Regenerative Agriculture (RA) variants have no scientific definition, but generally adopt CA. Sustainable, profitable, and compatible new technologies are emerging and CA needs to embrace them to present a holistic, sustainable package to the farmer. How? A single definition for agricultural sustainability via a multi-stakeholder world congress would standardize certification and de-confuse the market. RA describes exactly what CA does for soil health and all farmers need to unite around a new “Combined Regenerative Agriculture” (CRA) to lobby for adequate payments for environmental services. Expansion of CA is critical for world sustainability. Many gaps and constraints exist, especially for smallholders.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/12/2496land use intensificationno-tillage farmingoff-farm benefitsorganic agriculturepayments for environmental servicesregenerative agriculture |
| spellingShingle | John N. Landers Pedro Luiz de Freitas Mauricio Carvalho de Oliveira Sebastião Pedro da Silva Neto Ricardo Ralisch Eric Alan Kueneman Next Steps for Conservation Agriculture Agronomy land use intensification no-tillage farming off-farm benefits organic agriculture payments for environmental services regenerative agriculture |
| title | Next Steps for Conservation Agriculture |
| title_full | Next Steps for Conservation Agriculture |
| title_fullStr | Next Steps for Conservation Agriculture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Next Steps for Conservation Agriculture |
| title_short | Next Steps for Conservation Agriculture |
| title_sort | next steps for conservation agriculture |
| topic | land use intensification no-tillage farming off-farm benefits organic agriculture payments for environmental services regenerative agriculture |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/12/2496 |
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