We look forward to update you with activities concerning CA and encourage those involved with conservation agriculture to share information with us on happenings in their region. Items marked {NEW} are the most recently posted items.

NEWS

Cornell University Launches New Conservation Agriculture Website
A new website that will function as a global knowledge resource on conservation agriculture has been recently launched by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. The website has been designed as a one-place knowledge hub that contains all useful information on basic conservation agriculture (CA), issues pertaining to soil health, and latest research, news, and reports related to CA. It also hosts varied resource database in the form of blogs, discussions and newsletters amongst others and can be accessed by clicking the link http://conservationagriculture.mannlib.cornell.edu/

Conservation Agriculture Database at AquaStat, FAO, Being Updated
The conservation agriculture (CA) land area data base displayed at AquaStat is being updated. Those interested in providing information on the land area under CA systems at the national and sub-national level, together with any relevant historical information on adoption, cropping pattern, farm size, agro-ecology, constraints, etc. are encouraged to participate to help strengthen the database. For recording the same and to understand the quantification of CA definition, please refer the FAO-CA website http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/6c.html.

International Certified Crop Adviser Program
The international Certified Crop Adviser Program (CCA) beginning in 2010 is proposed to be put in place by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) in collaboration with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP). The program is being facilitated by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) under Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). As one of the objectives for CSISA, the CCA program is being developed for India as a way to further enhance professionalism and agronomic services to Indian farmers. For more details, contact Dr. J.K. Ladha, IRRI- India Office, CG Block, NASC Complex, Pusa, New Delhi.

CA For Sustainable Agriculture in Rural Development (CA-SARD) Project
Conservation Agriculture for SARD is an FAO project that started in 2004 and is currently in its 2nd phase that will end in 2010. The project focuses in contributing to promotion of growth and improved food security in Kenya and Tanzania through scaling up of Conservation Agriculture (CA) as a Sustainable Land Management (SLM) option. To know more about project approach and activities, click this link.

EVENTS

No-Till Conference-2010
The annual conference of the KwaZulu-Natal No-Till Club is being organised at Drakensberg, South Africa, from 7-9 September 2010. The conference aims to cover various aspects pertaining to no-till farming. The 3-day conference would comprise of the following:

To know the programme in detail, click here.

Second Announcement- European Congress on Conservation Agriculture
The European Congress on Conservation Agriculture “Towards Agro-Environmental Climate and Energetic Sustainability” has recently come up with its second announcement. The event is being organised in Madrid, Spain, from 4th to 7th October, 2010. The Conference would comprise of plenary as well as technical sessions, covering various topics pertaining to conservation agriculture. For more details regarding the programme, click here.

Final Circular: International Conference on Traditional Practices in Conservation Agriculture
The final programme circular of the International Conference on Traditional Practices in Conservation Agriculture to be held at Udaipur, Rajasthan, from 18-20th September, 2010 (previously announced in our website also) has been recently made available. Invited lectures, along with voluntary papers received would constitute the deliberations of the three-day conference. Last date for submission of abstracts is 20th August 2010. Details regarding conference theme, registration, abstract submission, and other related information can be downloaded by clicking here

Tenth International Conference on Development of Drylands, Muscat, Oman
The Tenth International Conference on Dryland Development (ICDD) on “Meeting the Challenge of Sustainable Development in the Dry Lands under Changing Climate- Moving from Global to Local” is being organised at Muscat, Oman, from 12-15th December 2010. Those interested to participate, and present papers at the Conference are requested to submit a one-page abstract latest by 30th June 2010, covering scientific and development aspects within the framework of the Conference theme. Details regarding the Conference theme, registration, etc. can be downloaded by clicking the link http://www.apaari.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/icdd-conference.pdf

Conservation Agriculture Session – Montpelliar, France
At the forthcoming meeting of the European Society of Agronomy Congress to be held at Montpelliar, France, in September 2010, a session titled “Conservation agriculture: Did we fail in Africa and which research priorities for future” is being organised and will be chaired by Ken Giller. The session will be followed by a discussion that will serve as a useful forum to exchange views. Those desirous to participate are requested to contact Ken Giller at ken.giller@gmail.com.

