The conservation agriculture is practiced over 98 Hectares of agricultural land around the world, from humid regions to almost the Polar Regions. The conservation agriculture seems “too good to be true”; in fact, rather than burning crop residue following harvesting or tilling the biomass of the land, all these residue could be left in place as a soil cover. Then, at the beginning of the next cropping season, the field shall not be tilled at all; instead, special tools are used for a special process of direct seeding in the soil. In addition to limiting fertilization, soil erosion, and losing water; soil covering prevents the sprouting of harmful herbs, protects micro-organisms in the soil, and helps in the formation of organic matter. The result: reducing time and effort used to prepare the land, preventing fuel consumption, preventing air pollution, limiting the need to chemical inputs, and increasing harvest and agricultural income.
Normally, the phenomena is not that simple, since conservation agriculture requires as well a careful planning of the rotation, new curricula on fighting herbs, dealing with pests, as well as number of additional skills related to precision agriculture. Still, such agriculture is applied by a growing number of farmers all around the world from the Equator to almost Polar Regions. The latest studies suggest that conservation agriculture is practiced over 98 million Hectares of agricultuficiency to agricultural societies that are engaged in these activities, as well as to non agricultural societies and in the other hand to manage profitability for investors. Over the long term sustainable agriculture could preserve the surrounding environment and ensure the bio diversity. If agriculture would not conserve the environment and its diversity therefore there will not be any sustainability or continuity of agricultural investment, and thus there will not be provided any safe nutrition to consume anymore.
Steps to Achieve Sustainable Agriculture:
- Developing bio diversity and preserving non harmful environment;
- Preserving land and soil quality;
- Smartly managing water resources and consumption;
- Planning and creating new orders and rural societies, and advancing their health and social conditions;
- Increasing both quantity and quality of agricultural production;
- Smartly exploiting the land;
- Adequately and rationally consuming the energy;
- Considering climate changes.
Original Arabic article may be found on http://blog.ezraa.info/2013/09/blog-post_3012.html