Mobilizing greater crop and land potentials sustainably

Abstract

The supply side of the food security engine is the way we farm. The current engine of conventional tillage farming is faltering and needs to be replaced. This article addresses the supply side issues of agriculture to meet future agricultural demands for food and by industry using the alternate no-till Conservation Agriculture paradigm (involving no-till seeding in soils with mulch cover and in diversified cropping) that is able to raise productivity sustainably and efficiently, reduce inputs, regenerate degraded land, minimise soil erosion, and harness the flow of ecosystem services. Conservation Agriculture is an ecosystems approach to farming capable of enhancing not only the economic and environmental performance of crop production and land management, but also promotes a mindset change for producing ‘more from less’, the key attitude towards sustainable production intensification. Conservation Agriculture is spreading globally in all continents at an annual rate of some 10 M ha of cropland. In 2013 covered more than 157 M ha of cropland and the current spread of CA is some 180 M ha, of which some 50% is located in the developing regions. In addition, perennial cropping systems such as orchards and plantations are being transformed into CA systems in all continents. Conservation Agriculture not only provides the possibility of increased crop yields and profit for the low input smallholder farmer, it also provides a pro-poor rural and agricultural development model to support sustainable agricultural intensification in an affordable manner.