Notes on Conservation Agriculture:

Introduction:

• Global population growth demands increased food, fibre, oil production.
• Continuous soil tilling without organic matter harms soil health.
• India's goal: Produce an additional 64 million tonnes of food by 2020.
• Enhance soil Carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N) sequestration for sustainability.
• Conservation agriculture focuses on productivity and sustainability using available resources.

History Of Conservation Tillage / Agriculture:

• 8000 BC: Earliest no-till planting with planting sticks.
• 6000 BC: Draft animals used for ploughing.
• 3500 BC: Introduction of Plough-share.
• 1100 AD: Mouldboard plough introduced.
• Jethro Tull (1671-1741): Known as 'Father of Tillage', emphasized on tillage.
• Edward H. Faulkner (1886-1964): Criticized mouldboard plough, wrote 'Plowman's Folly: A Second Look'.
• 1970s: Development of no-till drills.
• 1990s: Introduction of new generation machines like happy seeder/turbo seeder.
• Evolution of conservation agriculture in the USA due to land degradation and oil prices.
• 1930s Dust Bowl in the U.S. due to extensive tillage.

Definition Of Conservation Agriculture:

• Farming system promoting minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and plant species diversification.
• Enhances biodiversity and biological processes, contributing to sustainable crop production.

Scope, Area And Equipment:

• Challenges in conventional agriculture: declining productivity, soil health issues, yield trends, and environmental impact.
• Intensive tillage in conventional agriculture has numerous drawbacks.
• Conservation agriculture offers solutions to these challenges.

Principles Of Conservation Agriculture:

• Three basic principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, diversified crop rotations.
• Controlled traffic considered the fourth principle.

Usefulness And Limitations/Constraints Of Conservation Agriculture:

• Benefits: Improved soil health, water retention, reduced pollution, increased biodiversity, GHGs emissions reduction.
• Constraints: Machine-dependency, residue management challenges, weed control issues.

Global Conservation Agriculture Area:

• 157 million ha of arable land under conservation agriculture globally.
• Major areas include USA, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and Australia.

Equipment Availability:

• Equipment availability is crucial for adopting conservation agriculture.
• Innovations like turbo seeder, happy seeder, multi-crop planter developed.
• Equipment available for different scales of farming.

Conventional Vs. Conservation Agriculture:

• Comparison between conventional and conservation agriculture in various aspects.

Minimal Soil Disturbance:

• Conservation agriculture advocates less or no tilling to preserve soil health.

Permanent Organic Soil Cover:

• Importance of retaining crop residues on the soil surface as mulch.

Diversified Crop Rotation with a Legume:

• Role of crop rotation in pest control, nutrient recycling, and soil health improvement.

Conservation Agriculture Practices:

• Practices include laser land leveling, conservation tillage, bed planting, direct-seeded rice, brown manuring, crop residue management, crop diversification.

Impact Of Conservation Agriculture:

• Improved water-use efficiency/productivity, soil health, mitigation and adaptation of climate change.

Economics:

• Cost-benefit analysis of conservation agriculture compared to conventional practices.

Summary:

• Conservation agriculture improves resource use efficiency and sustainability.
• Research and development focus on conservation agriculture practices suitable for Indian conditions.