Mobilizing greater crop and land potentials: Replacing the faltering engine

Abstract

Prof Amir Kassam (University of Reading & UN Food & Agriculture Organisation - FAO) and Dr Gottlieb Basch (University of Evora, Portugal, and President of the European Conservation Agriculture Federation, ECAF) then presented their paper on ensuring the supply side of food production: ‘Mobilizing greater crop and land potentials: replacing the faltering engine’. They explained that the engine of the supply side of food security is the way we farm. The current engine of conventional farming method is seen to be faltering and needs to be replaced. The presentation focused on the new paradigm of Conservation Agriculture (CA) (involving no-till farming with mulch soil cover and diversified cropping) that raises productivity sustainably and efficiently, reduces inputs, regenerates degraded land, minimises soil erosion and harnesses the flow of ecosystem services. There is empirical and scientific evidence that future food supplies can be assured sustainably by shifting away from conventional agriculture towards the more sustainable paradigm of CA. They suggested that the supply side of future food security will be determined by how successful we are in facilitating the global up-scaling of this new engine of sustainable agriculture - Conservation Agriculture.