A renewed view of conservation agriculture and its evolution over the last decade in Spain

González-Sánchez, Emilio J.; Veroz-González, Óscar; Blanco-Roldán, Gregorio L.; Márquez‐García, Francisco; Carbonell-Bojollo, Rosa

doi:10.1016/j.still.2014.10.016

Cited by 74 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The ground coverage values obtained with any cover crop, either before or after mowing, exceeded 30%, a basic threshold that is internationally considered in conservation agriculture to keep the soil protected (Conservation Tillage Information Center, ). This is also in accordance with the studies reviewed by González‐Sánchez, Veroz‐González, Blanco‐Roldán, Márquez‐García, and Carbonell‐Bojollo () in Spain.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Efficiency of four different seeded plants and native vegetation as cover crops in the control of soil and carbon losses by water erosion in olive orchards

et al. 2018

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Soil erosion is intense on steep slopes, where many olive orchards are located in Mediterranean areas. The adoption of cover crops is a promising soil and water conservation practice for these areas. Nevertheless, there has not been enough information to be able to advise farmers on the selection of plant species. The purpose of this report is to assess different plant species as cover crops to reduce erosion and soil organic carbon loss through sediments. Twenty‐four tests were performed in 6 plots on a 20% slope in southern Spain. A gramineous plant (Brachypodium distachyon), 2 leguminous species (Vicia sativa and Vicia ervilia), and a cruciferous plant (Sinapis alba) were sown and compared with spontaneous vegetation and conventional tillage. Simulated rainfall with intensities of 18.1 (±1.6) and 38.8 (±2.3) mm hr−1 was applied during 2 years. All cover crop treatments, in comparison with tillage, significantly reduced soil and soil organic carbon losses by more than 92%, S. alba being the species with the lowest runoff values. The high rate of soil and water losses observed in the tillage treatment emphasizes the need to protect the soil and its fertility. A kinematic wave model considering variable soil infiltration rates was fitted to the runoff data to evaluate relevant soil and surface characteristics. The estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity and length of the capillary scale were not affected by the treatments, but the surface resistance to water flow indicated the efficiency of S. alba, B. distachyon, and V. ervilia in reducing the runoff velocity.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Efficiency of four different seeded plants and native vegetation as cover crops in the control of soil and carbon losses by water erosion in olive orchards

et al. 2018

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“…This is of special relevance to the Mediterranean region where a 74% of land has a surface soil horizon with less than 20 g kg À1 of SOC ( Van-Camp et al, 2004). In Aragon (NE Spain), as in the rest of Spain, the interest of farmers in NT has been increasing Gonzalez-Sanchez et al, 2015). However, there is still little available information on SOM and its fractions in agricultural soils of the region and it comes from small research plots and single soil types.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil organic matter fractions as affected by tillage and soil texture under semiarid Mediterranean conditions

Blanco-Moure

Gracia

Bielsa

et al. 2016

Soil and Tillage Research

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A B S T R A C TThe inherent complexity of soil organic matter (SOM) and its stabilization processes make suitable the identification of SOM fractions that reflect the management-induced changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. This is of special interest in semiarid regions where the capacity of soil for agricultural production is limited. This study aims to evaluate the effect of different tillage and soil management practices on the distribution of C among SOM fractions and determine the influence of soil texture on the protection of SOC in a semiarid Mediterranean region (Aragon, NE Spain). Under on-farm conditions, pairs of adjacent fields under long-term no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) were compared in five different cereal production areas. In all cases, a nearby undisturbed soil under native vegetation (NAT) was included. Results indicate that the two isolated mineral-associated OM (Min) fractions, d-Min and magg-Min (outside and within stable microaggregates, respectively), constituted the main part of total SOC (mean contributions of 54 and 26%, respectively) and were not consistently affected by soil management. Soil clay was a determinant factor for d-Min-C and total SOC (r 2 = 0.60-0.70; P < 0.001), indicating that chemical stabilization, through clay-organic complexes, seems to be a main preservation mechanism in the studied soils. Physical protection seems to be another SOC stabilization process in these soils due to strong correlation found between magg-Min-C and the mass of water-stable microaggregates (r = 0.900; P < 0.0001). With smaller contributions to total SOC, the two labile fractions, coarse and fine particulate OM (cPOM and fPOM) were sensitive to soil management and their concentrations decreased as soil disturbance increased (NAT > NT > CT). The highest differences between NT and CT corresponded to fPOM at the soil surface where this fraction was 1.2-3 times higher under NT. Higher soil stratification ratios in NT, always >2 for the POM fractions, indicate an improvement in soil quality with long-term NT adoption in this semiarid Mediterranean region.

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“…Indeed, awareness is growing around the world of the negative effects of conventional agriculture, particularly on soil quality and high yield variability (Gonzalez-Sanchez et al, 2015). Several governments and international donors promote CA as a means to increase crop water use efficiency and to stabilise yields, even in a changing climate (Baudron et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A shift from tillage, plough-based agriculture to CA-based agriculture is not a simple matter of technical change (Kassam et al, 2014;Gonzalez-Sanchez et al, 2015). The adoption of CA requires learning new practices, introducing long-term changes in the production system, and changing machinery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conditions for the adoption of conservation agriculture in Central Morocco: an approach based on Bayesian network modelling

2016

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Research in Central Morocco, proves that conservation agriculture increases yields, reduces labour requirements, and erosion, and improves soil fertility. However, after nearly two decades of demonstration and advocacy, adoption is still limited. This paper investigates the critical constraints and potential opportunities for the adoption of conservation agriculture for different typologies of farms. We measured the possible pathways of adoption via a Bayesian decision network (BDN). BDNs allow the inclusion of stakeholders' knowledge where data is scant, whilst at the same time they are supported by a robust mathematical background. We first developed a conceptual map of the elements affecting the decision about tillage, which we refined in a workshop with farmers and researchers from the Settat area. We then involved experts in the elicitation of conditional probabilities tables, to quantify the cascade of causal links that determine (or not) the adoption. Via BDNs, we could categorise under which specific technical and socio-economic conditions no tillage agriculture is best suited to which farmers. We, by identifying the main constraints and running sensitivity analyses, were able to convey clear messages on how policy-makers may facilitate the conversion. As new evidence is collected, the BDN can be updated to obtain evidence more targeted and fine tuned to the adoption contexts.

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A renewed view of conservation agriculture and its evolution over the last decade in Spain

Cited by 74 publications

References 33 publications

Efficiency of four different seeded plants and native vegetation as cover crops in the control of soil and carbon losses by water erosion in olive orchards

Efficiency of four different seeded plants and native vegetation as cover crops in the control of soil and carbon losses by water erosion in olive orchards

Soil organic matter fractions as affected by tillage and soil texture under semiarid Mediterranean conditions

Conditions for the adoption of conservation agriculture in Central Morocco: an approach based on Bayesian network modelling

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