The objective of this publication is to offer a reference material for extensionists, professors,... more The objective of this publication is to offer a reference material for extensionists, professors, agronomy students, technicians in general, and for farmers themselves. Through information that is up-to-date and richly illustrated, it strives to facilitate the adoption and diffusion of No-Tillage, the use of green manures, and the practice of crop rotation on small farms. The publication describes the principal species of green manures and, at the same time, informs in detail how to insert green manures into small farm production systems according to soil fertility and major crops. It also deals with the residual effect of green manures on main crops and analyzes the economic implications of these practices. j ti f t is li ti is t ff r r f r t ri l f r t si ists, r f ss rs, r st ts, t i i s i r l, f r f r rs t s l s. r i f r ti t t is -t t ri l ill str t , it stri s t f ilit t t ti iff si f ill , t s f r r s, t r ti f r r t ti s ll f r s. li ti s ri s t ri i l s i s f r r s , t t s ...
Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science, 2022
This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, ... more This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. These represent the top five CA countries with about 99% of the area under CA cultivation in South America.
There is increasing awareness all over the world of the negative effects of conventional agricult... more There is increasing awareness all over the world of the negative effects of conventional agriculture and the need to change traditional agricultural practices. The key problem of conventional agriculture faces, especially in the tropics, is the steady decline in soil fertility, which is closely correlated to the duration of soil use. This is primarily due to soil erosion and the loss of organic matter associated with conventional tillage practices, which leave the soil bare and unprotected in times of heavy rainfall, wind and heat (Derpsch, 1998). To counter this a new concept of farming is evolving, which has been termed «conservation agriculture». Conservation agriculture maintains a permanent or semi-permanent organic soil cover. This can be a growing crop or a dead mulch. Conservation agriculture aims to conserve, improve and make more efficient use of natural resources through the integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources combined with external inputs. It contributes to environmental conservation as well as to enhanced and sustained agricultural production (FAO, 2001). No-tillage, direct sowing, direct drilling and conservation tillage all aim to achieve conservation agriculture.
Derpsch worked from 1966 to 2001 for GTZ, German Agency for Technical Cooperation. He is now a co... more Derpsch worked from 1966 to 2001 for GTZ, German Agency for Technical Cooperation. He is now a consultant. He started research in no-tillage in April 1971 in Brazil and was one of the first to research notillage in Latin America. He worked closely together with pioneer no-till farmer from Brazil, Herbert Bartz, who started no-tilling in 1972 and now is the President of the Brazilian Federation of No-till Farmers Associations, FEBRAPDP. Derpsch worked at the Research Institute of Paraná, IAPAR, in Brazil from 1977 to 1984 with R & D of the no-tillage system (tillage, cover crops, crop rotations).
Page 1. 00 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. 2006. Introduction The key problem of con... more Page 1. 00 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. 2006. Introduction The key problem of conventional agriculture in the tropics and subtropics is the steady decline in soil fertil-ity, which is closely correlated with the duration of soil use. ...
Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science, 2022
This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, ... more This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. These represent the top five CA countries with about 99% of the area under CA cultivation in South America.
Chapter 2 in volume 1 provided a detailed account of the global adoption and spread of Conservati... more Chapter 2 in volume 1 provided a detailed account of the global adoption and spread of Conservation Agriculture (CA) up to the year 2015/16. This chapter provides an update of the global adoption and spread of CA for the year up to 2018/19. In 2008/09, global CA cropland area was 106.5 M ha spread across 36 countries. In 2013/14, the global area of CA cropland was 156.7 M ha, spread across 55 countries. In 2015/16, the global area of CA cropland was 180.4 M ha, spread across 79 countries. In 2018/19, the CA area increased to 205.4 M ha (14.7% of global cropland), spread across 102 countries. Thus, CA increased by some 50 M ha of cropland for each of the two five-year periods, 2008/09 to 2013/14, and 2014/15 to 2018/19. About 50% of the global CA area is located in the Global South and 50% in the Global North. At the regional level, 4% of the CA area in 2008/09 was in Europe (including Russia and Ukraine), Asia and Africa whereas in 2018/19, it was 16%. Since 2008/09, greater percent...
