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Conservation Agriculture

©FAO/J. Kienzle
During the past 40 years, the world has lost a third of its arable land, about 430 million
hectares. Conservation Agriculture is a farming system that can prevent such losses
while regenerating degraded lands. It promotes minimum mechanical soil disturbance
(no/zero tillage), maintenance of a permanent soil cover and diversification of plant
species. It enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the
ground surface, which contribute to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to
improved and sustained crop production.

What we do
Conservation Agriculture is a concept in
support of sustainable land management,
environmental protection and climate
change adaptation and mitigation.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
promotes the adoption of Conservation
Agriculture principles (minimum mechanical
soil disturbance (no/zero-tillage, permanent

©ACT/B. Njenga
soil cover and crop rotations) that are
universally applicable in all agricultural
landscapes and cropping systems.

FAO’s support to members includes:


Maize under Conservation Agriculture intercropped
with drought tolerant Dolichos lablab in Kenya
1. Designing, formulating and planning
national strategies and policies disseminating training materials and
that provide incentives for farmers guides to raise awareness and to
to adopt Conservation Agriculture incorporate into agricultural universities’
practices and invest in sustainable curricula and government programmes.
agricultural mechanization.
This allows farmers – especially 3. Implementing location – specific practices
smallholders – to move away from and identifying suitable crops to improve
inefficient agronomic management production systems that are resilient to
practices and manual labour to the effects of climate change, as well as
appropriate levels of mechanization identifying existing or potential markets
that offer higher returns. for inputs and/or outputs.

2. Training farmers, service providers 4. Increasing agricultural production by


and extension agents on Conservation implementing Conservation Agriculture
Agriculture practices and sustainable practices in support of national priorities
mechanization. Developing and linked to food and nutrition security.
Conservation Agriculture

Understanding the context


In many countries, intensive crop production has contributes to higher wheat yields, in the range of
depleted soils, to the extent that future production in 6 to 10 percent, because it allows for timely sowing,
these areas is jeopardized. Healthy soils are key to leads to a better crop stand, and generates big
developing sustainable crop production systems that savings on tractor operations, time and fuel. On the
are resilient to the effects of climate change. western, Indo-Gangetic plains, the adoption of zero-
tillage in wheat production reduced farmer’s costs
They contain a diverse community of organisms per hectare by 20 percent and increased net income
that help to control plant diseases, insect pests and by 28 percent (FAO, 2016).
weed populations; recycle soil nutrients; and improve
soil structure with positive effects on water holding Conservation Agriculture is 20 to 50 percent less
capacity, nutrient retention and supply and levels of labour intensive and thus contributes to reducing
organic carbon. greenhouse gas emissions through lower energy
inputs and improved nutrient use efficiency.
For example, in Mexico, legumes in rotation with At the same time, it stabilizes and protects soil
maize contribute organic matter and nitrogen that from breaking down and releasing carbon to the
help boost maize yields by 25 percent. Zero tillage atmosphere.

Conservation Agriculture is based on three interlinked principles adapted to reflect local conditions and needs:

Minimum mechanical soil disturbance (i.e. no/zero tillage) through direct seed and/or fertilizer placement.
This reduces soil erosion and preserves soil organic matter.

Permanent soil organic cover (at least 30 percent) with crop residues and/or cover crops. Maintaining a protective
layer of vegetation on the soil surface suppresses weeds, protects the soil from the impact of extreme weather
patterns, helps to preserve soil moisture, and avoids compaction of the soil.
CB8350EN/1/03.22 – Revised version

Species diversification through varied crop sequences and associations involving at least three different crop
species. A well-designed crop rotation promotes good soil structure, fosters a diverse range of soil flora and
© FAO, 2022

fauna that contributes to nutrient cycling and improved plant nutrition, and helps to prevent pests and diseases.
FAO. 2016. Save and Grow in practice: Maize, rice and wheat. Rome. https://www.fao.org/3/i4009e/i4009e.pdf

Plant Production and Protection Division


E-mail: conservation-agriculture@fao.org, NSP-Director@fao.org
Some rights reserved. This work is available
under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO licence
CONTACT US Web: https://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture/en/
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, Italy

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