For Farmers

Over the past forty years, the world has lost one third of its arable land—around 430 million hectares. Conservation agriculture is a farming system that can prevent such losses while restoring degraded land. It promotes minimal mechanical soil disturbance (no-tillage), maintaining permanent soil cover, and diversifying plant species. It also enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the soil surface, helping improve the efficiency of water and nutrient use and strengthening crop productivity and sustainability.

Conservation agriculture is a sustainable farming approach that protects and restores soil by minimizing tillage, keeping the ground covered with crop residues or cover crops, and rotating at least three different crops. These practices boost biodiversity and natural soil processes, improve water and nutrient efficiency, reduce erosion and compaction, and help maintain stable or increasing yields over time while lowering labor and production costs.

Farmers can adopt conservation agriculture by starting small, setting realistic goals, and using suitable direct-seeding equipment in fields with adequate soil cover. Before scaling up, they should plan effective crop rotations, correct major soil constraints (such as compaction, drainage, pH, and nutrient levels), and be prepared for a transition period focused on weed control and residue/cover-crop management. Adoption often accelerates in areas facing erosion, drought, degraded soils, high costs, or labor shortages, especially when farmers learn from experienced practitioners.