Conservation Agriculture Network Craig Drury Mark Liebig Denis

Conservation Agriculture Network Craig Drury, Mark Liebig, Denis Angers, Roberta Farina, Rosa Franaviglia, Hero Gollany, Henry Janzen, Thomas Katterer, Charles Rice, and Upenda Sainju Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Harrow, Ontario craig. drury@agr. gc. ca

Conservation Agriculture Background: Conservation Agriculture was originally developed to combat wind and soil erosion (Bavere et al. 2011) Conservation Agriculture components: 1. Reduced tillage systems 2. Permanent soil cover or effective use of crop rotations including cover crops and intercrops. 3. Reducing the fallow period.

Conservation Agriculture & GHG Mitigation Strategies: 1. Enhancing soil C sequestration (aligns with the 4 per mil strategy, see Jean-Francois Soussana presentation 197 -2) 2. Improving soil quality 3. Increasing Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) 4. Increasing Water Use Efficiency (WUE)

Conservation Agriculture & GHG Mitigation Factors Controlling Responses: 1. Maximizing time period where growing crops are taking up N (N synchronization) 2. Minimizing tillage reduces decomposition rate of crop residues & SOM 3. Increasing Net Primary Productivity with soil and climate appropriate conservation tillage practices.

How can research help in refining mitigation estimates? 1. Quantifying impacts of crop rotations, cover crops and intercrops on GHG fluxes and SOC. 2. Assessing GHG outcomes following multi-intervention management practices. 3. Identifying alternative conservation tillage practices when problems arise with no-tillage.

Synthesis/Recommendations 1. Conservation agriculture has many attributes that can use applied N more efficiently and reduce the risk of high N 2 O emissions. 2. Carbon sequestration can be increased by extending the time crops are growing on the land by using perennial crops, intercrops and cover crops. 3. There are research opportunities to overcome some of the challenges with conservation agriculture.

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