1. Climate Change and Adaptation in Agriculture for East Asia and the Pacific Region:
Issues & Options
FAO-WB Expert Group Meeting, Rome, May 16-17, 2011
Conservation Agriculture
for Climate Change Adaptation
in East Asia and the Pacific
Theodor FRIEDRICH
Plant Production and Protection Division
(AGP)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

2. outline
• Introduction
• CA globally and regionally
• CA for CC adaptation/mitigation
• Policy and Investment
• Conclusions

3. introduction
• Challenge to feed the world
• Natural resource base dwindling
• Sustainability: no option but
necessity; link/integrate
production with sustainability
• One new strategic goal of FAO:
Sustainable Crop Production
Intensification (SCPI)
• CA is the core strategy of SCPI
= applied sustainable agriculture

4. CA globally and regionally
FAO definition: www.fao.org/ag/ca
Conservation Agriculture (CA)
is an approach to managing agro-
ecosystems for improved and
sustained productivity, increased
profits and food security while
preserving and enhancing the
resource base and the
environment. CA is characterized
by three linked principles, namely:
1. Continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance.
2. Permanent organic soil cover.
3. Diversification of crop species grown in sequences and/or
associations.

5. CA globally and regionally
CA: more than just no-till: “never till”
• with other best practices (IPM, IPNM, IC-
LS, agroforestry, ...) it is sustainable
agriculture and ecosystem management
• organic matter and carbon recycling
• biodiversity
(rotation, soil life)
• biological
processes
• climate change
adaptation and
mitigation

6. CA globally and regionally
Advantages for the farmer:
Farmer’s livelihood
• less machinery cost
• 70% fuel saving
• 50% labour saving
• 20-50 % input saving
• less drudgery
• stable yields, food security
= better livelihood/income

7. 100
50
Mill. ha
1930
US Soil Conservation Service
conservation tillage
Dustbowl
First no-till in the US
Faulkner (US) – Fukuoka (Japan)
1950
dustbowl
Siberia/USSR
commercial no-till/US
1970
first no-till demonstration in Brazil
IITA no-till research
1980
Oldrieve/Zimbabwe
adoption Brazil
plantio direto na palha
History and Adoption of CA
1990
Argentina, Paraguay;
experiments in China, Indogangetic Plains
New boost: Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan,
2000
Russia, China, Finland...; Africa
CA globally and regionally

8. CA globally and regionally
Conservation Agriculture worldwide 117 Million ha
large scale
Kazakhstan 1
>50% continental, dry
continental, dry Europe 1
large scale Canada 13.5 China 1
smallholder
temperate, moist arid
USA 26.5
<25% irrigated
Africa 0.5
tropical savannah
large scale smallholder
Brazil 26
tropical savannah
smallholder
Paraguay 2.5 subtropical, dry
>70% temperate, moist Australia 17
Argentina 26 large scale arid large scale
other LA 2
large scale up to 90%

9. CA for CC adaptation
Climate Change: Higher variability
extreme precipitation
extended drought periods
= less reliable rainfall

10. CA for CC adaptation
Response strategy for Adaptation
Increase the resilience through:
• diversity in the cropping
• diversity in the overall production
• higher flexibility/more timely operations
• agronomic practices that work for drought,
rain, heat, cold, wind

11. CA globally
Diversity = rotations = long term profit
• different rooting structures
• pest and desease management
• weed management
• soil cover/residue managment strategy
• higher long term productivity, risk
reduction

12. CA globally
...maintaining soil cover in dry lands
Fodder
...a challenge
which needs a
community
Firewood
solution!
same removal
Livestock is pride
no-till tillage

13. CA for CC adaptation
Adaptation extreme events:
• Erosion:
stubbel, mulch, crops
aggregate stability (OM)
• Heat: mulch
• Frost: mulch

14. CA for CC adaptation
Adaptation to drought:
• better rooting
• snow catching with residues
• more water in soils
(1 % OM = 150 m3/ha)
• reduced water losses
(evaporation)
• better efficiency
(water/crop -30%)

15. CA for CC adaptation
Adaptation to heavy rain:
• water recharge (biopores)
• water quality (leaching/erosion)
• better infiltration (flooding)

16. CA for CC mitigation
CA CC-mitigation options:
• Sequestration:
Maximize soil as carbon sink
• reduce soil carbon emissions
• maximise biomass production
• enhance soil carbon input
• Emission reduction:
• Rice – methane (no flooding)
• Nitrous oxide (N-, compaction management)
• Fuel emissions
• Emissions from input manufacturing

17. Policy and Institutional Support
Experiences in DPR Korea and China

18. Policy and Institutional Support
Soya Wheat
Rice
Potato
Cabbage
Maize

19. Policy and Investment
Policies:
• China: CA mentioned in number 1 party
document
• CA promoted to prevent dust storms around
Beijing before the Olympic games
• Subsidies for mechanization exclude
ploughs; priority to no-till seeding equipment
• DPR Korea: CA promoted by Ministry of
Agriculture and the Academy of Sciences as
approach to sustainable and intensive
agriculture

20. Policy and Investment
Investments:
Overall CA is profitable for farmers
Initial investment requirements
• Capacity building: depending on extension (5 – 50
$/farmer; 100%?)
• Equipment: 100-200 $/ha for seed-drills
(50% based on Chinese equipment; 10 years
depreciation, 2 weeks planting window)
• evtl. soil rehabilitation: 50-200 $/ha
(lime, herbicide, fertilizer, subsoiling)
• Investment offset: fuel and emission savings/carbon
sequestration; disaster risk
• Total: China 500 mill. farmers, 140 mill. ha arbl. land
DPRK 3 mill. farmers, 2.5 mill. ha arbl. land

21. CA globally - impact
Financial Benefits of Conservation Agriculture
Wheat Production in Northern Kazakhstan (IRR = 28%)
200
100
US$/ha
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
-100
Investment
-200 Tillage saving
Higher yield
-300 Chemical weeding
Benefit
-400
Years

22. conclusions
Conclusions:
CA -
• is universally applicable/location specific
• is really existing on 8% of farmland
• is growing exponentially
• is compatible with MDGs, UN conventions
and FAO’s strategic objectives
• is productive and sustainable (win-win)
• is responding to climatic challenges
• requires supportive policies for
accelerated adoption

23. With CA
Agriculture can be part of the solutions,
not of the problem!
Thank you for your attention!
More information:
http://www.fao.org/ag/ca