Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management to Improve the Livelihood of People in Dry Areas International Workshop on Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management to Improve the Livelihood of People in Dry Areas 7-9 May 2007 Proceedings Editors: Organising Committee: Bobby A.Stewart Abdelouahab Belloum A. Fares Asfary A. Fares Asfary Abdelouahab Belloum Berthold Hansmann Kurt Steiner Kurt Steiner Theodor Friedrich Theodor Friedrich Moncef Ben-hammouda Proof reading: Mohamed A. O. Ibenouf Thomas Teuscher Lena Al Hasan (Secretary) A. Fares Asfary ©2008 ACSAD & GTZ All rights reserved ACSAD & GTZ encourages the fair use of this material. Proper citation is requested. Citation: Bobby I.Stewart, A. Fares Asfary, Abdelouahab Belloum, Kurt Steiner, Theodor Friedrich Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management to Improve the Livelihood of People in Dry Areas. About the Editors: Bobby A.Stewart: WTAMU Box 60278, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas, USA, 79016 A. Fares Asfary: Conservation Agriculture Program, The Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD),P.O. Box; 2440, Damascus, Syria, Fax: 00963-11-5743063, E. mail: [email protected], [email protected] Abdelouahab Belloum : Conservation Agriculture Program, The Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), P.O. Box 2440, Damascus, Syria, [email protected]; Tel. : +963 11 5743063 Kurt Steiner: Goethestr.7, 69250 Schönau, Germany, e-mail: [email protected] Theodor Friedrich: Food and Agriculture Organization in the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy The views expressed in these proceedings are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the sponsors. Maps are reproduced as submitted by the authors, they are not intended to show political boundaries and the sponsors hold no responsibility whatsoever in this regard. Preface In the last three decades an increasing pressure on the natural resources in the Arab region has been observed. One of the driving forces is the demographic development, the population increases at a progressive rate along with the food requirements. In addition, unsuitable agricultural practices spread all over the region exerting severe pressure on soils, vegetation and water to fulfill the increasing demand. The Arab region imports about 50 % of its food requirements. The food gap, however, will be more endangered by climate change with its impact on agricultural production. These alarming conditions stress the need for a quick action to introduce sustainable and more pro- ductive agricultural systems to bridge the food gap, improve the livelihood of people, sustain resources, combat desertification, and mitigate the adverse impact of climate change. Conservation Agriculture, as a holistic approach, could provide a solution, as it permits an ecolog- ically sustainable, and at the same time, economically viable agricultural production system. However, this production system is looked upon sceptically in the region, mainly because of the lack of information, the insufficient field experiments in the different agro-ecological zones, and the limited joint field trials with farmers. The Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) initiated in conformity with its mandate to contribute to the implementation of the UNCCD in the countries of the Arab League, a coordinated research and development programme for Conservation Agriculture, with technical support of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), a pioneer of this agri- cultural production system. The ACSAD/GTZ Conservation Agriculture Programme is promoting Conservation Agriculture in the Arab region in order to support the efforts of sustainable land management. In addition, Conservation Agriculture is also considered as an appropriate adaptation strategy to mitigate the forecasted dramatic negative impacts of climate change in the region. ACSAD and GTZ organised the workshop “Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management to Improve the Livelihood of People in Dry Areas” in order to collect and document the international experience in the field of Conservation Agriculture in semi-arid and arid regions and to make it available to all stakeholders. We expect that the workshop outcomes with the pro- ceedings and the planned follow-up activities, especially those supporting farmers’ efforts to adopt CA, will enable the ACSAD/GTZ CA Programme to introduce and widely disseminate the System in the entire Arab region, for the benefit of the people, the farmers, and the environment. Damascus, March 2008 Dr. Farouk Saleh Fares Dr. Magdy El-Menshawy Director General Country Director, Syria and Lebanon ACSAD GTZ Office Damascus Table of Contents Introduction 