Ahorrar para crecer - Guía para los responsables de las políticas de intensificación sostenible de la producción agrícola en pequeña escala

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Integrated Crop Management Vol.13-2010 - An International Consultation on integrated Crop- Livestock systems for development - The way Forward for Sustainable Production Intensification A new kind of sustainable intensified agriculture based on CA is emerging and new production systems often also include trees grown as hedge rows to control grazing and provide habitats and fuel, or include such as at the community or trees as strip crops with annual crops rotated in adjacent strips. Trees in crop-livestock systems often add significant synergistic values. Innovations that can strengthen the multi-dimensional role of integrated crop-livestock-trees systems and their resilience are taking place and there is a need to share this knowledge more efficiently and to build jointly owned research and development programmes to achieve critical mass of expertise and financial resources focused on helping farmers in major agro-ecologies.
This proceeding of the electronic and face-to-face Consultation held early in 2010 is just a first step. AG is committed to facilitate effective development, focused on sustainable production intensification of crops and of livestock and their integrated systems – at the farm level and also area-wide integration -- such as at the community or watershed levels. We look to Embrapa, IFAD, World Bank, IICA, the CGIAR and many others to join with FAO to help set up a facility and shared program of work to move a better agriculture forward and to do so quickly; as every day is a hungry day for over a billion people.

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Integrated Crop Management Vol.12-2010 - Green manure/cover crops and crop rotation in Conservation Agriculture on small farms The objective of this publication is to offer a reference material for extensionists, professors, agronomy students, technicians in general, and for farmers themselves. Through information that is up-to-date and richly illustrated, it strives to facilitate the adoption and diffusion of No-Tillage, the use of green manures, and the practice of crop rotation on small farms.
The publication describes the principal species of green manures and, at the same time, informs in detail how to insert green manures into small farm production systems according to soil fertility and major crops. It also deals with the residual effect of green manures on main crops and analyzes the economic implications of these practices.

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Integrated Crop Management Vol.10-2010 - Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Crop Intensification in Lesotho Lesotho is a small mountainous country characterized by extensive land degradation and erratic climatic conditions. In recent years a growing number of development agencies have been promoting conservation agriculture (CA) as a means to enhance rural livelihoods through sustainable production intensification. The present case study prepared under the AGP Framework for Sustainable Crop Production Intensification draws on the data collected by FAO in 2006 and illustrates the impact of CA and more specifically the local version of CA, the likoti-system, on sustainable crop intensification in the south-eastern highlands of Qacha's Nek district and in the western lowlands of Butha-Buthe and Berea. According to these data, the adoption of likoti has brought about significant advantages compared to conventional tillage. The case study is directed to decision makers influencing national policies from a technical background, the development and environmental communities as well as readers interested in sustainable agriculture. It proves the case that Conservation Agriculture is also successfully being practiced in Africa and that it can be done even without external inputs.

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Integrated Crop Management Vol.7-2009 - Enhancing Crop-Livestock Systems in Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Production Intensification (Burkina Faso)This is a story about how FAO assisted groups of farmers in five farming communities in the moist savannah zone of South Western Burkina Faso to enhance their crop-livestock systems through Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices, including crop diversification, using an innovative farmer discovery process, to bring about agricultural intensification and improvement in livelihoods. FAO's assistance was delivered largely by working with national institutions, adding value to ongoing stakeholder resources and activities. It is a story of positive intensification outcomes brought about by adapting 'proven principles and practices' of CA and crop diversification into existing crop-livestock systems. FAO worked with a range of stakeholders including the farmers and their communities, and the research and extension stakeholders, to create convergence and enable a farmer-based discovery process to experiment with a set of fundamentally new principles and elements in their farming practices for integrated crop-livestock production intensification. The positive outcomes offer a real promise and an opportunity for bringing about a large scale impact on agricultural productivity and livelihoods in the moist savannah zone of West Africa, often referred to as the potential 'bread basket' because of the zone's high productivity potential for integrated crop-livestock production. The conceptual elements draw substantially from new innovations in sustainable intensification in similar agro ecologies in the savannas of Brazil. This publication describes the multi-stakeholder process which led the successful outcomes, and the opportunity for a greater change that now exists and should be harnessed for sustainable agricultural development, nationally and regionally.

