Conservation Agriculture: Environment, Farmers Experiences, Innovations, Socio-economy, Policy 2003 edition

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index; Keynote lectures and contributions to the I World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (Madrid, October 2001) organized by the Conservation Agriculture Working Group (CAWG). Table of Contents: I. Conservation agriculture global improvements.- Conservation agriculture: global environmental benefits of soil carbon management.- Factors affecting the uptake of no-tillage in Australia, Asia and New Zealand..- Conservation agriculture and the rural women. Breaking barriers for a new horizon.- Agriculture and natural resource management. The role of conservation agriculture.- II. Farmer experiences with conservation agriculture.- No till, the stubble and the soil nutrition.- Argentine agriculture: an innovative experience.- The soil, agriculture and I.- Farmers and experts opinion on no-tillage in Western Europe and Nebraska (USA).- Experiences with farmer clubs in dissemination of zero tillage in Tropical Brazil.- III. International networks for conservation agriculture.- Conservation agriculture in Europe: current status and perspectives.- Direct seeding on plant cover: sustainable cultivation of our planet s soils.- Survival farming.- Latin American conservation agriculture network RELACO.- The african conservation tillage network enhancing conservation tillage in Africa.- Need for establishment of South Asian conservation agriculture network.- A strategy for soil conservation farming in Northern Kazakhstan.- FAO s Role in promoting conservation agriculture.- Western Australian no-tillage farmers association.- A world of conservation agriculture.- ICARDA s network on conservation agriculture in Central Asia.- Conservation agriculture for the rice-wheat systems of the indogangetic plains of South Asia: A case study from India.- Zero tillage in Switzerland: the bernese incentive program.- IV. Recent innovations on conservation agriculture.- Conservation tillage, no-tillage and related technologies.- Cover crop management.- Weeds and conservation agriculture.- Non-inversion tillage in integrated farming concepts: prospects and constraints of cropping systems in the southwest of Germany.- Conflicts between conservation agriculture and livestock over the utilisation of crop residues.- Improved cereal production technology FAO project on conservation agriculture in Mongolia.- Development of an animal drawn zero tillage seeder for small grains.- No-till management intensity zones for Pennsylvania.- V. Adaptation of the agricultural industry to conservation agriculture.- Farm machines for large-scale conservation agriculture.- No-tillage equipment for small farms in Brazil.- Integrated pest management for conservation agriculture.- Perspectives of precision agriculture in conservation agriculture.- VI. Influence of conservation agriculture on environment.- Tillage-induced CO2 emissions and carbon sequestration: effect of secondary tillage and compaction.- Long-term effects of agricultural practices on microbial community.- Tillage and soil compaction.- Soil moisture conservation.- No-tillage visions protection of soil, water and climate and influence on management and farm income.- Environmental impacts of zero tillage in Brazil a first approximation.- Watershed conservation farming a friendly solution to soils degradation .- Carbon dioxide fluxes from arable soils as affected by temperature and moisture.- The role of draft animal power in soil and water conservation.- The use of powerful machines in different soil tillage systems.- A rapid, immediate, farmer-usable method of assessing soil structure condition to support conservation agriculture.- Soil conservation options for olive orchards on sloping land.- Development of the biological activity in different tillage systems.- Adaptation of sowing techniques to maintain important lumbricid biomasses in the hydromorphic soils of Normandy.- Soil management systems to support soil microbial biomass in vineyards.- Conservation agriculture as a tool to reduce emission of greenhouse gasses. A case from southern Brazil.- Agrochemical leaching and water contamination.- VII. Socio-economic perspectives and policy implications for development.- Economic globalisation and conservation agriculture: the case of Mercosur.- Strategies for international cooperation.- Investing in conservation agriculture.- Win-win options for food security: conservation agriculture soil fertility, soil biodiversity and carbon sequestration nexus.- Conservation farming among small-holder farmers in E. Africa: adapting and adopting innovative land management options.- Land use planning: a key to sustainable agriculture.- The development and transfer of a new no-tillage technology.- Conservation tillage options for the poor, small landholders in South Asia.- An innovative approach to develop conservation agriculture programs and funding.- Adoption of no-till by small farmers: understanding the generation of complex technologies.- Developing soil protection in the EU.- Author Index."