Small Farmers and Resource-Conserving Agriculture: The Prospect of Attaining Environmental Sustainability through Zero Tillage Relay Cropping in Bangladesh

Abstract

Food systems and the ability to attain food security have already been affected by land degradation, environmental pollution and global climate change. With more time, agriculture will have greater difficulty in producing enough, good quality food to sustain the growing human population. The new paradigm shift and set of practices in the field of agriculture today has been identified-variously termed as 'climate-smart agriculture' , 'regenerative agriculture', 'organic' or ' resource-conserving agriculture' proven to meet the promise of food security , but there is a need of practical evidence and bold action. Demonstration of the links these agricultural approaches possess to many benefits accruing to food production, security, human and environmental health are urgently needed. Reported research documented two cases from Bangladesh. Currently a number of obstacles to introduce, adopt and scaling up of these practices on a global scale exist and only a small percentage of concerned farmers, researchers, land managers, consumers and policy makers are familiar to this alternative approach to safeguard our common future.