The Green Revolution era focused on enhancing the production and productivity of crops. New challenges demand that the issues of efficient resource use and resource conservation receive high priority to ensure that past gains can be sustained and further enhanced to meet the emerging needs. Extending some of the resource-conserving interventions developed for the agricultural crops are the major challenges for researchers and farmers alike. The present paper shares recent research experiences on resource conservation technologies involving tillage and crop establishment options and associated agronomic practices which enable farmers in reducing production costs, increase profitability and help them move forward in the direction of adopting conservation agriculture.

2. Topic of the seminar
“Conservation agriculture for enhancing
resource use efficiency and sustainability”
Speaker
Jagat Bahadur Debbarma
M.Sc. (Agri.) 6th year
2011-AMJ-27
CA/AAU- Jorhat( Assam,India)

3. Agricultural resources
Land Water
Labour Machinery
Capital Fertilizers
&
other chemicals

4. After green revolution
 Food production has
more than doubled
since 1960s
 Food production per
capita has grown
 Food price has fallen

5. Production of Important
Commodities(India)
Production (Mt)
NRCAF (2011)

6. India’s present scenario
 India's food grain production is projected to grow by 0.6 % to
247.6 million tonnes (Mt) in 2012-13 as against 246.2 Mt in
2011-12
 The rice production is projected to exceed 100 Mt in 2012-13,
while wheat production is pegged at 87.3 Mt
 The production of coarse grains is projected to rise by 0.7% to
42.3 Mt in 2012-13
 Pulses production is estimated to have decreased by 3.7 % to
17.5 Mt

7.  Production of non-food crops is projected to fall by 1.6% in
2012-13
 Crop production is projected to decline by 0.6 % in 2012-13 due
to lower output of cotton and sugarcane production
 Cotton production is projected to dip by 7.8% to 32.2 million
bales in 2012-13
 The sugarcane production is projected to fall by 0.9% to 342.5
Mt in 2012-13
 Major oilseeds production is expected to grow by 3 % in 2012-13
but Production of groundnuts is estimated to have declined by
over 17% to 6.9 Mt
Source: Centre for monitoring Indian economy, 2012

8. Projected Demand of Important
Commodities(India)
Demand ( Mt)
NRCAF (2011)

9. Current production status

10. Conventional Agriculture
 Fertilizers to increase crop yields.
 Pesticides & herbicides to protect crops.
 Antibiotics and hormones to increase productive
efficiency of crops & livestock.
 Heavy tillage operation.
 Intensive cropping practice.

11.  Land exhaustion  Threat to crop species
 Soil erosion  Habitat destruction
 Soil compaction  Contaminated food
 Nitrate run-off  Threat to farmers
 Loss of biodiversity  Decline in GW table
 Pollution  Natural imbalance

12.  20% of the world’s coral
reefs were lost and 20%
degraded in the last several
decades
 35% of mangrove area has
been lost in the last several
decade
 Withdrawals from rivers
and lakes doubled since
1960
Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

13.  5-10% of the area of
five biomes was
converted between
1950 and 1990
 > 2/3 of the area of two
biomes and >1/2 of the
area of four others had
been converted by
1990
Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

14.  Flows of biologically
available N in terrestrial
ecosystems doubled
 Flows of phosphorus
tripled
 > 50% of all the
synthetic N-fertilizer
ever used has been used
since 1985
 60% of the increase in
the atmospheric
concentration of CO2
since 1750 Human-produced Reactive Nitrogen
Humans produce as much biologically
Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment available N as all natural pathways and this
may grow a further 65% by 2050

15. Total reactive N deposition from the atmosphere

16. Humans have
increased the species
extinction rate by as
much as 1,000 times
10–30% of mammal,
bird, and amphibian
species are currently
threatened with
extinction
Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

17.  The distribution of
species on Earth is
becoming more
homogenous
 The population size of
the majority of species
across a range of
taxonomic groups are
declining
Growth in Number of Marine
Species Introductions in North
Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment America and Europe

18. Continued…

19. Ecosystem services and poverty
reduction

20. Status of Provisioning Services
Service Status
Food Crops 
Livestock 
Capture fisheries 
Aquaculture 
Wild foods 
Fiber Timber +/–
Cotton, Silk +/–
Wood fuel 
Genetic resources 
Bio-chemicals, medicines 
Fresh water 
Source: Millennium ecosystem assessment