Scaling-up Conservation Agriculture in Africa: Strategy and Approaches This publication is an outcome of a Joint Workshop organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the African Soil Science Society (ASSS), Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Africa Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) in Nanyuki, Kenya from 22 - 25 June 2008. A total of 22 participants from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Zambia, ASSS, ACT, JIRCAS and KENDAT attended the meeting.

During the Workshop, thirteen papers covering challenges for promoting Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Africa, country experiences, CA development in large scale mechanized farms and support to surrounding small scale farmers, extension services to farmers, and farmer field schools were presented. Conservation Agriculture was endorsed as one of the best options to meet future food demands, prevent ecological degradation and ensure sustainable agriculture and rural development. If implemented well, CA methods can improve the efficiency of input, increase farm income, improve or sustain crop yields, and protect and revitalize soil, biodiversity and the natural resource base.

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An international technical workshop Investing in sustainable crop intensification: The case for improving soil health
FAO, Rome: 22-24 July 2008, Integrated Crop Management Vol.6-2008
This publication is a report of a Workshop that brought together people from a wide range of institutions - farmers, researchers, ecologists extensionists, policy makers, donors – from 40 countries who share a common concern about the non-sustainability of ways in which farm land is now being used and who are convinced that this must change. The Workshop focused on the growing evidence of success in the adoption and spread of Conservation Agriculture (CA) systems in developing countries. CA-based approaches to sustainable production intensification are highly relevant to the global response to rising food and energy prices, increasing soil and environmental degradation, pervasive rural poverty, climate change and increasing water scarcity. The main outcome of the Workshop is ‘A Framework for Action’. reflecting on actions that would help to upscale the take up of CA, thereby enabling land to be farmed more productively, profitably and sustainably.

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Visual Soil Assessment
The present publication on Visual Soil Assessment is a practical guide to carry out a quantitative soil analysis with reproducible results using only very simple tools. Besides soil parameters, also crop parameters for assessing soil conditions are presented for some selected crops. The Visual Soil Assessment manuals consist of a series of separate booklets for specific crop groups, collected in a binder. The publication addresses scientists as well as field technicians and even farmers who want to analyse their soil condition and observe changes over time.

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Siembra con labranza cero en la agricultura de conservación, C.J. Baker, K.E. Saxton, W.R. Ritchie, W.C.T. Chamen, D.C. Reicosky, M.F.S. Ribeiro, S.E. Justice y P.R. Hobbs
Este libro es una edición ampliada del volumen previo publicado en 1996 No-tillage Seeding: Science and Practice. El objetivo principal continúa siendo la descripción, en términos simples de varios experimentos internacionales diseñados para examinar las causas de los éxitos y los fracasos de la labranza cero. Este libro resume las ventajas y desventajas de la labranza cero en términos generales pero aprecia que la amplia adopción de la labranza cero ha sido ya hecha por otros. Si bien los autores han estado involucrados en el diseño de nuevos equipos, esta segunda edición no intenta promocionar ningún producto en particular pero remarca los puntos favorables y desfavorables de varias características y opciones.
(para pedir copias del libro)

Sistemas tropicales de agricultura-ganadería en la agricultura de conservación - La experiencia en Brasil, John N. Landers
Manejo Integrado de Cultivos, Volumen 5-2007
Esta publicación describe cómo la producción de pasturas, forrajes y ganado han sido integradas en los sistemas de agricultura de conservación en las zonas tropicales de Brasil. Vastas áreas de bosques fueron taladas en las áreas tropicales de Brasil para el establecimiento de pasturas que se vuelven improductivas una vez que se agota la fertilidad natural del suelo; esto conduce a la necesidad de talar más bosques.
Los sistemas integrados cultivos-ganadería con labranza cero permiten la producción sostenible de pasturas de alto rendimiento sin necesidad de recurrir a la deforestación; en este sistema el ganado convierte en ganancias las pasturas y los residuos de los cultivos. La capacidad de la pastura para incrementar la fertilidad y la actividad biológica de la capa superior del suelo es bien conocida. Se discuten los aspectos económicos del sistema y se describen en detalle sus efectos ecológicos muy positivos. Esta publicación está dirigida a los agrónomos, a los agricultores progresistas, a los extensionistas y a quienes toman decisiones sobre políticas agropecuarias en los trópicos y subtrópicos. Es de esperar que las numerosas lecciones aprendidas y las tecnologías desarrolladas en los trópicos brasileños, con las adaptaciones necesarias a las condiciones locales, puedan servir como referencia inicial para otras zonas tropicales y subtropicales.