Field Actions Science Reports. The journal of field actions, 2015
The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production sys... more The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production systems based on Conservation Agriculture (CA) principles is already occurring and gathering momentum globally as a new paradigm for the 21st century. The data presented in this paper has been collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations from several sources including estimates made by ministries of agriculture, by farmer organizations, and well-informed individuals in research or development organizations; they provide an overview of CA adoption and spread by country, as well as the extent of CA adoption by continent. CA systems, comprising no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, organic mulch soil cover, and crop spe- cies diversification, in conjunction with other good practices of crop and production management, are now (in 2013) practiced globally on about 157 M ha, corresponding to about 11% of field cropland, in all continents and most land-based agricu...
Since 2008/2009, conservation agriculture (CA) cropland area has been expanding globally at an an... more Since 2008/2009, conservation agriculture (CA) cropland area has been expanding globally at an annual rate of more than 10 M ha per year. In 2015/2016, the total CA cropland area was 180.4 M ha, corresponding to 12.5% of global cropland area. In 2018/2019, the total cropland area was 205.4 M ha, corresponding to 14.7% of global cropland area. The spread of CA has been expanding in Asia, Africa, and Europe in recent years because farmers are becoming better organized in working together and networking. More attention and resources are being allocated by stakeholders towards supporting farmers to adopt CA and in generating new knowledge to improve their performance. Globally, expansion of CA remains largely farmer-driven and has become a multi-stakeholder movement comprising formal and informal CA networks at national and international levels involving individuals and institutions in the public, private, and civil sectors. Several lessons from the global spread of CA are elaborated re...
Reading the title of this paper some people may ask if the growing conditions in Latin America ar... more Reading the title of this paper some people may ask if the growing conditions in Latin America are not too different from the ones in the United States. When looking at the experiences in Latin America we of course can not “copy ” what is done there. Farming is always site specific, but the principles of using cover crops are valid all over the world. The experiences from Latin America are especially interesting for no-till farmers, because they have played a key role in further developing and perfecting the no-tillage system. We should be aware that some cover crop species adapt to a very wide range of climatic and soil conditions. Several cover crop species used in South America are well adapted to the conditions of northern United States. We should also be aware that “no matter where you farm, there are cover crop species that meet your needs ” (USDA-ARS, 2002). While the US has the biggest area under no-tillage worldwide (about 22.4 million ha), the quality of this technology is...
Although no-till (NT) has shown numer ous advantages over conventional tillage methods, the techn... more Although no-till (NT) has shown numer ous advantages over conventional tillage methods, the technology has shown r elatively slow adoption rates in many r egions of the world. In this paper , some of the r easons for slow adoption are analyzed. Mindset is pr obably among the biggest obstacles to expanded no-till use. Knowledge is also among the main constraints to expanded NT adop tion. Although r esearch has generated copious knowl edge, this knowledge is often not r eaching the farmer . Sometimes conditions for the utilization of technology ar e not met. Technology diffusion investigations show that farmer-to-farmer extension is one of the most ef fective ways of achieving rapid adoption of innovations. A greater effort has to be made in cr eating societal awar e ness of the many positive effects of NT , not only for farmers themselves but for society as a whole. Resear ch priorities should be dir ected towards intensifying work with green manure cover crops, crop rotations, bi...
Field Actions Science Reports. The journal of field actions, 2012
The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production sys... more The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production systems based on Conservation Agriculture (CA) principles is already occurring and gathering momentum worldwide as a new paradigm for the 21st century. The data presented in this paper, mainly based on estimates made by farmer organizations, agro-industry, and well-informed individuals provide an overview of CA adoption and spread by country, as well as the extent of CA adoption by continent. CA systems, comprising minimum mechanical soil disturbance, organic mulch cover, and crop species diversification, in conjunction with other good practices of crop and production management, are now practiced globally on about 125 M ha in all continents and all agricultural ecologies, including in the various temperate environments. While in 1973/74 CA systems covered only 2.8 M ha worldwide, the area had grown in 1999 to 45 M ha, and by 2003 to 72 M ha. In the last 11 years CA systems have expanded at...
