Special Issue "Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification"

A special issue of World Journal of Agricultural Research (ISSN 2333-0678).

Special Issue Editors

Chief Guest Editor

Tika Bahadur Karki
Nepal Agricultural Research Council, National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal
Email: tbkarki2003@gmail.com

Guest Editor

Jiban Shrestha
Nepal Agricultural Research Council, National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal
Email: jibshrestha@yahoo.com

Mahendra Prasad Tripathi
Nepal Agricultural Research Council, National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal
Email: mptripathi@gmail.com

Special Issue Information

Traditional soil cultivation systems, with intensive soil tillage, will generally lead to soil degradation and loss of crop productivity. World-wide the focus has shifted to conservation agriculture (CA). CA is characterized by three linked principles, namely: continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover and diversification of crop species grown in sequences and/or associations. Conservation Agriculture maintains a permanent or semi-permanent organic soil cover. This can be a growing crop or dead mulch. Its function is to protect the soil physically from sun, rain and wind and to feed soil biota. The soil micro-organisms and soil fauna take over the tillage function and soil nutrient balancing. Mechanical tillage disturbs this process. Therefore, zero or minimum tillage and direct seeding are important elements of CA. Thus, CA aims to conserve, improve and make more efficient use of natural resources through integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources combined with external inputs. It contributes to environmental conservation as well as to enhanced and sustained agricultural production. It can also be referred to as resource-efficient / resource effective agriculture. CA is being practiced on about 45 million ha, mostly in South and North America. Its use is growing exponentially on small and large farms in South America, due to economic and environmental pressures. However, its area is increasing at a very slow rate across the globe especially among the smallholder farmers of developing countries. Increasing labor scarcity, declining soil’s productivity, declining biodiversity, climate change effects, low integration of crop-livestock-fisheries in agriculture and increasing cost of cultivation are the major constraints of present day agriculture. Therefore, the present topic was chosen to share the generated knowledge among the scientific communities and disseminate it among the smallholder farmers of developing countries.

Special Issue Topics

About the issue

The scope of topics covered in the this issue include:

  • Conservational Agriculture (CA) among smallholder farming communities
  • CA in mitigating climate change effects
  • CA in conserving biodiversity
  • CA in conserving natural resources like soil and water
  • CA in improving the resources use efficiency of agricultural systems
  • CA under crop-livestock-fisheries production system

Import Dates & Submit

Important dates

Submission Deadline: October 25, 2014
Notification of Acceptance: November 05, 2014
Final Version Due: November 30, 2014
Special Issue Publishing Date: December, 2015

Submit your article now

Manuscripts should be submitted as an attached file to an e-mail directed to the Chief Guest Editor, Tika Bahadur Karki at the address: <tbkarki2003@gmail.com>

Published Papers (6 Papers)

Research Article
Preface to Special Issue on Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014, 2(6A), 0-0. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-2-6A-0
Pub. Date: December 28, 2014
Keywords:
This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification
Research Article
Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration in Rice-Wheat System under Conservation and Conventional Agriculture in Western Chitwan, Nepal
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014, 2(6A), 1-5. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-2-6A-1
Pub. Date: December 28, 2014
Keywords: soil organic carbon, CA, rice-wheat system, residue retention
This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification
Research Article
Productivity and Economic Assessment of Maize and Soybean Intercropping under Various Tillage and Residue Levels in Chitwan, Nepal
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014, 2(6A), 6-12. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-2-6A-2
Pub. Date: December 28, 2014
Keywords: maize, soybean, tillage, residue, intercropping, yield
This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification
Research Article
Maize Production under No-Tillage System in Nepal
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014, 2(6A), 13-17. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-2-6A-3
Pub. Date: December 28, 2014
Keywords: maize production, no tillage and Nepal
This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification
Research Article
Conservation Agriculture as an Alternative for Soil Erosion Control and Crop Production in Steep-slopes Regions Cultivated by Small-scale Farmers in Motozintla, Mexico
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014, 2(6A), 18-24. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-2-6A-4
Pub. Date: December 28, 2014
Keywords: chiapas, farmer perception, survey data, longitudinal statistical analysis, maize, beans, yield, adoption enabling characteristics
This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification
Research Article
Conservation Agriculture Based Practices Affect the Weed Dynamics in Spring Maize
World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014, 2(6A), 25-33. DOI: 10.12691/wjar-2-6A-5
Pub. Date: December 28, 2014
Keywords: weeds, tillage, residue, fertilizer, herbicide, number, dry weight
This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification