Trying out conservation agriculture wheat rotation alongside conventionally-grown maize, farmer's field, Mexico
Visitors from CIMMYT learns about conservation agriculture in action in Mexican farmer Olegario Gonzalez's field. He is testing CA side-by-side with traditional practices: in the foreground is his conventionally-tilled maize, while the group examine his healthy wheat crop being grown under conservation agriculture (CA) in rotation with maize. Although local farmers traditionally only grow maize without crop rotation, he has found that there is demand for his wheat, which he is growing under CA in rotation with maize. “My neighbors are already asking to buy my wheat to add to tortillas [the staple Mexican flatbread] and for seed,” he says.
Thanks to a collaborative project between CIMMYT and local institutions involving farmers, Gonzalez and other farmers in the central Mexican Highlands have been introduced to CA practices and have tried a variety of different rotation crops, including wheat, oats, and triticale. Crop rotation improves soil structure and reduces problems of pests and diseases, and along with zero tillage and residue retention it is one of the key principles of CA.
The aim of CA is to produce stable, high yields with low environmental impact. Direct sowing—without plowing—and retaining crop residues like stalks and leaves on the field helps protect the structure of the soil, retain soil moisture, and prevent erosion. This is crucial on the thin, sloping soils Gonzalez farms; scanty topsoils and eroded gullies created by heavy seasonal rains are all too apparent in the surrounding landscape, but where farmers are implementing CA it is beginning to build their soils back up. Direct seeding, with a single pass rather than several plowings and harrowings, also cuts down on labor and resource use.
CIMMYT is developing an increasing number of hubs throughout Mexico and the world that function as centers for collaborative CA research, capacity-building, demonstration and dissemination, engaging diverse actors and fostering the emergence of regional CA networks. Satellite trial and demonstration plots in farmers' fields help to adapt CA practices to local conditions, and let other farmers see how well CA works.
Photo credit: E. Phipps/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's October 2007 e-news story "Saving Mexican maize farmers’ soil," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/173....
See also the August 2009 e-news story "The verdict is in: Conservation agriculture trials needed for the long run," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/316....
For the latest news on conservation agriculture, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?s=conservation+agriculture.
Trying out conservation agriculture wheat rotation alongside conventionally-grown maize, farmer's field, Mexico
Visitors from CIMMYT learns about conservation agriculture in action in Mexican farmer Olegario Gonzalez's field. He is testing CA side-by-side with traditional practices: in the foreground is his conventionally-tilled maize, while the group examine his healthy wheat crop being grown under conservation agriculture (CA) in rotation with maize. Although local farmers traditionally only grow maize without crop rotation, he has found that there is demand for his wheat, which he is growing under CA in rotation with maize. “My neighbors are already asking to buy my wheat to add to tortillas [the staple Mexican flatbread] and for seed,” he says.
Thanks to a collaborative project between CIMMYT and local institutions involving farmers, Gonzalez and other farmers in the central Mexican Highlands have been introduced to CA practices and have tried a variety of different rotation crops, including wheat, oats, and triticale. Crop rotation improves soil structure and reduces problems of pests and diseases, and along with zero tillage and residue retention it is one of the key principles of CA.
The aim of CA is to produce stable, high yields with low environmental impact. Direct sowing—without plowing—and retaining crop residues like stalks and leaves on the field helps protect the structure of the soil, retain soil moisture, and prevent erosion. This is crucial on the thin, sloping soils Gonzalez farms; scanty topsoils and eroded gullies created by heavy seasonal rains are all too apparent in the surrounding landscape, but where farmers are implementing CA it is beginning to build their soils back up. Direct seeding, with a single pass rather than several plowings and harrowings, also cuts down on labor and resource use.
CIMMYT is developing an increasing number of hubs throughout Mexico and the world that function as centers for collaborative CA research, capacity-building, demonstration and dissemination, engaging diverse actors and fostering the emergence of regional CA networks. Satellite trial and demonstration plots in farmers' fields help to adapt CA practices to local conditions, and let other farmers see how well CA works.
Photo credit: E. Phipps/CIMMYT.
For more information, see CIMMYT's October 2007 e-news story "Saving Mexican maize farmers’ soil," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/173....
See also the August 2009 e-news story "The verdict is in: Conservation agriculture trials needed for the long run," available online at: www.cimmyt.org/en/about-us/media-resources/newsletter/316....
For the latest news on conservation agriculture, see CIMMYT's blog at: blog.cimmyt.org/?s=conservation+agriculture.