The objective of this publication is to offer a reference material for extensionists, professors,... more The objective of this publication is to offer a reference material for extensionists, professors, agronomy students, technicians in general, and for farmers themselves. Through information that is up-to-date and richly illustrated, it strives to facilitate the adoption and diffusion of No-Tillage, the use of green manures, and the practice of crop rotation on small farms. The publication describes the principal species of green manures and, at the same time, informs in detail how to insert green manures into small farm production systems according to soil fertility and major crops. It also deals with the residual effect of green manures on main crops and analyzes the economic implications of these practices. j ti f t is li ti is t ff r r f r t ri l f r t si ists, r f ss rs, r st ts, t i i s i r l, f r f r rs t s l s. r i f r ti t t is -t t ri l ill str t , it stri s t f ilit t t ti iff si f ill , t s f r r s, t r ti f r r t ti s ll f r s. li ti s ri s t ri i l s i s f r r s , t t s ...
Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science, 2022
This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, ... more This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. These represent the top five CA countries with about 99% of the area under CA cultivation in South America.
There is increasing awareness all over the world of the negative effects of conventional agricult... more There is increasing awareness all over the world of the negative effects of conventional agriculture and the need to change traditional agricultural practices. The key problem of conventional agriculture faces, especially in the tropics, is the steady decline in soil fertility, which is closely correlated to the duration of soil use. This is primarily due to soil erosion and the loss of organic matter associated with conventional tillage practices, which leave the soil bare and unprotected in times of heavy rainfall, wind and heat (Derpsch, 1998). To counter this a new concept of farming is evolving, which has been termed «conservation agriculture». Conservation agriculture maintains a permanent or semi-permanent organic soil cover. This can be a growing crop or a dead mulch. Conservation agriculture aims to conserve, improve and make more efficient use of natural resources through the integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources combined with external inputs. It contributes to environmental conservation as well as to enhanced and sustained agricultural production (FAO, 2001). No-tillage, direct sowing, direct drilling and conservation tillage all aim to achieve conservation agriculture.
Derpsch worked from 1966 to 2001 for GTZ, German Agency for Technical Cooperation. He is now a co... more Derpsch worked from 1966 to 2001 for GTZ, German Agency for Technical Cooperation. He is now a consultant. He started research in no-tillage in April 1971 in Brazil and was one of the first to research notillage in Latin America. He worked closely together with pioneer no-till farmer from Brazil, Herbert Bartz, who started no-tilling in 1972 and now is the President of the Brazilian Federation of No-till Farmers Associations, FEBRAPDP. Derpsch worked at the Research Institute of Paraná, IAPAR, in Brazil from 1977 to 1984 with R & D of the no-tillage system (tillage, cover crops, crop rotations).
Page 1. 00 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. 2006. Introduction The key problem of con... more Page 1. 00 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. 2006. Introduction The key problem of conventional agriculture in the tropics and subtropics is the steady decline in soil fertil-ity, which is closely correlated with the duration of soil use. ...
Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science, 2022
This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, ... more This chapter describes the origins and current status of CA as well as NT and the NTS in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. These represent the top five CA countries with about 99% of the area under CA cultivation in South America.
Chapter 2 in volume 1 provided a detailed account of the global adoption and spread of Conservati... more Chapter 2 in volume 1 provided a detailed account of the global adoption and spread of Conservation Agriculture (CA) up to the year 2015/16. This chapter provides an update of the global adoption and spread of CA for the year up to 2018/19. In 2008/09, global CA cropland area was 106.5 M ha spread across 36 countries. In 2013/14, the global area of CA cropland was 156.7 M ha, spread across 55 countries. In 2015/16, the global area of CA cropland was 180.4 M ha, spread across 79 countries. In 2018/19, the CA area increased to 205.4 M ha (14.7% of global cropland), spread across 102 countries. Thus, CA increased by some 50 M ha of cropland for each of the two five-year periods, 2008/09 to 2013/14, and 2014/15 to 2018/19. About 50% of the global CA area is located in the Global South and 50% in the Global North. At the regional level, 4% of the CA area in 2008/09 was in Europe (including Russia and Ukraine), Asia and Africa whereas in 2018/19, it was 16%. Since 2008/09, greater percent...
