.:: Lao Knowledge Base on Conservation Agriculture ::.
Economy and adoption
Economics aspects of conservation agriculture - A globa... Featured
At the turn of the Century, about 2.5 billion farm men, women and children produced some 1.9 billion tones of cereals for their own home consumption as well as sale to the urban population of 3.5 billion. Despite farmers' momentous past achievements - such as the increase of global cereal production by more than one-third since 1980 - by 2030 they will face a projected additional demand for cereals of around 1 billion tons; and an even larger increase in demand for livestock products (FAO 2003). On top of these production challenges, the prevalence of chronic hunger, famine, environmental and other development problems pose major challenges to scientists, policy makers and farmers. Following the establishment of measurable global development objectives in the Millennium Development Goals and he recognition of the close links between farm development and rural economic growth, the search for solutions to hunger and poverty has re-focused on agricultural and rural development. At least in some circumstanc ...
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The economics of conservation agriculture Featured
Conservation agriculture is an innovative approach for improving resource use in sustainable production. Its benefits include reduced inputs, more stable yields, improved soil nutrient exchange and enhanced long-run profitability. This study examines the financial and non-financial factors that affect the adoption and success of conservation agriculture at farm, national and global levels. Conscious of the possible divergence between private and social interests, it highlights the importance of farmers' objectives and motives, the collective dimension and the role of policy. In calling for improved policy analysis and information for decision-making, it recommends the development of sustainability indicators and a whole-farm approach to analysis.
Household Level Financial Incentives to Adoption of Con... Featured
Although several studies have been conducted to determine the viability of conservation agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, almost all such studies are fragmented – often country specific – and with undue emphasis on output effects. However, assessment of the attractiveness of these technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa requires a detailed case-by-case comparison of changes in output and input costs and benefits. This paper reviews a set of responses known collectively as “conservation” or “sustainable” agriculture. Though definitions vary, these technologies typically involve agricultural management practices that prevent degradation of soil and water resources and thereby permit sustainable farm productivity without environmental degradation.
Conservation agriculture: environment, farmers' experie... Featured
In large parts of the developed and developing worlds soiltillage by plough or hoe is the main cause of land degradation leadingto stagnating or even declining production levels and increasingproduction cost. It causes the soil to become more dense andcompacted, the organic matter content to be reduced and water runoffand soil erosion to increase. It also leads to droughts becoming moresevere and the soil becoming less fertile and less responsive tofertiliser. There is a growing number of experiences in conditions of bothmechanised and un-mechanised agriculture, on small and large farms inboth temperate and tropical zones that further and significantimprovements in conservation-effective agriculture are indeedpossible, and acceptable to farmers, in addressing these variedconcerns now strongly indicate that sustainable production systems canbe achieved when the basic principles of good farming practice areapplied. The terminology being adopted for such systems by FAO, ECAFand other organisations is Con ...
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Conservation Tillage – Gateway to Food Security and S... Featured
African governments and regional organisations like SADC increasingly undertake efforts to address challenges such as poverty, food insecurity, destruction of natural resources, and HIV/AIDS, and the general stagnation of economic development. It has become obvious that agricultural development has been neglected over the past decades, despite clear evidence, that broad-based agricultural development provides an effective means for both reducing poverty and accelerating economic growth. (FAO and World Bank, 2001). While per capita food production has risen in Asia and Latin America over the last decades, it is still declining in Sub-Saharan Africa (IFAD, 2001). There are many reasons for this development. The farming systems in most parts of Africa are not sustainable. They are no longer adapted to a changing natural and socio-economic environment. They are characterised by extremely low yields, exploitation of natural resources (“soil mining”) and an increasing labour input. Only a drastic change of ...
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Farmers’ adoption of conservation agriculture: A revi... Featured
In light of growing concerns over the implications of many conventional agricultural practices, and especially the deep tilling of soils, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), among others, has begun to promote a package of soil conserving practices under the banner of ‘conservation agriculture’. While the title might be novel, its associated practices have long been employed by farmers, and studied by social scientists seeking to understand the reasons for their adoption and non-adoption. This paper reviews and synthesizes this past research in order to identify those independent variables that regularly explain adoption, and thereby facilitate policy prescriptions to augment adoption around the world. While a disaggregated analysis of a subset of commonly used variables reveals some underlying patterns of influence, once various contextual factors (e.g. study locale or method) are controlled, the primary finding of the synthesis is that there are few if any universal var ...
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Global Overview of CA Adoption Featured
No-tillage/Conservation Agriculture (CA) has developed to a technically viable, sustainable and economic alternative to current crop production practices. While current crop production systems have resulted in soil degradation and in extreme cases desertification, the adoption of the No-tillage technology has led to a reversion of this process. Soil erosion has come to a halt, organic matter content, soil iological processes and soil fertility have been enhanced, soil moisture has been better conserved and yields have increased with time. Data presented ten years ago at the 10th ISCO Conference in West Lafayette, Indiana, showed a world wide adoption of the No-tillage technology of about 45 million ha (Derpsch, 2001). Since then the adoption of the system has continued to grow steadily especially in outh America where some countries are using CA on about 70% of the total cultivated area. Opposite to countries like the USA where often fields under No-tillage are tilled every now and then, more than two thi ...
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