Conservation agriculture improves agronomic, economic, and soil fertility indicators for a clay soil in a rainfed Mediterranean climate in Morocco

Published Date
August 04, 2022
Type
Journal Article
Conservation agriculture improves agronomic, economic, and soil fertility  indicators for a clay soil in a rainfed Mediterranean climate in Morocco
Authors:
Mina Devkota Wasti
Krishna Prasad Devkota, Shiv Kumar Agrawal

CONTEXT: Declining rainfall with increasing variability, increasing temperature extremes, and declining soil fertility are threatening crop production and ultimately food security in the rainfed Mediterranean environment in Morocco. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices such as reduced tillage, soil cover, and appropriate crop rotation are recognized as a set of adaptive agricultural systems in such climate-sensitive regions. Systematic evaluation of agronomic, economic, and soil fertility indicators with medium-and long-term adoption of CA in different crop rotations in such variable climatic conditions is needed to drive wider adoption of CA in the region. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate agronomic, economic, and soil fertility indicators under CA and conventional tillage (CT) using field experimentation (medium-term) and simulation modeling (long-term) for a clay soil of a rainfed Mediterranean environment.
METHODS: Methodologies included the following: 1) Field experimentation for 5 years (2015–2019), comparing CA and CT in four major food crops: wheat, barley, lentil, and chickpea, conducted in Merchouch, Morocco. The objective was to determine the effect of CA on crop productivity, yield stability, profitability, precipitation use efficiency, and soil fertility indicators of individual crops and cropping systems. (2) Dynamic simulation modeling to understand the long-term effect of adopting CA and CT under cereal–legume and cereal–cereal rotation systems. Using 5 years of experimental data, we calibrated and validated a Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model for four crops; and ran the model for 36 years for two major rotations.

Citation:
Mina Devkota Wasti, Krishna Devkota, Shiv Kumar Agrawal. (4/8/2022). Conservation agriculture improves agronomic, economic, and soil fertility indicators for a clay soil in a rainfed Mediterranean climate in Morocco. Agricultural Systems, 201.
Keywords:
rainfall variability
climate adaptation and mitigation
nutrition, health and food security
resilience
soil organic matter
soil health
yield stability
goal 13 climate action
goal 15 life on land