Factsheets - The objective of mulching is to protect the soil from the impacts of heavy rainfalls, storms, and droughts, while providing complementary benefits, such as the reduction of weed growth and water loss, and the increase of soil moisture, microbial action, organic matter and nutrient content. This practice helps in the improvement of the resilience of those farmers that adopt it because it helps in the reduction of the impact of extreme weather events on the soil. And also, their livelihoods will benefit: eventually, this practice helps to improve agricultural productivity, thereby contributing to people’s food and nutrition security.

Papers - Conservation Agriculture (CA) comprises the practical application of three interlinked principles, namely: no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, biomass mulch soil cover and crop species diversification, in conjunction with other complementary good agricultural practices of integrated crop and production management. In 2015/16, CA was practised globally on about 180 M ha of cropland, corresponding to about 12.5% of the total global cropland. In 2008/09, the spread of CA was reported to be about 106 M ha. This change constitutes an increase of some 69% globally since 2008/09. In 2015/16, CA adoption was reported by 78 countries, an increase in adoption by 42 more countries since 2008/09, respectively. The average annual...

Publications - This manual is specifically designed to help train actual and potential farm mechanization service providers, in order to increase access to sustainable farm power to raise the productivity of smallholder farmers. It focuses on two crucial aspects: the provision of farm mechanization services as a viable business opportunity for entrepreneurs, and the essential criteria of raising productivity in an environmentally sensitive and responsible way i.e. that includes conservation agriculture. Practical guidance on the essential business development and management skills required to successfully run a mechanization service provision business are presented, with a focus on the equipment required to offer services...

Publications - This publication summarizes and presents the information on possible ways to adopt CA approaches in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It also makes recommendations for their further promotion. The Guidelines cover such topics as the significance and current state of agriculture in the project countries, permanent raised-bed planting technologies, zero-tillage technologies, weed varieties and main measures to control them, crop rotation, overview of CA machinery and equipment, and laser-assisted land levelling. The Guidelines target agricultural scientists, specialists, trainers, extension consultants and interested farmers.

Publications - This book is a contribution to creating the world we want. Maize, rice and wheat are fundamental to world food security. Although the 2014 global cereal harvest was an all-time record, most of it was grown in a few key production areas, where farmers are paying the price of decades of intensive monocropping: soil degradation, groundwater depletion and a marked slow-down in the rate of yield increases. In vast areas of the developing world, farmers obtain barely a fraction of potential yields, owing to natural resource constraints and lack of access to the knowledge and technologies that would enhance their...