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Home , Soil conservation

: Its deliverables for effective Conservation and comments on the SoCo findings

Gottlieb Basch

Policy Seminar on & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

Soil threats:

Ø Ø Decline in organic matter Ø Ø Ø Soil compaction Ø Decline in soil Ø Salinisation Ø and landslides

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 What is CAP looking for?

Ø Protection of soil, , air, biodiversity, etc. Ø Reasonable farm income Ø management Ø Globalization of agricultural markets Ø Competitiveness of European agriculture Ø Reduction of subsidies Ø High quality products at acceptable prices Ø Bio- crops

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

Maybe something like this?

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Conservation Agriculture:

A concept to combine

Natural conditions & Agricultural production

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

Conservation Agriculture Soil Protection & Soil Soil Organic Carbon

minimum / no diversity/ continuous cover soil disturbance crop rotations residues/

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Minimum soil disturbance Cover crops

Residues Cover crops and residues

Diversified crop rotations to minimize dependence on inputs Soil threats:

Ø Erosion Ø Decline in organic matter Ø Soil contamination Ø Soil sealing Ø Soil compaction Ø Decline in Ø Salinisation Ø Floods and landslides

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

Erosion

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Rilling

Compaction/ capping => Runoff

Sheet erosion

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Soil “hides” but also favours soil erosion

Former soil surface

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Can you imagine this to happen on fields managed and crops established like this?

The same field, the same slope, the same crop!

Traditional Tillage No­till into residues

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Decline in organic matter

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

What you see is dust, what you don’t see is

the CO2 released by any type of soil tillage Evolution of in a conventionally tilled soil (Jim Kinsella, 1995)

110

100

90

e

g 80 n a 70 Ch

% 60

50

40

30 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Years of cultivation

Soil Organic Matter under Trad. Tillage (TT) and No-till on a Vertisol after 6 years of NT

3 NT TT

)

%

( 2,5

r

e

t

t

a

M 2

c

i

n

a

g 1,5

Or

1 10 20 30 40 Soil depth (cm) Soil compaction

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

Over­loosening? Repacking

But underneath?

10cm

25cm

30cm But underneath?

Heavy load of harvest machines can lead to soil compaction and in consequence to reduced water . But the fundamental cause is the insufficient bearing capacity of the soil Decline in soil biodiversity

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

Good agricultural and environmental practise What about biodiversity? Soil sterilization in Width: 4m Speed: 26­40m/h Fuel consumption: 1000 l 8h ­1

What about biodiversity and CO2 emissions?

Biodiversity aboveground: No­till field Biodiversity aboveground: No­till field

Biodiversity aboveground: No­till field Biodiversity belowground: as indicator Effect of cultivation intensity on population (per m2) Conservation Plough No­till Tillage

Floods and landslides

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Inevitable ???

Inevitable ??? Inevitable ???

Evitable, doing like this! Evitable, doing like this!

Soil

Soil conservation &

management

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 Crop Yields, Profitability & Competitiveness

Biodiversity & Beautiful landscape

Conservation Agriculture

Soil Fertility & Carbon sequestration Less & Floods

Less soil erosion & Soil Compaction

ECAF‛s comments on SoCo findings

Section: Nature, localisation and magnitude of soil degradation related to agriculture

“The major driver for water erosion are intense rainfall, topography, low soil organic matter content, percentage and type of vegetation cover and marginalization and abandonment.”

ØWhat about soil disturbance?

ØWhat about over­stocking?

ØWhy land marginalization and abandonment?

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 ECAF‛s comments on SoCo findings

“The climate factor explains the existence of a north­south climatic gradient, with high soil organic carbon levels in the colder humid northern part of and in mountainous areas, and lower levels in the warmer semi­arid southern part. The model results show that agricultural in Europe have very different actual soil organic carbon levels and are subject to different risk levels of soil organic carbon decline.”

ØWhat about agriculture practices?

ØLand use does not necessarily induce SOM decline

ØSoil tillage enhances SOM mineralization under warmer conditions

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

ECAF‛s comments on SoCo findings “Maintaining and optimizing organic carbon levels (as a specific objective of ) is important in contributing to climate change mitigation.”

ØCorrect, but no suggestions on how to increase

“The natural susceptibility of soils to compaction mainly depends on , with sandy soils being least and clayey soils being most susceptible.” ØDoes not agree with common understanding

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 ECAF‛s comments on SoCo findings

Section: Relevant farming practices for soil protection, conservation and improvement, their uptake and related environmental objectives

“Similarly, consumption of fuel can realistically drop by 10­ 20 % and 15­25 % for reduced tillage and no­tillage respectively.” ØFigures unrealistic (49 l/ha for PT vs. 10.5 l/ha for NT)

“Organic farming, although different from conservation agriculture, has similar positive effects on soil organic carbon content and soil biodiversity.” ØIf based on CA principles, or high external OM inputs

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

ECAF‛s comments on SoCo findings

Section: Relevant farming practices for soil protection, conservation and improvement, their uptake and related environmental objectives

“Sub­soiling involves loosening deep hardpans in soils, thereby improving the soil's infiltration rate and penetration.” ØMan­made/machinery induced compaction

“Buffer strips … … can significantly reduce (by 70­90 %) the volume of suspended solids, nitrates and transported by agricultural run­off to water bodies.”

ØDo not prevent their “runoff” from

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 ECAF‛s comments on SoCo findings

Section: Review of the regulatory environment and policy instruments that address conservation agriculture and soil conservation practices Ø Suggestion to strengthen mechanisms and initiatives at members state level through:

• Effective knowledge and technology transfer using scientific and practical expertise from a range of climatic regions across Europe

• Extension of ‘incentive­led programmes’ for conservation agriculture under existing agro­environmental measures

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009 ECAF‛s comments on SoCo findings

Section: Review of the regulatory environment and policy instruments that address conservation agriculture and soil conservation practices Ø Suggestion to strengthen mechanisms and initiatives at members state level through:

• Establishment of long­term research projects with continuous conservation agriculture systems at both farm and research level with special focus on , cover crops and plant protection measures

• Strengthening of farm extension services with specialized conservation agriculture advisers skilled in ‘farmer to farmer’ knowledge transfer resulting in a multiplier effect in the sector

• Establishment of a market for carbon credit trading based on sequestration

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009

www.ecaf.org

Policy Seminar on Sustainable Agriculture & Soil Conservation– Brussels, 28 May 2009