Dipartimento di Agronomia Animali Alimenti Risorse naturali e Ambiente RVATION CONSE AGRICULTURE ion Reg Veneto s of experiences in ear 8 y Dipartimento di Agronomia Animali Alimenti Risorse naturali e Ambiente RVATION CONSE AGRICULTURE egion f experiences in Veneto R ears o 8 y This publication collects the results of a series of projects conducted over the years 2011-2018 and partly still in progress, by the Veneto Region, Veneto Agricoltura and the University of Padua. The following Projects are particularly noteworthy: LIFE+ HELPSOIL – Improving soils quality and strengthening the adaptation to climate change through sustainable techniques of Conservation Agriculture (LIFE12 ENV/IT/000578) www.lifehelpsoil.eu/ Monitamb-214-I – Regional Program for monitoring the eff ects of the application of 2007-2013 RDP Measures (Measure 214/i Agro-compatible management of agricultural land “Action 1 - Adoption of conservation farming techniques” and “Action 2 - Continuous land cover”) and RDP 2014-2020 (Measure 10.1.1 - Agronomic techniques with reduced environmental impact Multi-year notice) LIFE+ AGRICARE – Introducing innovative precision farming techniques in AGRIculture to decrease CARbon Emissions (LIFE13 ENV/IT/000583) www.lifeagricare.eu RECARE - Preventing and Remediating degradation of soils in Europe through Land Care (Programma FP7-ENVIRONMENT - Specifi c Programme “Cooperation”: Environment, including Climate Change) grant agreement No. 603498 www.recare-project.eu The publication was coordinated by a working group consisting of: Regione del Veneto, Direzione Agroambiente – Veneto Region, Agrienvironment Directorate - Barbara Lazzaro, Irene Martini Veneto Agricoltura – Veneto agency for innovation in the primary sector - Lorenzo Furlan, Francesca Chiarini, Renzo Converso, Annalisa Fellin, Stefano Gambetta, Paolo Giacobbi, Renzo Rossetto, Serenella Spolon - with particular reference to the editing of the Sheets: 0 “Techniques adopted and farm characteristics”, 1 “Yields of crops in rotation”, 9 “Integrated protection against pests: insects, gastropods, birds”, 10 “Mycotoxins in maize and wheat grains”, 11 “Evolution of fl ora and weed management”, 12 “Soil biodiversity: earthworms”, 13 “Soil biodiversity: mesofauna”, 14 “Soil biodiversity: microbiota and enzymes”, 15 “Sowing and harvesting machinery”, 16 “Fertilizer and liquid manure distribution techniques”, 17 “Decompactors”, 18 “Cover crops” and 19 “Economic balance: costs and revenues” DAFNAE (Dipartimento di Agronomia, Animali, Alimenti, Risorse naturali e Ambiente) Dipartimento di Agronomia Animali Alimenti Risorse naturali e Ambiente Università di Padova – (Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources and the Environment) University of Padua - Francesco Morari, Ilaria Piccoli - with particular reference to the editing of Sheets 3 “Evolution of Soil Organic Carbon content”, 4 “Greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere”, 5 “Water dynamics in soil: hydraulic properties and water balance”, 6 “Eff ects on soil physical properties: compaction and porosity”, 7 “Distribution and properties of roots in the soil” and 8 “Impact on water quality”; Paolo Carletti - with particular reference to the editing of the Sheet 14 “Soil biodiversity: microbiota and enzymes” Authors or co-authors of specifi c sheets are: Nicola Colonna (ENEA) in Sheet 2 “Consumption of fossil fuels: diesel” Cristina Menta (Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, della Vita e della Sostenibilità Ambientale dell’Università di Parma - Department of Chemical Sciences, Life and Environmental Sustainability of the University of Parma) in Sheet 13 “Soil biodiversity: mesofauna” Donato Loddo (Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection - National Research Council) in Sheet 11 “Evolution of fl ora and weed management” Vladimiro Toniello e Maurizio G. Paoletti (Dipartimento di Biologia dell’Università degli Studi di Padova - Department of Biology of the University of Padua) on the taxonomic classifi cation of the species belonging to the Lumbricidae family used in the editing of Sheet 12 “Soil biodiversity: earthworms” Luigi Sartori - (TESAF - Dipartimento Territorio e Sistemi Agro-Forestali dell’Università di Padova - Department of Territory and Agro-Forestry Systems of the University of Padua) in the review of the Sheets 15 “Sowing and harvesting Machinery”, 16 “Fertilizer and liquid manure distribution techniques” and 17 “Decompactors” Anna Trettenero (Trettenero Farm) in Sheet 20 “My experience in Conservation agriculture” Special thanks particularly to Francesco Fagotto, Francesco Salmaso, Paolo Giacobbi (Veneto Agricoltura) for the execution of the fi eld trials Isadora Benvegnù, Giulia Florio, Francesco Fracasso, Sebastiano Pavan, Alberto Sartori, Erica Sartori