Creating synergies between conservation agriculture and cattle production in crop–livestock farms: a study case in the lake alaotra region of madagascar
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the impact of biomass flows (cover crops and manure) between cropping and cattle production in crop-livestock farms in the Lake Alaotra region.
Abstract: Conservation agriculture (CA) has been promoted as a strategy to cope with deterioration in soil fertility, but its adoption on smallholder farms in tropical areas remains limited. In Madagascar, livestock production is facing shortages in forage especially during the dry season. The value of cover crops used in CA as livestock feed could be an incentive to make this form of agriculture more acceptable in rural areas. To do so, farmers must find a trade-off between the use of biomass from cover crops for animal production and its maintenance on the soil to meet CA's criteria. In this study, we evaluated the impact of biomass flows (cover crops and manure) between cropping and cattle production in crop-livestock farms in the Lake Alaotra region. Surveys among crop-livestock farmers were used to calculate feed concentrate and mineral fertilizer equivalents. Our results show that on average 42, 22 and 10% of biomass production (dry matter basis) of Brachiaria spp., Stylosanthes guianensis and Vicia villosa, respectively, are used for livestock feeding. The economic benefit in feed concentrate equivalent is between ?73 and ?723/year per farm. The use of manure contributes, just as CA, to improve soil fertility without using external fertilizing resources. The economic benefit in mineral fertilizer equivalent is between ?116 and ?2365/year per farm. The integration of CA and livestock production shows, beyond the agronomic advantages, an obvious economic benefit, which is essential to secure the Malagasy agricultural systems. Moreover, this economic benefit is another argument for the dissemination of CA practices in rural areas. (Resume d'auteur)
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored trade-offs between CA practices and the size of dairy cow herds, and applied a constraint on the minimum soil cover % to keep at the end of each year for CA fields: from 30% to 95%
39 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the feasibility of converting organic farms to the organic system and the chances of success after conversion in the face of global changes (market and politics) and concluded that farms must introduce significant changes before initiating the conversion process.
Abstract: Dehesa is a remarkable agroforestry system, which needs the implementation of sustainable production systems in order to reduce its deterioration. Moreover, its livestock farms need to adapt to a new global market context. As a response, the organic livestock sector has expanded not only globally but also in the region in search for increased overall sustainability. However, conversions to the organic system have been commonly carried out without analyzing farms’ feasibility to do so. This analysis is necessary before implementing any new production system in order to reduce both the diversity of externalities that the variety of contexts leads to and the vulnerability of the DDehesa ecosystem to small management changes. Within this context and in the face of this gap in knowledge, the present paper analyzes the ease of such conversions and the farms’ chances of success after conversion in the face of global changes (market and politics). Different aspects (“areas of action”) were studied and integrated within the Global Conversion Index (GCI), and the legal requirement for European organic farming, organic principles, future challenges for ruminants’ production systems, as well as the lines of action for the post-2013 CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and their impacts on the beef cattle sector were taken into account. Results revealed that farms must introduce significant changes before initiating the conversion process, since they had very low scores on the GCI (42.74%), especially with regard to health and agro-ecosystem management (principle of Ecology). Regarding rearing and animal welfare (principle of justice/fairness), farms were close to the organic system. From the social point of view, active participation in manufacturing and marketing of products should be increased.
19 citations
Cites background from "Creating synergies between conserva..."
...This would allow better use of resources, increase ecosystem services, the landscape value and carbon sequestration, thus increasing long-term ecosystem’s functionality, as well as its stability, economic performance and sustainability [46,47]....
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TL;DR: A Madagascar, dans la region du lac Alaotra, les systemes de culture sous couvert vegetal (SCV) ont ete promus par un projet de developpement pour mettre en place une agriculture pluviale durable.
Abstract: A Madagascar, dans la region du lac Alaotra, les systemes de culture sous couvert vegetal (SCV) ont ete promus par un projet de developpement pour mettre en place une agriculture pluviale durable. Des enquetes sur l’evolution des pratiques agricoles et l’adoption des SCV ont montre l’existence d’un « cœur d’innovation » ou groupe de paysans ayant adopte les SCV (environ 600 paysans pour 420 ha de SCV en 2010) avec un fort investissement du projet en information et formation technique pendant plus de 5 ans. On observe egalement un processus de conception paysanne spontane que nous avons appele « systemes de culture innovants » (SCI), ne reprenant que certaines parties des elements constitutifs des SCV, pour ameliorer les systemes de culture conventionnels paysans. Ainsi, la pratique de la rotation raisonnee, relativement recente dans cette region, est la plus prisee, suivie de l’utilisation des plantes de couverture pour le couvert du sol, mais aussi comme fourrages ou engrais vert. Par contre, le labour reste partiellement present dans la majorite des successions SCV ou SCI, mais pas avant tous les semis. Les obstacles majeurs a l’adoption du paquet technique SCV recommande sont (i) la complexite d’un ensemble de pratiques, avec en particulier l’abandon total du labour, et (ii) le changement de paradigme pour l’agriculteur d’une vision a court terme vers une vision a long terme. Face a telles contraintes, les paysans innovent et creent des systemes techniques plus souples (SCI).
15 citations
Cites background from "Creating synergies between conserva..."
...…culture pure, fourragère stricte, si toute la biomasse est récoltée pour l’élevage, ou, dans quelques cas, comme une culture de couverture d’un SCV si le paysan ne prélève qu’une partie de la biomasse (20 à 30 % maximum) et conserve le reste pour couvrir le sol (Andriarimalala et al., 2013)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a tool called PRACT (Prototyping Rotation and Association with Cover crop and no Till) is proposed for the design of cropping systems in a Malagasy case study.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors have applied systems approach that can be used to study and understand the behavior of a complex system over time which is characterized by interdependence, mutual interaction, information feedback and circular causality.
Abstract: The beef cattle industry recorded progressive growth in the last two decades. Despite this growth, suppliers are having difficulty to meet the domestic demand for beef. Continued strong growth of beef cattle production capacity depends on supplier profitability, which in turn will be influenced by primarily on availability of feedstuffs that constitutes a large proportion of the cost of production. The policy design and management of beef cattle production systems in Malaysia is challenging since imported beef is much more profitable. To this end, the research has applied systems approach that can be used to study and understand the behavior of a complex system over time which is characterized by interdependence, mutual interaction, information feedback and circular causality. The results indicate that low beef price and feed cost ratio would worsen beef cattle production. However, development of grazing and fodder area and genetic improvement boost the beef cattle production significantly by 2020. The results of this research support the idea that the best policies to obtain the targeted self-sufficiency level is through importation of animal for breeding, minimized rate of beef cattle mortality, increased fertility and the conduct of training in feed efficiency management.
11 citations
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TL;DR: Conservation agriculture is claimed to be a panacea for the problems of poor agricultural productivity and soil degradation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is actively promoted by international research and development organisations, with such strong advocacy that critical debate is stifled as mentioned in this paper.
1,349 citations
"Creating synergies between conserva..." refers background in this paper
...Despite their agronomic benefits, the adoption of CA in smallholder farms in the tropics is often limited (Carsky et al., 2003; Erenstein, 2003; Giller et al., 2009)....
