Adaptation and Constraints of Conservation Agriculture

Abstract

This paper is intended to revise those works in the area of conservation agriculture (CA) and its benefit specifically, in regards of it adoption and constraints for better service of humans as well as the Ecosystem in general. The immediate goals of CA include increasing the productivity of land, water, labor and capital to meet human needs, while preserving the integrity of the natural ecosystems on which all life depends. Specifically, CA aims to conserve and enhance the quality of natural and human resources, while achieving greater profitability of agriculture for producers, assured supply and better-quality food for consumers, a greater and sustainable livelihood opportunities to raise standards of living broadly and equitably. A number of constraints lie between the theory and a full scale adoption. These constraints come in different categories, such as intellectual and knowledge, social, financial, technical, infrastructural and last but not least policy and institutional. Experience across many countries has shown that the adoption and spread of CA requires a change in commitment and behavior of all concerned stakeholders. Generally the objective of this paper is to indicate those points in regards to adoption and constraint of conservation Agriculture thought reviewing different papers in this area of current research.

Keywords: conservation agriculture, crop rotation, minimum tillage, cover crop