21. Source: OUAT, Bhubneswar

22. Conservation Agriculture
The term 'Conservation Agriculture' (CA) refers to the system of
raising crops without tilling the soil while retaining crop residues
on the soil surface. (FAO)
Defined as minimal soil disturbance (no-till) and permanent soil
cover (mulch) combined with rotations, as a more sustainable
cultivation system for the future. (Peter R. Hobbs).
It is the collective umbrella term commonly given to no-tillage,
direct-drilling, minimum-tillage and/or ridge-tillage, to denote
that the specific practice has a conservation goal of some
nature. (Baker et al. 2002)

23. Scenario 1 – Farmer practice
Rice – Wheat
Tillage CT
Residue Removal
management
Crop health As usual
Nutrient As usual
management
WCCA 2011, Brisbane,
Australia

24. Scenario 2 : Best Available
Practice
Rice – Wheat - Mungbean
Tillage CT-ZT-CT
Residue Anchored-removal -
management incorporation
Crop health Best Available
Nutrient Best Available
management
WCCA 2011, Brisbane,
Australia

25. Scenario 3 : Conservation
Agriculture
Rice – Wheat - Cowpea
Tillage ZT-ZT-ZT
Residue Retention -
management Anchored-
Retention
Crop health Best Available
Nutrient SSNM based
management
WCCA 2011, Brisbane,
Australia

26. Wheat grain/equivalent yield (t/ha)
during 2009-10
Source: Laik R, Saharawat Y, Singh SS, Ladha JK, 2011 WCCA 2011, Brisbane,
Australia

27. Rice grain yield (t/ha) during
kharif 2010
CD (5%): 0.88
Source: Laik R, Saharawat Y, Singh SS, Ladha JK, 2011 WCCA 2011, Brisbane,
Australia

29. Aims & Objectives
 Conserve, improve and more efficient use of available
natural resources for sustainability.
 Minimum soil disturbance by adopting no-tillage and
minimum traffic for agricultural Operations.
 Leave and manage the crop residues on the soil surface.
 Adopt spatial and temporal crop rotation to derive
maximum benefits from inputs and minimize adverse
environmental impacts.
 Integrated management system like INM,IPM,IWM,IFS.

30. Conservation
vs
Conventional

31. Rice equivalent yield (t/ha) of different systems under
various management practices at PAU
Cropping System Productivity ( t/ha)
Conventional Organic Conservation
GM-Basmati Rice- Wheat 12.6 13.0 13.6
Turmeric-Onion 19.2 36.9 36.6
Summer Groundnut-Garlic 25.3 29.1 29.4
Maize-durum Wheat-Cowpea 11.4 12.6 12.3
(F)
Rice-Garlic + Mentha 24.9 31.0 32.2
Source : Sharma et al., 2010

32. Microbial population under conventional and
CA rice farming
Conventional conservation
Source: Surekha et al. , 2010

34. FAO, 2008

35. Conservation Agriculture Conventional Agriculture

36. Fresh and residual effect of organic manure in rice-
chickpea cropping sequence
Treatment Rice Grain Yield (q/ha) Chickpea Grain Yield (q/ha)
1995 1996 1997 Average 1995 1996 1997 Average
Control 32.1 31.3 19.7 27.7 10.8 7.1 7.5 8.5
Sesbania rostrata
48.6 50.8 50.2 49.9 14.6 10.2 14 13
Sunhemp 30.4 50.6 46.9 45.6 13.7 8.1 12 11.3
Poultry manure 44.75 51.8 51.7 49.4 16.7 11.2 15 14.3
FYM 36.75 49 38.2 41.3 11.7 8.9 11 10.5
Nadep Compost 39.30 50.7 43.7 44.6 13.9 9.3 11 11.6
80:50:30 NPK 46.25 51.6 48.8 48.9 11.7 8.5 10 10.3
CD(5%) 2.3 2.2 2.8 - 1.2 0.9 2.9 -
Source: Singh et al,2001

38. Grain yield in CA and conventional
agriculture

39. Components &
practices adopted in
CA

40. Mulching Strip cropping
Multiple-cropping Contour cultivation

41. Inter-cropping Zero tillage
Terracing Crop rotation

43. Australia 12
Argentina 4.18
United States 1.95
Brazil 1.77
Spain 1.46
China 1.39
Italy 1.11
Germany 0.99
Uruguay 0.93
France 0.85
0 5 10 15
Million hectares
countries with most organic agricultural land 2010
FiBL-IFOAM Survey 2012

44. Effect of different organic sources of nutrients and green
manuring on yield (kg/ha) of rice grown under lowland
conditions
Manures Grain yield (kg/ha) C.D(0.05%) Straw yield (kg/ha) C.D(0.05
application %)
without green without green
green manure green manure
manure incorpor manure incorpor
ation ation
Control 2150 3317 316.5 3433 5305 292.7
FYM @15t/ha 2650 3975 99.4 4237 6359 143.1
Poultry 3453 4844 325.7 5522 7746 322.8
manure
@3.5t/ha
Vermicompost 3333 4774 140.5 5329 7638 202.4
@4.3t/ha
Source: Deshpande and Devasenapathy, 2010

45. Crop residue potential in India
Crop Stubble
added Addition of nutrients (kg/ha)
(kg/ha)
Organic N P K
matter
Rice 4,200 1764 17.6 2.9 25.2
Sorghum 2,889 462 6.1 2.6 9.5
Maize 667 93 0.6 0.2 2.7
Ragi 3,111 899 43.5 3.8 20.5
Sesame 778 56 5.5 0.2 1.3
Cowpea 444 36 3.1 0.3 3.1
Source: Bisoyi,R.N.,2003

46. Rice equivalent yield (t/ha) of different systems
under various management practices at PAU
Cropping System Productivity ( t/ha)
Chemical Organic Integrated
GM-Basmati Rice- Wheat 12.6 13.0 13.6
Turmeric-Onion 19.2 36.9 36.6
Summer Groundnut-Garlic 25.3 29.1 29.4
Maize-durum Wheat-Cowpea 11.4 12.6 12.3
(F)
Rice-Garlic + Mentha 24.9 31.0 32.2
Source : Sharma et al

47. Bamboo based cropping system
SL Product/Application Current Expected Expected Market in 2015
Market (Rs. in Crore) (Rs. in Crore)
1 Bamboo shoots 4.8 300
2 Bamboo as wood substitute 10,000 30,000
3 Bamboo ply board 200 500
4 Bamboo ply board for use in 1000 3,408
Trucks & 1000
5 Bamboo Flooring (domestic + 200 1,950
Export)
6 Bamboo Pulp & paper 100 2,088
7 Bamboo Furniture 380 3,265
8 Building & Construction - 3,298
9 Tiny Cottage Industry 394 600
Total 12,078.80 45,409
Planning Commission, GOI (2003)

48. Area under zero tillage by
continent
Continent Area( ha) Per cent of total (%)
South America 556,30,000 47.6
North America 399,81,000 34.1
Australia & New 171,62,000 14.7
Zealand
Asia 26,30,000 2.2
Europe 11,50,000 1.0
Africa 3,68,000 0.3
Total 11,69,21,000 100%
Source: Derpsch, R. and Friedrich, T., 2010

49. Successful
results of CA

50. Source: World Agroforestry centre, Nairobi

54. Advantages of CA

55. To Farmers
Reduced cultivation cost through savings in
labour, time and farm power.
Improved and stable yields with reduced use
of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides).
Enhance food security for millions of
smallholders in the have developing world
(Derpsch and Friedrich, 2009).

56. To Natural Resources
Improved biological activity and diversity in the
soil
Reduced pollution of surface and ground water
Savings in non-renewable energy use and
increased carbon sequestration.
Reduced soil erosion and restore soil fertility
Increase organic matter and biological activity.

58. Organic carbon in soil surface (%)
4
3.5
3
2.5
2 Conservation
1.5 Conventional
1
0.5
0
Initial After 4 years fter 11 years
A

59. Source: FAO,2007

60. Constraints in adoption of CA
Small farm holdings Farmers are
reluctant
Illiterate farmers Communication gap
Socio-economic
problems
Rapid urbanization

61. Future Strategies for CA in India
 More area under laser levelling up to 2017
 50 per cent area to be bought under CA
 12 per cent of the total area under zero
tillage up to 2014
 Diversification of more area from rice to
wheat
 Relay cropping of wheat in 50 per cent of
cotton area

62. FAO strategic objectives
2010-2019
Population Growth
Higher life expectancy, better nutrition demand
Pressure on natural resources
Demand on multiple agricultural outputs

63. Residue retention for nutrient cycling, soil moisture
retention, reduced transpiration
Promote surface residue retention
Better weed management practices
Cultivar choices for CA
Promote public- private partnership for CA
Mapping of problematic soils and link to CA

64. Conclusion
 CA conserve and improves available natural resources for
sustainability.
 It restores soil degradation and increases soil fertility.
 It reduces the pollution ( Soil, Water and Air).
 It gives more return to the farmers.
 Food quality is maintained

65. “We know more about the movement of the
celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot ”
Da vinci
THANK YOU