European Conservation Agriculture Federation
ECAF
ECAF promotes among Europe's farmers the soil management "best practice" aspects of Conservation Agriculture.
ID: 043446618888-27
Lobbying Activity
Response to New EU Soil Strategy - healthy soil for a healthy life
10 Dec 2020
The EU needs a soil strategy based on Conservation Agriculture (CA). CA is an alternate paradigm of agriculture production and land use that is applicable to all land-based agricultural production systems in rainfed and irrigated farming, including annual, perennial and mixed systems, orchards, agroforestry and plantation systems, crop-livestock systems, and pasture and rangeland systems. It is the best system to protect and rehabilitate agricultural soils. CA is science based and it is the best farming system, that has been sucessfully adapted to many European countries for more than 25 years.
According to FAO (http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture), CA is described as an ecosystem approach to regenerative sustainable agriculture and land management based on the practical application of context-specific and locally-adapted three interlinked principles, namely:
(i) Continuous no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance: This principle is implemented by the practice of no-till seeding or broadcasting of crop seeds, direct placement of planting material into untilled soil and no-till weeding; and causing the minimum soil disturbance possible from any cultural operation, harvest operation or farm traffic. Sowing seed or planting crops directly into untilled soil reduces erosion; reduces the loss of soil organic matter and disruptive mechanical cutting and smearing of pressure faces; promotes soil biodiversity and microbiological processes; protects soil structure and connected pores; avoids impairing movement of gasses and water through the soil; and promotes overall soil health and functions including improved retention of soil moisture, plant nutrients and soil carbon; reduces labour and energy requirements and reduces GHG emissions; and contributes to integrated weed, insect pest, pathogen and nutrient management as well as overall resilience and sustainability.
(ii) Permanent maintenance of a vegetative mulch cover on the soil surface: This principle is implemented by retaining crop biomass, root stocks and stubbles and biomass from cover crops and other forms of biomass from ex-situ sources. Use of crop residues (including stubbles) and cover crops reduces soil erosion; protects the soil surface; increases water infiltration rates, reducing run-off; conserves water and nutrients; supplies organic matter and carbon to the soil system; promotes soil biodiversity and microbiological activity to enhance and maintain soil health and functions including structure and aggregate stability (resulting from glomalin production by mycorrhiza), improved capture and retention of water, plant nutrients and soil carbon; and contributes to integrated weed, insect pest, pathogen and nutrient management as well as overall resilience and sustainability.
(iii) Diversification of species in cropping system: This principle is implemented by adopting economically, environmentally and socially adapted crops in rotations, and/or sequences and/or associations involving annual and perennial crops, including a balanced mix of legume and non-legume crops and cover crops. Use of diversified cropping systems contributes to diversity in rooting morphology and root composition; enhances soil biodiversity and microbiological activity; builds up soil organic matter; enhances crop nutrition and crop protection through the suppression of pathogens, diseases, insect pests and weeds; and contributes to integrated weed, insect pest, pathogen and nutrient management as well as overall resilience and sustainability. Crops can include annuals, short-term perennials, trees, shrubs, nitrogen-fixing legumes, and pastures, as appropriate.
The above principles and associated reference core practices are applied along with other complementary good agricultural production and land management practices of integrated crop, soil, nutrient, water, pest (weeds, insects, pathogens) and energy management to optimize the whole production system at the farm level.
Read full responseMeeting with Tom Tynan (Cabinet of Commissioner Phil Hogan)
23 Mar 2018 · Business discussion
Meeting with Tom Tynan (Cabinet of Commissioner Phil Hogan)
22 Mar 2018 · Business discussion
Meeting with Tom Tynan (Cabinet of Commissioner Phil Hogan)
11 Jan 2018 · Business discussion