Field Actions Science Reports. The journal of field actions, 2015
The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production sys... more The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production systems based on Conservation Agriculture (CA) principles is already occurring and gathering momentum globally as a new paradigm for the 21st century. The data presented in this paper has been collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations from several sources including estimates made by ministries of agriculture, by farmer organizations, and well-informed individuals in research or development organizations; they provide an overview of CA adoption and spread by country, as well as the extent of CA adoption by continent. CA systems, comprising no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, organic mulch soil cover, and crop spe- cies diversification, in conjunction with other good practices of crop and production management, are now (in 2013) practiced globally on about 157 M ha, corresponding to about 11% of field cropland, in all continents and most land-based agricu...
Since 2008/2009, conservation agriculture (CA) cropland area has been expanding globally at an an... more Since 2008/2009, conservation agriculture (CA) cropland area has been expanding globally at an annual rate of more than 10 M ha per year. In 2015/2016, the total CA cropland area was 180.4 M ha, corresponding to 12.5% of global cropland area. In 2018/2019, the total cropland area was 205.4 M ha, corresponding to 14.7% of global cropland area. The spread of CA has been expanding in Asia, Africa, and Europe in recent years because farmers are becoming better organized in working together and networking. More attention and resources are being allocated by stakeholders towards supporting farmers to adopt CA and in generating new knowledge to improve their performance. Globally, expansion of CA remains largely farmer-driven and has become a multi-stakeholder movement comprising formal and informal CA networks at national and international levels involving individuals and institutions in the public, private, and civil sectors. Several lessons from the global spread of CA are elaborated re...
Reading the title of this paper some people may ask if the growing conditions in Latin America ar... more Reading the title of this paper some people may ask if the growing conditions in Latin America are not too different from the ones in the United States. When looking at the experiences in Latin America we of course can not “copy ” what is done there. Farming is always site specific, but the principles of using cover crops are valid all over the world. The experiences from Latin America are especially interesting for no-till farmers, because they have played a key role in further developing and perfecting the no-tillage system. We should be aware that some cover crop species adapt to a very wide range of climatic and soil conditions. Several cover crop species used in South America are well adapted to the conditions of northern United States. We should also be aware that “no matter where you farm, there are cover crop species that meet your needs ” (USDA-ARS, 2002). While the US has the biggest area under no-tillage worldwide (about 22.4 million ha), the quality of this technology is...
Although no-till (NT) has shown numer ous advantages over conventional tillage methods, the techn... more Although no-till (NT) has shown numer ous advantages over conventional tillage methods, the technology has shown r elatively slow adoption rates in many r egions of the world. In this paper , some of the r easons for slow adoption are analyzed. Mindset is pr obably among the biggest obstacles to expanded no-till use. Knowledge is also among the main constraints to expanded NT adop tion. Although r esearch has generated copious knowl edge, this knowledge is often not r eaching the farmer . Sometimes conditions for the utilization of technology ar e not met. Technology diffusion investigations show that farmer-to-farmer extension is one of the most ef fective ways of achieving rapid adoption of innovations. A greater effort has to be made in cr eating societal awar e ness of the many positive effects of NT , not only for farmers themselves but for society as a whole. Resear ch priorities should be dir ected towards intensifying work with green manure cover crops, crop rotations, bi...
Field Actions Science Reports. The journal of field actions, 2012
The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production sys... more The global empirical evidence shows that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production systems based on Conservation Agriculture (CA) principles is already occurring and gathering momentum worldwide as a new paradigm for the 21st century. The data presented in this paper, mainly based on estimates made by farmer organizations, agro-industry, and well-informed individuals provide an overview of CA adoption and spread by country, as well as the extent of CA adoption by continent. CA systems, comprising minimum mechanical soil disturbance, organic mulch cover, and crop species diversification, in conjunction with other good practices of crop and production management, are now practiced globally on about 125 M ha in all continents and all agricultural ecologies, including in the various temperate environments. While in 1973/74 CA systems covered only 2.8 M ha worldwide, the area had grown in 1999 to 45 M ha, and by 2003 to 72 M ha. In the last 11 years CA systems have expanded at...
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Papers by Rolf Derpsch