Advances in Conservation Agriculture Volume 1

Editor

Professor Kassam is Visiting Professor at the University of Reading (UK) and Moderator of the FAO-hosted Global Platform for Conservation Agriculture Community of Practice (Global CA-CoP). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (UK) and has received an OBE from the British Government for services to tropical agriculture and rural development. Prof. Kassam is Chair of the International Conservation Agriculture Advisory Panel for Africa (ICAAP-Africa) and Vice-Chair of the Conservation Agriculture Association for the UK (CA-UK). He is former Chair of the Aga Khan Foundation (UK), the FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance Europe Foundation and the Tropical Agriculture Association (TAA). He has held senior positions at international organisations such as FAO and CGIAR and has published widely on Conservation Agriculture.

Description

This volume summarises research on key components for successful Conservation Agriculture (CA). 

Chapters review the latest research on ways of optimising no-till techniques to minimise soil disturbance in relation to seeding, weeding and other operations Chapters also review ways to improve soil health in CA, including mulch cover, cover crops, rotations and intercropping. 

The book also includes case studies on optimising CA in particular systems, including rice, root, tuber and horticultural crops as well as integrating livestock in CA systems. The book concludes by looking at certification schemes and institutional support to promote good CA practice.

Key features

• Reviews how to reconcile no-till techniques to minimise soil disturbance with operations such as seeding, weeding and harvesting.
• Assesses the latest evidence on improving soil health through the use of mulch cover, cover crops, rotations and intercropping.
• Includes case studies reviewing current studies on optimising CA in rice, root, tuber and horticultural crops as well as integrating livestock in CA systems.

What others are saying...

"This is an important, timely and authoritative collection on the values of Conservation Agriculture worldwide. Great advances have been made in recent years over a range of approaches and systems to improve both the productivity of agricultural systems and their positive contributions to ecosystem services and natural capital. Conservation Agriculture has been taken up by millions of farmers, fitting methods to their particular circumstances to produce sustainable models of food production."
Jules Pretty, Professor of Environment and Society, University of Essex, UK

Table of contents

1.The need for Conservation Agriculture: Amir Kassam, University of Reading, UK; and Laila Kassam, Independent Researcher, UK; 
2.Development of Conservation Agriculture systems globally: Amir Kassam, University of Reading, UK; Rolf Derpsch, International Consultant for Conservation Agriculture, Paraguay; and Theodor Friedrich, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Bolivia; 
3.Conservation Agriculture Systems: soil health and landscape management: Don Reicosky, Soil Scientist Emeritus USDA-ARS and University of Minnesota, USA; 
4.The role of no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance in Conservation Agriculture systems: Theodor Friedrich, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Bolivia; 
5.The role and management of soil mulch and cover crops in Conservation Agriculture systems: A. Calegari, Agronomic Research Institute of Paraná State (IAPAR), Brazil; T. Ticher, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil; A. C. Z. Machado, Agronomic Research Institute of Paraná State (IAPAR), Brazil; E. B. Wutke, Research Agricultural Institute of Campinas (IAC), Brazil; L. B. dos S. Canalli, Agronomic Research Institute of Paraná State (IAPAR), Brazil; R. Bunch, Private Consultant, USA; and D. dos S. Rheinheimer, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil; 
6.The role of crop and cropping system management in Conservation Agriculture systems: Peter Hobbs, Cornell University, USA; Christian Thierfelder, International Maize and Wheat Research Center (CIMMYT), Zimbabwe; Patrick Wall, Independent Consultant – Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Mexico; Raj Gupta, Center for Advancement of Sustainable Agriculture, India; and Ademir Calagari, Agronomic Research Institute of Paraná State (IAPAR), Brazil; 
7.Management of vegetable Conservation Agriculture systems: Jamil Abdalla Fayad, Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina (EPAGRI), Brazil, Jucinei José Comin, Federal University of Santa Catarina State (UFSC), Brazil; Alvaro Mafra, Department of Rural Engineering and Natural Resources, and Soil Science Post-graduated Program of the Santa Catarina State University (UDESC-CAV); Claudinei Kurtz, Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Carina (EPAGRI), Brazil; Samira Jamil Fayad, Postdoctoral Scholar (PNPD-CAPES) in the Chemistry Post-graduated Program from the Federal University of Santa Catarina State (UFSC), Brazil; Nuno Rodrigues Madeira, EMBRAPA, Brazil; Darlan Marcheze, Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina (EPAGRI), Brazil; Leandro do Prado Wildner, Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina (EPAGRI), Brazil; demir Calagari, Agronomic Research Institute of Paraná State (IAPAR), Brazil; Arcangelo Loss and Cledimar Rogério Lourenzi, Federal University of Santa Catarina State (UFSC), Brazil; Monique Souza and Guilherme Wilbert Ferreira, Agrosystems Post-graduated Program from the Federal University of Santa Catarina State (UFSC), Brazil; 
8.Managing perennial Conservation Agriculture systems: orchards, plantations and agroforestry: Amir Kassam, University of Reading, UK; Emilio J. González-Sanchez, University of Cordoba, Spain; Sim Choon Cheak, Sime Darby Research, Malaysia; J. Roman-Vazquez and F. Marquez-Garcia, University of Cordoba, Spain; R. Carbonell-Bojollo, IFAPA, Spain; P. Veroz-Gonzalez, Asociación Española de Agricultura de Conservación Suelos Vivos (AEAC.SV), Spain; and Dennis P. Garrity, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya; 
9.Integration of livestock in CA systems: John Landers, International Zero Tillage Consultant, Brazil; 
10.Status of mechanization in Conservation Agriculture systems: Augusto Guilherme de Araújo,Agricultural Research Institute of Paraná State (IAPAR), Brazil; Brian Sims, Independent Consultant, UK; Jack Desbiolles, University of South Australia, Australia; Denizart Bolonhezi, Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC), Brazil; Enamul Haque, Murdoch University, Australia; He Jin, China Agricultural University, China; Jamil Abdalla Fayad, Independent Consultant, Brazil; Josef Kienzle, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy; Leandro do Prado Wildner, Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Corporation of Santa Catarina State (EPAGRI), Brazil; Li Hongwen, China Agricultural University, China; Marcelo Zanella, Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Corporation of Santa Catarina State (EPAGRI), Brazil; Oussama El Gharras, National Agricultural Research Institute (INRA), Morocco; Richard Bell, Murdoch University, Australia; Roberto Peiretti, Global Farmer Network (GFN), Argentina; Saidi Mkomwa, African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT), Kenya; Sjoerd Willem Duiker, Pennsylvania State University, USA; and Theodor Friedrich, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Bolivia; 
11.Certification schemes for Conservation Agriculture systems: Juliana Albertengo, Consultant, Argentina; 
12.Institutional and policy support for Conservation Agriculture uptake: Tom Goddard, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Canada; Gottlieb Basch, University of Evora, Portugal; Rolf Derpsch, International Consultant for Conservation Agriculture, Paraguay; Li Hongwen and He Jin, China Agriculture University, China; Muratbek Karabayev, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico; Amir Kassam, University of Reading, UK; Ken Moriya, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Paraguay; Roberto Peiretti, Farmer/Consultant, Argentina; and Hendrik Smith, GrainSA, South Africa; 

Dimensions:

229x152mm 
6x9"

Publication date:

Q4 2019

Length of book:

280 pages

ISBN-13: 9781786762641

Hardback