and Roberto Solone (Veneto Agricoltura employees) for data collection and data processing activities Editorial coordination: Stefano Barbieri (Veneto Agricoltura) Text revision: Stefano Barbieri, Francesca Chiarini, Federica Dal Molin, Lorenzo Furlan (Veneto Agricoltura) Graphic layout: Federica Mazzuccato Translation of texts by Alison Garside and Studio Moretto Group, Brescia Publication edited by: Veneto Agricoltura – Agenzia veneta per l’innovazione nel settore primario - Veneto agency for innovation in the primary sector Viale dell’Università, 14 - 35020 Legnaro (PD) Tel. 049 8293711 - Fax 049 8293815 e-mail: [email protected] www.venetoagricoltura.org Reproduction of texts, tables, graphics, etc. subject to authorization by Veneto Agricoltura, citing the details of the publication, is acknowledged. Finished printing in June 2019 by the Veneto Region at the Regional Press Centers ISBN code 978-88-6337-209-0 INDEX INTRODUCTION Conservation agriculture and its application in Veneto 5 SHEET 0 Techniques adopted and farm characteristics 7 PART ONE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 9 SHEET 1 Yields of crops in rotation 10 SHEET 2 Consumption of fossil fuels: diesel 14 SHEET 3 Evolution of Soil Organic Carbon content 18 SHEET 4 Greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere 22 SHEET 5 Water dynamics in soil: hydraulic properties and water balance 27 SHEET 6 Eff ects on soil physical properties: compaction and porosity 31 SHEET 7 Distribution and properties of roots in the soil 36 SHEET 8 Impact on water quality 41 SHEET 9 Integrated protection against pests: insects, gastropods, birds 48 SHEET 10 Mycotoxins in maize and wheat grains 52 SHEET 11 Evolution of fl ora and weed management 58 SHEET 12 Soil biodiversity: earthworms 64 SHEET 13 Soil biodiversity: mesofauna 69 SHEET 14 Soil biodiversity: microbiota and enzymes 74 PART TWO LAND MANAGEMENT IN CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE 79 SHEET 15 Sowing and harvesting Machinery 80 SHEET 16 Fertilizer and liquid manure distribution techniques 83 SHEET 17 Decompactors 86 SHEET 18 Cover Crops 88 PART THREE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE PROFITABILITY 93 SHEET 19 Economic balance: costs and revenues 94 SHEET 20 My experience in Conservation agriculture 97 4 INTRODUCTION CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE AND ITS APPLICATION IN VENETO Since 2010, following the Health check reform of CAP, Regione del Veneto (Veneto Re- gion Government) has decided to pursue the opportunity to implement a new action in the framework of the Rural Development Programme (RDP), in support of conser- vation agronomic techniques for preservation of the soil structure. The motive behind this decision stemmed from scientifi cally demonstrated evidence that on the one hand, particularly in Europe, soils were undergoing progressive deg- radation phenomena due to the use of intensive tillage techniques, and on the other, that farmers were expressing the need for a more attentive adaptation of production processes to the ever-changing commodities market conditions, and the aids con- nected to the single payment scheme. The literature of the sector, since the early 2000s, noted how agricultural soils would be subject to a series of degenerative processes such as the reduction of organic car- bon content, reduction of biodiversity, water, wind and mechanical erosion, because of tilling, compaction, salinization and sodifi cation of the soil. Conventional agro- nomic techniques therefore seemed to be diffi cult to sustain in terms of both related burdens on arable crop farms and the need to protect agricultural land. At the same time, new possibilities have emerged from the Community’s agroenvi- ronmental schemes measures, connected to the need for changing the approach to the agronomic techniques that, even in Veneto, was consolidated in a system char- acterized by high management costs and a strong impact on soil, which is a hardly renewable resource. Therefore, Veneto has been the fi rst region in Italy to believe in the possibility of a rea- sonable number of farms starting a new benefi cial practice, through tools provided by agro-environmental payments from the RDP. The choice was a clear one from the very beginning, as it was characterized by the introduction of the no-tillage technique, which involves no soil tillage and non-inversion of the soil layers. This choice, while highlighting some problems in the fi rst cultivation cycles, has seen some interesting results emerge over time, as demonstrated by the Monitamb-214-I Project conducted by Veneto Agricoltura for the monitoring of the RDP measures, especially in terms of connected ecosystem services. The RDP measure, activated in 2010, included the core principles of sod seeding,