Conservation agriculture in Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia (SEA), the joint process of deforestation, agricultural land expansion, and intensification has led to vast soil erosion and a general decrease in soil and water quality. In addition, current agricultural practices such as deep plowing of soil or burning of forest and crop residues favor CO2 emissions and contribute to global warming. The deforestation rate in SEA is important (0.91 % per year of the forest area) and soil degradation is important either by erosion or acidity (63 % of the total land area). Conservation agriculture (CA) is an alternative land-use system reconciling economic viability, social balance, soil fertility restoration, and environmental conservation as well as climate change adaptation, which are crucial elements for the long-term improvement of smallholders’ living conditions and poverty alleviation. A basket of CA technologies, including zero or reduced tillage, direct seeding, crop rotations, soil cover, and residue management has been developed in different countries. Adoption of CA technologies has regenerated fertility of degraded soils, provided livestock with high-quality forage, and increased soil carbon sequestration. New innovative farming systems need to be developed to successfully integrate crops and livestock by offering numerous advantages such as diversification of income through animal products such as milk, meat, fiber and manure, weed control, soil erosion control, increased yield of main crops, and income during the “start-up” period for tree crops. The development of farming systems, which are more intensive and respectful of natural resources and the environment, requires acquisition of new stakeholder knowledge and skills. This is a priority since these stakeholders will initiate the required changes. The Conservation Agriculture Network for Southeast Asia (CANSEA) was created in 2009 to optimize similarities and complementarities among countries and institutions in SEA to improve the efficiency of research carried out by the various programs, and to optimize resources and means.