European Conservation Agriculture Federation-What is Conservation Agriculture?

ROME, 6 November 2002 -- Desertification affects 30 percent of the earth's land surface, threatening much of the world's productive land. To deal with this critical problem, scientists are increasingly looking to Conservation Agriculture, a strategy that helps hold back the desert, raises yields, increases incomes and allows farmers to shorten fallow periods.

Recently, with the help of an FAO team led by Conservation Agriculture expert José Benites, 17 participants from 8 of the world's driest countries gathered for a course at the Extension and Experimental Station for Irrigation and Land Techniques, known by its Italian acronym of CO.T.IR. (Centro per la Sperimentazione delle Tecniche Irrigue ) on Italy's Adriatic coast. They were joined by experts from FAO and other institutions in Australia and the United States.

The purpose: hold back the desert. The means: Conservation Agriculture.

For more information please visit FAO web site. From this page you can also access to other press notes and news on CA as well as to the CA site of FAO.

http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/10502-en.html

Planting Aid Helps No-Till Farmers

By David Elstein
October 16, 2002

The use of conservation tillage, sometimes called no-till farming, has gone up dramatically in the past few years in the planting of many crops. In fact, 80 percent of cotton farmed in Alabama is planted with conservation tillage systems, up from 19 percent only four years ago.

No-till farming provides many economic and environmental benefits to the farmer. Since the soil is not touched from after harvest until the next growing season, there is less erosion. The previous year's crop residue left on the soil surface traps moisture and nutrients, cutting down on chemicals the farmer must use. Conservation tillage also requires less machinery and less labor than conventional tillage.

One problem associated with no-till farming is that the previous year's crop residue can get caught up in planters, forcing the farmer to stop the machine and clear out the debris. But that is about to change. Agricultural Research Service soil scientist H. Allen Torbert of the Soil Dynamics Research Unit in Auburn, Ala., along with local cotton farmer Tom Ingram, has designed a device to put on the planter to keep the operation running smoothly.

Dubbed the "forward residue mover," it is a triangular piece of metal around the blades of the planter that pushes crop residue out of the way, so it will not get caught in the blades. This device makes planting in a no-till environment easier and quicker.

An added benefit of the forward residue mover is that it's free. While Torbert and Ingram are not selling the piece of equipment, it is easy enough for many farmers to make in their machine shops with supplies they may already have. More information about the residue mover, including photos, along with general information about no-till farming, is available online at: