Conservation Agriculture-based Sustainable Intensification (CASI): Experiences and Lessons learned from South Asia

Conservation Agriculture (CA) comprises the practical application of three principles, namely: no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, rational crop biomass soil cover and crop diversification, in conjunction with other complementary improved agricultural practices of integrated crop and production management. Recently, in 2015-16, CA area was covered globally on about 180 M ha of cropland, corresponding to about 12.5% of the total global cropland. Components of CA-based practices have been widely adopted in the South Asia, especially for the wheat, maize, pulses crops in the irrigated rice, wheat and maize-based systems. No-tillage and direct seeding (largely of winter crops) has grown steadily in the South-Asia region from virtually no area on farms in 1997, to 1.9 million ha in 2004 (Derpsch, 2005) and nearly 3.9 M ha in 2010 (Jat et al., 2011a). Conservation Agriculture based Sustainable Intensification (CASI just not adopting the tillage practices as this is an innovation process of farming systems having the aim of improving the livelihoods and provide stable societies. The CASI is not a static in nature and it can’t define with the fixed management practices under different locations, cropping systems, farming systems, bio-physical typologies and duration of the practicing rather this is a dynamic in nature and it has to be adjusted at site specific considering farm typologies, resources, farming/cropping systems environment, market etc. Importantly, CA is not a package of practices but rather an environmentally more-friendly way of practicing agriculture that is more profitable for farmers. The way in which the principles of CA are applied in any given situation will depend on biophysical, economic and social factors, and it is beyond the possibilities of research organizations to develop optimum CA packages for all farmer conditions, which therefore depend on farmer-participatory technology adaptation. Thus, the pathway to conservation agriculture involves an innovation process of developing appropriate components for CA systems, including implements, fertilization techniques, weed control measures, residue management practices, crop cultivars, etc., that farmers may use to develop and fine-tune their crop production techniques. Numerous studies conducted across the varied ecologies of South Asia have shown the potential benefits of CA component technologies with respect to natural resource conservation, efficiency of use of external inputs, crop yield enhancement, soil health improvement, economic farm profitability and adaptation to climate change to address the food, energy and water nexus and meet sustainable development goals. The large number of on-farm participatory research trials showed that by adopting the CA based Sustainable Intensification (CASI) practices across the cropping systems and geography in Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) gave 5-10% higher systems yields with less use of 8-17% irrigation water. The adoption of CASI smart mechanization farmers can saved 26-44% labor and 15-20% cost of production which leads 16-56% higher net returns. CASI technologies consumed 46-62% less energy by eliminating tillage, less labor, fuel and avoiding tillage which led for 11-16 % lower CO2 emission.