11 1- Conservation Agriculture: Concept and Implications 1- CA in the Arab Region between Concept and Application Abdelouahab Belloum 13 2- Conservation Agriculture: Impact on Farmers’ Livelihoods, Labour, Mechanization and Equipment Theodor Friedrich and Josef Kienzle 25 3- Direct Drilling; an Agro-Environmental Approach to Prevent Land Degradation and Sustain Production Moncef Ben-Hammouda, Khelifa M’Hedbi, Messaad Kammassi and Houcine Gouili 37 4- Weed Management in Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Crop Production Wilfred L. Mariki and M. Z. Owenya 49 5- Water Conservation and Water Use Efficiency in Drylands Bobby A. Stewart 57 6- Crop Roots and Water Use Efficiency in Conservation Agriculture and Conventional Tillage Systems in Drylands Ammar Wahbi 67 7- Lasting Benefits from No-Tillage Systems: Erosion Control and Soil Carbon Sequestration Rachid Mrabet 77 8- Soil Management and Soil Erosion Sid P. Theocharopoulos 93 9- Soil Biology as an Essential Component of Conservation Agriculture, with Particular Reference to Mycorrhizas and Legume Nodulation Janet I Sprent 103 10- Impact of Conservation Agriculture on Soil Fertility in Dry Regions Isam Bashour 111 8 Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management 11- The Role of Crop Rotations in Conservation Agriculture Ahmad Fares Asfary 121 2 – Global Experiences 1- Key Lessons from International Experiences about Conservation Agriculture, and Considerations for its Implementation in Dry Areas Rabah Lahmar and B. Triomphe 123 2- Experiences with Conservation Agriculture in Semiarid Regions of the USA Bobby A Stewart 141 3- Evaluation of Conservation Agriculture Technology in Mediterranean Agricultural Systems Cantero-Martínez C., Gabiña D., Arrúe J.L. 157 4- Challenges and Opportunities for Conservation Cropping: ICARDA Experience in Dry Areas Mustafa Pala, A. Haddad and C. Piggin 165 5- Conservation Agriculture in Morocco: A Research Review Rachid Mrabet 183 6- Application of Sustainable Agriculture Principles in Weed Management Hani Z. Ghosheh 209 7- The Use of Forage Plants for Landscape Management and Soil Conservation in Dry Areas Ghufran Kattach 219 3- Dissemination and Networking 1- Farmer Participation in the Development of CA Technologies Kurt Steiner 227 2- Dissemination Approaches and Networking in Enhancing Adaptation and Adoption of Conservation Agriculture Practices Lessons from ACT Programmes in Sub Saharan Africa Martin Bwalya 243 3- Is Conservation Agriculture an Option for Vulnerable Households in Southern Africa? Lewis Hove and Steve Twomlow 255 4- From Conventional Agriculture to Conservation Agriculture Abdelaziz Benhammouda and Riad Benhammouda 263 5- Private Sector Involvement in the Diffusion of Direct Drilling: Experience Societe Cotugrain Abdelhak El-khorchani 265 Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management 9 4- Annexes - Annex 1: Workshop program 269 - Annex 2: List of participants 275 - Annex 3: Selection of coloured pictures 281 Introduction The first International Workshop “Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Land Management to Improve the Livelihood of People in Dry Areas” has been held at The Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) with support of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) from 7th - 9th May, 2007. Collaborative Partners in organizing the workshop were the United Nations Organisation for Food and Agriculture (FAO), the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) and the United Nations Environmental Programme - Regional Office for West Asia (UNEP- ROWA). The 58 workshop participants came from nearly all Arab countries; special experts were invited from USA, UK, the Mediterranean and international development and research organizations notably FAO, UNEP-ROWA, GTZ, CIRAD, ICARDA, CIHEAM-IAMZ and ICRISAT. Representatives of manufacturers of agricultural machinery came from Germany and Brazil. The general objective of the workshop was to develop the awareness of conservation agriculture and pave the way for implementing conservation agriculture in the Arab region by bringing together sci- entists, policy makers and practitioners to share different knowledge, experiences and competencies and discuss opportunities, tools and adaptations in Arab countries. During the first part of the workshop keynotes, papers and posters were presented, structured into five sessions: Session 1: Introduction to Conservation Agriculture (CA) Session 2: CA impact on the environment Session 3A/B: CA in dry lands: A global overview and in Arab countries Session 4: CA potential in the Arab region Session 5: Joining efforts: Scientists, farmers and investors The second part of the workshop was dedicated to an extensive discussion covering