Announcement: 5th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, Brisbane, Australia

The 5th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture is being organised at Brisbane, Australia, from 26-29 September 2011. The congress intends to bring together scientists and practitioners to discuss current and future developments in the field of sustainable agriculture.

Deliberations will be centered around below mentioned themes:

• Theme 1: More efficient CA practices to improve livelihoods/profitability/food security and to reduce environment footprint
• Theme 2: Farming systems design and multi-scale systems approaches for integrative solutions and optimised trade-offs in commercial and smallholder agriculture
• Theme 3: Achieving impact through more effective consultation, participation and knowledge sharing
• Theme 4: Informing policy development and supporting market effectiveness

Details regarding registration, abstract submission, and other related information will be provided soon. More details about the conference can be availed from the conference website http://www.wcca2011.org, or by contacting the Conference Secretariat at infoWCCA5@icmsaust.com.au.

CAPACITY BUILDING

International Training Courses on Conservation Agriculture
African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) is organizing a series of training courses at Tanzania, Lesotho, Burkina Faso and Zambia. The training programme aims to build up the desired capacity and ability of agricultural extension and research staff in the development and promotion of conservation agriculture technologies, thereby enhancing their ability to respond to farmers’ needs in the application of these technologies.

More info regarding the course, application deadlines, etc. can be obtained by clicking the links: http://www.act-africa.org/cacourse/cacourseadvert.pdf
http://www.act-africa.org/cacourse/cacoursebrochure.pdf

PUBLICATIONS

Committee on Twenty-First Century Systems Agriculture; National Research Council, 2010, Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century, National Academies Press, NW, Washington D.C. Click here. {NEW}

Alison J. Eagle, Lucy R. Henry, Lydia P. Olander, Karen Haugen-Kozyra, Neville Millar, and Phil Robertson. 2010. Literature Review: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential of Agricultural Land Management Activities in the U.S. (Draft). Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
http://www.nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/institute/ecosystem/land/TAGGDLitRevDraft

Thierfelder, C. and Wall, P. C. 2010. Rotation in Conservation Agriculture Systems of Zambia: Effects on Soil Quality and Water Relations. Experimental Agriculture, Volume 46, Issue 3, pp. 309-325.

Aurora Sombrero and Avelino de Benito. 2010. Carbon accumulation in soil. Ten-year study of conservation tillage and crop rotation in a semi-arid area of Castile-Leon, Spain. Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 107, Issue 2, April 2010, pp. 64-70.

Wang, J., Huang, J., Zhang L., Rozelle, S. and Farnsworh, H.S. 2010. Why is China’s Blue Revolution so “Blue”? The determinants of conservation tillage in China. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, March 2010, Volume 65, Issue. 2, pp. 113-129 http://www.jswconline.org/content/65/2/113.refs

Naudin, K., Goze, E., Balarabe, O., Giller, K.E. and Scopel E. 2010. Impact of no tillage and mulching practices on cotton production in North Cameroon: A multi-locational on-farm assessment. Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 108, Issues 1-2, May-June 2010,
pp. 68-76.

Ted M. Zobeck and Willia F. Schillinger. 2010. Soil and Water Conservation Advances in the United States. Soil Science Society of America, Inc 677 South Sogoe Road, Madison, WI 53711-1086, USA

Verhulst, N., Govaerts, B., Verachtert, E., Castellanos-Navarrete, A., Mezzalama, M., Wall, P., Deckers, J., Sayre, K.D., 2010. Conservation Agriculture, Improving Soil Quality for Sustainable Production Systems? In: Lal, R., Stewart, B.A. (Eds.), Advances in Soil Science: Food Security and Soil Quality. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, ISBN: 9781439800577, pp. 137-208. click here.

Fuentes, M., Govaerts, B., Hidalgo, C., Etchevers, J., Gonzalez-Martin, I., Hernandez-Hierro, J. M., Sayre, K.D. and Dendooven, Luc. 2010. Organic carbon and stable 13C isotope in conservation agriculture and conventional systems. Soil biology & biochemistry, Volume 42, Issue 4, pp. 551-557. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=22550521

Kirkegaard J, Angus J, and Howe G. 2010. The effects of conservation cropping on crop growth, yield and quality. Farming Ahead, No. 216, January 2010.

