Environmental Benefits
Conventional agriculture is generally harmful to the environment. It includes practices such as crop residue burning or deep soil inversion by tilling to control weeds and to prepare the seed bed. As will be indicated later, these techniques considerably increase soil deformation by compaction, erosion and river contamination with sediments, fertilisers and pesticides. In addition, conventional agriculture techniques increase the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and reduce the sustainability of agriculture by lowering soil organic matter and fertility, along with further negative environmental effects (e.g. a decrease in biodiversity).
Conservation agriculture refers to several practices which permit the management of the soil for agrarian uses, altering its composition, structure and natural biodiversity as little as possible and defending it from degradation processes (e.g. soil erosion and compaction). Generally, conservation agriculture includes any practice which reduces, changes or eliminates soil tillage and avoids residues burning to maintain enough surface residue throughout the year. As will be indicated later, the soil is protected from rainfall erosion and water runoff; soil aggregates are stabilised, organic matter and the fertility level naturally increase, and less surface soil compaction occurs. Furthermore, the contamination of surface water and the emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere are reduced, and biodiversity increases.
