Conservation Agriculture: The role of Academia in its technology transfer

Abstract

Today, almost all players in the different agricultural sectors know what Conservation Agriculture is about and the potential benefits CA is able to generate. Whereas in many parts of the world the adoption and regular practice of CA, whether continuous or rotational, has reached considerable levels both in terms of acreage and percentage of arable land (Derpsch and Friedrich, 2009) other regions lag far behind in the uptake of CA. This is certainly the case for Europe and Africa. Despite the scientific and empirical evidences generated in numerous studies and on-farm experiments showing that CA works over many agro-ecologies, it appears that something is missing to have this technology broadly accepted in these two continents. This contribution tries to identify the main reasons for the lack of adoption and to provide possible approaches to overcome the reluctance and even resistance to try or to continue the application of the principles of CA. It further attempts to give suggestions on the potential role of academia in the adoption of CA.