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TL;DR: Conservation agriculture (CA), defined as minimal soil disturbance (no-till) and permanent soil cover (mulch) combined with rotations, is a more sustainable cultivation system for the future than those presently practised as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Conservation agriculture (CA), defined as minimal soil disturbance (no-till) and permanent soil cover (mulch) combined with rotations, is a more sustainable cultivation system for the future than those presently practised. The present paper first introduces the reasons for tillage in agriculture and discusses how this age-old agricultural practice is responsible for the degradation of natural resources and soils. The paper goes on to introduce conservation tillage (CT), a minimum tillage and surface mulch practice that was developed in response to the severe wind erosion caused by mouldboard tillage of grasslands and referred to as the American dust bowl of the 1930s. CT is then compared with CA, a suggested improvement on CT, where no-till, mulch, and rotations significantly improve soil properties (physical, biological, and chemical) and other biotic factors, enabling more efficient use of natural resources. CA can improve agriculture through improvement in water infiltration and reducing erosion, improving soil surface aggregates, reducing compaction through promotion of biological tillage, increasing surface soil organic matter and carbon content, moderating soil temperatures, and suppressing weeds. CA also helps reduce costs of production, saves time, increases yield through more timely planting, reduces diseases and pests through stimulation of biological diversity, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Availability of suitable equipment is a major constraint to successful CA, but advances in design and manufacture of seed drills by local manufacturers are enabling farmers to experiment and accept this technology in many parts of the world. Estimates of farmer adoption of CA are close to 100 million ha in 2005, indicating that farmers are convinced of the benefits of this technology. The paper concludes that agriculture in the next decade will have to produce more food, sustainably, from less land through more efficient use of natural resources and with minimal impact on the environment in order to meet growing population demands. This will be a significant challenge for agricultural scientists, extension personnel, and farmers. Promoting and adopting CA management systems can help meet this complex goal.
609 citations
"Creating synergies between conserva..." refers background in this paper
...It is defined by the simultaneous implementation of three principles: minimum tillage, permanent soil cover with a cover plant and/or crop residues, and crop association or rotation (Hobbs, 2007)....
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TL;DR: Mulch area index was a pivotal property for quantitatively defining mulch properties and understanding weed emergence through mulches and a two-parameter model of emergence as a function of mul ch area index and fraction of mulch volume reasonably predicted emergence across the range of mulches investigated.
Abstract: Mulches on the soil surface are known to suppress weed emergence, but the quantitative relationships between emergence and mulch properties have not been clearly defined. A theoretical framework for describing the relationships among mulch mass, area index, height, cover, light extinction, and weed emergence is introduced. This theory is applied to data from experiments on emergence of four annual weed species through mulches of selected materials applied at six rates. Mulch materials, in order from lowest to highest surface-area-to-mass ratio, were bark chips, Zea mays stalks, Secale cereale, Trifolium incarnatum, Vicia villosa, Quercus leaves, and landscape fabric strips. The order of weed species' sensitivity to mulches was Amaranthus retroflexus > Chenopodium album > Setaria faberi > Abutilon theophrasti, regardless of mulch material. The success of emergence through mulches was related to the capacity of seedlings to grow around obstructing mulch elements under limiting light conditions. Mul...
435 citations
"Creating synergies between conserva..." refers background in this paper
...Email: paulo.salgado@cirad.fr in diverse world ecosystems: limiting soil evaporation and water loss by runoff (Scopel et al., 2004; Smets et al., 2008), enrichment of soil organic matter (Neto et al., 2010), weed control by mulch cover (Teasdale and Mohler, 2000)....
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TL;DR: Success in the development and dissemination of mulching for smallholders requires targeting areas with specific economic opportunities for mulching and an integrated approach with a practical orientation, farmer participation, community involvement, flexibility and a long-term perspective.
300 citations
"Creating synergies between conserva..." refers background in this paper
...Despite their agronomic benefits, the adoption of CA in smallholder farms in the tropics is often limited (Carsky et al., 2003; Erenstein, 2003; Giller et al., 2009)....
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TL;DR: A long-term field experiment under rainfed conditions was started at El Batan, Mexico (2240 m a.s.l., 19.318 n, 98.508 W; fine, mixed, thermic, Cumulic Haplustoll) in 1991 as mentioned in this paper.
265 citations
"Creating synergies between conserva..." refers background in this paper
...Govaerts et al. (2005) emphasize the need to establish, for each agro-climatic context, the threshold quantity of residues needed to run a cropping practice in CA, maintaining soil productivity whilst using part of the biomass as a forage resource....
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