Nature's laws of declining soil productivity and Conservation Agriculture

Abstract

Soils are critical for agriculture and natural ecosystems and need protection, and adherence to nature's principles. The objective of this work is to understand how nature manages resources and describe management of the 'living soil’ and its soil productivity and use nature's laws as guidelines for the management. These guidelines provide the foundation of modern Conservation Agriculture (CA) systems characterised by three principles: continuous no or minimum soil disturbance, permanent biomass soil cover, and biodiversity in crop rotations, all of which form the basis for the protection against degradation and for sustaining productivity. Historically, soil tillage was considered a necessary component of agriculture, but it is the root cause of soil degradation. Tillage-based agriculture with bare soils and poor cropping diversity violates nature's laws of soil productivity. Reasons for soil tillage are primarily for short-term convenience of farm management. The negative impacts of tillage on soil health and function may appear inconsequential. However, their cumulative effects over time result in major soil degradation and loss in productivity. Tillage in any form and intensity destroys soil biological, physical, chemical, and hydrological properties. Mechanical tillage is not experienced in natural ecosystems. In CA systems, natural conditions are emulated offering similar productivity, economic and environmental benefits to both large and small landowners globally. In 2018/19, CA was practiced on more than 205 million hectares across more than 100 countries. The impacts of climate change and tillage on food production and environmental degradation require the application of nature-based solutions as Conservation Agriculture.