Gore, P.G., Thakur, P. and Hatwar, H.R. 2010. Mapping of Drought Areas over India. National Climate Centre, India Meteorological Department, Pune, Research Report No. 12, January 2010. http://www.imdpune.gov.in/ncc_rept/RESEARCH%20REPORT%2012.pdf

Tiessen, K. H. D., Elliott, J. A., Yarotski, J., Lobb D. A., Flaten D. N. and Glozier, N.E. 2010. Conventional and Conservation Tillage: Influence on Seasonal Runoff, Sediment, and Nutrient Losses in the Canadian Prairies. J Environ Qual 39: 964-980. http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/39/3/964

Kirkegaard, J., Vadakattu, G. and Griffiths, J. 2010. Soil microbes under no-till crops. Farming Ahead, No. 219, April 2010.

Thierfelder, C. and Wall, P.C. 2010. Investigating Conservation Agriculture (CA) Systems in Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mitigate Future Effects of Climate Change. Journal of Crop Improvement, Volume 24, Issue 2, April 2010, pp. 113 – 121. http://prod.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a921576901~db=all~jumptype=rss

Meike Wollni, David R. Lee, and Janice E. Thies. 2010. Conservation agriculture, organic marketing, and collective action in the Honduran hillsides. Agricultural Economics, Volume 41, Issue 3-4, pp 373-384.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123390313/abstract

Javier A. Ceja-Navarro, Flor N. Rivera, Leonardo Patino-Zuniga, Bram Govaerts, Rodolfo Marsch, Anton Vila-Sanjurjo and Luc Dendooven. 2010. Molecular characterization of soil bacterial communities in contrasting zero tillage systems. Plant and Soil, Issue no. 1-2, April 2010, Volume 329, pp. 127-137.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/x30r72p827vlx58g/

Boddey, Robert M; Jantalia, Claudia P; Conceicao, Paulo C.; Zanatta, Josileia A; Bayer, Cimelio; Mielniczuk, Joao; Dieckow, Jeferson; Dos Santos, Henrique P.; Denardin, Jose E.; Aita, Celso; Giacomini, Sandro J; Alves, Bruno J.R.; Urquiaga, Segundo. 2010. Carbon accumulation at depth in Ferralsols under zero-till subtropical agriculture. Global Change Biology, Volume 16, No. 2, February 2010, pp. 784-795 (12). http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/gcb/2010/00000016/00000002/art00023

OPPORTUNITIES

Professional Vacancy Announcement
CARE USA announces vacancy for the post of a Senior Technical Advisor (STA) for Sustainable Agriculture in the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) region. The candidate would be responsible for providing technical and programmatic support to existing agriculture and natural resources programs. By working closely with the Director of Agriculture, the candidate will help build partnerships and relationships with organisations working in the region on sustainable agriculture and natural resources issues. Experience in the field of sustainable agriculture, conservation agriculture, and extension systems would be an added advantage. Application deadline for this post is 28th August 2010. To know about the eligibility criteria, and other related details, click the link http://216.197.119.113/jobman/publish/article_68610.shtml

Vacancy Announcement: Conservation Farming Project Specialists
Peace Corps Response volunteers are required to serve as Food Security Conservation Farming Project Specialists for Strengthening Communities through Integrated Programming (SCIP). The programme is being funded by USAID with the goal of supporting Mozambique in the implementation of its new food security strategy. The Conservation Farming Project Specialists will work with the partner staff to design, present and refine training programs focused on sustainable agricultural practices and to undertake a series of Training of Trainers (TOT) for one or more districts. In addition, the Project Specialists will work closely with partners from other INGOs in the formation and organisation of junior farmer associations. The duration of the project is one year, and will commence from September 2010. For more details, click here

IDRC Announces Applications for "Bently Cropping Systems Fellowship"
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is inviting applications for the “Bentley Cropping Systems Fellowship” (a bequest from Helen S. Bentley and C. Fred Bentley) that provides assistance to Canadian and developing-country graduate students with a university degree in agriculture, forestry or biology, to undertake postgraduate, applied, on-farm research with farmers in a developing country. Proposals for this fellowship must clearly focus on simple cropping systems research that can benefit smallholder farmers in developing countries especially rural women farmers. Application deadline for this fellowship is 1st October 2010. More details can be obtained by clicking the link http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-23379-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html