Conservation agriculture can help the South American Andean region achieve food security

Abstract

The Andean region of Ecuador is dominated by small-scale agriculture on steep slopes vulnerable to erosion, soil degradation, and subsequent productivity loss. Soil erosion rates exceed the average rate of soil formation by 9-286 times, making current agricultural practices in the region unsustainable, and threatening to increase food insecurity. The projected effects of a changing climate vary across the Andean region, with higher precipitation and erosion rates projected for some areas. However, even in areas where the precipitation rates are expected to be lower, the projected erosion rates will still be unsustainable. Research on conservation agriculture (CA) practices conducted from 2008 to 2017 in the highlands of Ecuador suggests that yields and cost savings ultimately make several CA production systems profitable compared to conventional practices. In the very short term, large gains did not emerge, and the best that could be said about CA is that it did not reduce productivity. Over the medium term, improvements in soil health (lower erosion) led to higher profitability that made the practices more profitable than conventional practices over the entire rotation. However, adoption of these alternatives by local producers, even in research areas, is low. Lack of public or private agricultural extension contributes to slow diffusion of new technology and best management practices in the region. There is a need to develop improved communication with local farmers to more effectively relay how CA protects the soil, mitigates degradation, and provides a means to achieve food security and avoid a humanitarian crisis. GLOBAL CHALLENGES TO FOOD SECURITY 1.1Climate change and intensive agriculture could increase erosion rates, potentially catalyzing a regional catastrophe in the Andes One of the greatest challenges facing the Andean region of South America is how to mitigate potential impacts of Abbreviations: CA, conservation agriculture;

Near‐term problems in meeting world food demands at regional levels: A special issue overview

“…(2021), Barrera et al. (2021) and Wortmann et al. (2021), the situation is more severe in the rural regions of the underdeveloped countries due to limited resources available to the farming communities.…”

“…The current conventional cropping systems as large-scale monoculture, though highly productive to feed the growing world population, often have adverse impacts on the environment causing major challenges to the sustainability of today's typical cropping system. As shown by Joshi et al (2021), Barrera et al (2021) and , the situation is more severe in the rural regions of the underdeveloped countries due to limited resources available to the farming communities.…”

“…Experts on the panel were in 90 to 100% consensus on three hot topic issues: soil health and water usage, climate and environmental factors, and research and collaboration (more data on the topics, interdisciplinary collaboration, and sharing of information within research groups as well as with farmers). In addition, workforce training (see Erickson & Fausti, 2021), accessibility of germplasm (see Smith et al., 2021), chemical usage, (including weed resistance (see Clay, 2021 and disease problems discussed in Byamukama et al., 2021), and economic stability and governmental policy focused on the agricultural sector (discussed in Joshi et al., 2021, and Barrera et al., 2021) were recognized as urgent topics that must be addressed to continue to have sustainable production agriculture in the future.…”

“…There is an urgent need to modify food systems at local and regional levels that include an overwhelming majority of small scale (i.e., <10 ha) farmers, not only to increase food production but also to make the systems more efficient and sustainable. Nepal (Joshi et al., 2021) and the Andean region of South America (Barrera et al., 2021) have differences in climate but similarities in landscapes (steep sloping mountainous landscapes with thin depths of topsoil). As outlined by the two papers, there are similar challenges to small scale farming and conservation agriculture (CA) practice adoption.…”

“…These regions also lack government policies to help in extension efforts needed to demonstrate the advantages of CA practices and provide economic incentives (e.g., crop insurance or input subsidies) to increase adoption of CA practices. Although CA practices, such as reducing tillage, conserving crop residue as a soil cover, and installing diversion ditches to regulate water flow, have been shown to improve soil health and crop yield, reduce soil erosion, and increase profitability (Barrera et al., 2021) adoption is low. In the Mid Hill farming region of Nepal, no‐till alone could sequester 140 kg soil organic carbon (SOC) ha −1 yr −1 and no‐till with residue addition increasing the SOC by up to 480 kg ha −1 yr −1 ) in the Terai rice–wheat systems (Ghimire et al., 2012).…”