Proceedings of the Third World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, 3-7 October 2005, Nairobi, Kenya
Copies can be obtained from ACT
P.O Box 10375 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel: +254 20 4444252 Fax: +254 20 4451391
KARI - NARL, Waiyaki Way, Nairobi, Kenya
Website: http://www.act-africa.org
Email: info@act-africa.org

Proceedings of the FAO/CTIC Conservation Agriculture Carbon Offset Consultation,
held on 28-30 October, 2008, at the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
The proceedings as CD-ROM contain the workshop papers and power point presentations, background documents, agenda and list of participants as well as a framework for action and some short policy briefs, such as a One-page issue paper designed as a tool for conservation advocates to distribute to policymakers and influencers worldwide and a two-page summary document with background and supporting information about the importance of soil carbon sequestration in conservation agriculture

No-Till Farming Systems
WASWC Special Publication no. 3
Editors: T. Goddard, M. Zoebisch, Y. Gan, W. Ellis, A. Watson, S. Sombatpanit
http://www.waswc.org

Conservation Agriculture Case Studies - a series of case studies on conservation agriculture in 5 countries

Ghana

Kenya

Tanzania

Uganda

Zambia

This case studies on conservation agriculture are a joint project of the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the Swedish SIDA funded Regional Land Management Unit (RELMA in ICRAF) and FAO. The booklets throw light on controversial issues such as the challenges farmers face in keeping soil covered, in gaining access to adequate equipment, in controlling weeds, and on the challenges projects and institutions face in implementing truly participatory approaches to technology development. The series illustrates the benefits of conservation agriculture systems and the enthusiasm with which many stakeholders are taking it up.

Conservation Agriculture
A manual for farmers and extension workers in Africa
This book is published by the FAO-supported African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) and the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). the manual intends to:
1) explain what conservation agriculture is, and why it is important;
2) describe how to use conservation agriculture principles in the field;
3) highlight the issues and challenges that farmers and extension personnel may encounter when they adopt and adapt conservation agriculture;
4) suggest ways to adapt and disseminate this approach to farming and
5) provide examples of experiences with conservation agriculture in real life.
This manual is part of a larger effort to develop and promote conservation agriculture in Africa. It is designed to reflect the experiences and views of many conservation agriculture practitioners (farmers, researchers and support organizations) to respond to the looming hunger and environmental degradation in sub-Saharan Africa.
The manual is jointly produced and supported by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA); The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and FAO.
(para pedir copias del libro)
El Manual está también disponible en CD-Rom

Scaling-up Conservation Agriculture in Africa: Strategy and Approaches This publication is an outcome of a Joint Workshop organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the African Soil Science Society (ASSS), Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Africa Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) in Nanyuki, Kenya from 22 - 25 June 2008. During the Workshop, thirteen papers covering challenges for promoting Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Africa, country experiences, CA development in large scale mechanized farms and support to surrounding small scale farmers, extension services to farmers, and farmer field schools were presented. Conservation Agriculture was endorsed as one of the best options to meet future food demands, prevent ecological degradation and ensure sustainable agriculture and rural development. If implemented well, CA methods can improve the efficiency of input, increase farm income, improve or sustain crop yields, and protect and revitalize soil, biodiversity and the natural resource base.

Proceedings of the International Workshop “Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management to Improve the Livelihood of People in Dry Areas" The Workshop has been held at The Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) from 7th - 9th May, 2007. The general objective of the workshop was to develop the awareness of conservation agriculture and pave the way for implementing conservation agriculture in the Arab region by bringing together scientists, policy makers and practitioners to share different knowledge, experiences and competencies and discuss opportunities, tools and adaptations in Arab countries. The proceedings encompass almost all papers of the workshop. A few presentations were replaced by others to finalize editing for publication. At the end of the proceedings, an abstract is added summarizing the results of the discussion.

Proceedings of the Workshop on Conservation Agriculture in Southern Africa Harrison’s Conference Centre, cnr 12th Avenue and Wessels Street, Rivonia, Johannesburg April 2nd and 3rd, 2007.