7th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture

2017 Congress proceedings

1st to 4th of August Rosary Argentina

Simple Abstracts

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations With technical support of

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts EXPEDIENT EDITORIAL BOARD External Members Alfonso Adriano Sleutjes - FEBRAPDP Rafael Fuentes Llanillo - FEBRAPDP Ricardo Ralisch - FEBRAPDP

Anual Publication of Universidade Positivo RECTOR José Pio Martins ACADEMIC PRO-RECTOR Carlos Roberto Juliano Longo

INTERNAL MEMBERS Marie Luise Carolina Bartz

GRADUATION AND CONTINUED EDUCATION PRO-RECTOR Manoel Knopfholz PLANNING AND OPERATIONS PRO-RECTOR Ronaldo Casagrande

EDITORIAL COORDENATION Marie Luise Carolina Bartz Rafael Fuentes Llanillo Ricardo Ralisch GRAPHIC DESIGN AND DIAGRAMATION Matusalem Vozivoda Leandro da Silva

International Publication Cataloging Data (CIP) (Positivo University Library, Curitiba, PR, Brazil)

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts EXPEDIENT FISCAL COUNCIL Lutécia Beatriz Canalli - IAPAR Francisco Skora Neto - IAPAR Leandro P. Wildner - EPAGRI Udo Bublitz - EMATER-PR Carlos Pitol - FUNDAÇÃO MS Mauricio C. Oliveira - MINISTÉRIO DA AGRICULTURA,

PRESIDENT Alfonso Adriano Sleutjes - GRUPO SLEUTJES CAMPOS DE HOLAMBRA/SP

Honorary Presidents Herbert A. Bartz - FUNDADOR FEBRAPDP Franke Dijkstra - FUNDADOR FEBRAPDP John Landers - ASSOCIAÇÃOPLANTIODIRETO NO

PECUÁRIA E ABASTECIMENTO (MAPA)

CERRADO

VICE PRESIDENTS Daniel Strobel - IRMÃOS STROBEL - PANAMBI/RS Manoel Henrique Pereira Junior - CAMPOS GERAIS/PR BeneditoHélioOrlandi - ASSOCIAÇÃO DE PLANTIODIRETO DO VALE DO PARANAPANEMA/SP Charles L. Peeters - GAPES/GO Otávio Vieira de Melo / MS Jonadan Ma - GRUPO MA SHOU TAO/MG IngbertDowich - CLUBE PLANTIODIRETO DO OESTE BAIANO/BA Rodrigo Alessio- FAXINAL DOS GUEDES/SC

1º SECRETARY DIRECTOR Ricardo Ralisch - UNIVERSIDADEESTADUAL DE

DELIBERATIVE COUNCIL John Landers - ASSOCIAÇÃO DO

PLANTIO DIRETO NO CERRADO AriovaldoCeratti AdemirCalegari Alex Melloto - FUNDAÇÃO MS Fernando P. Cardoso - FUNDADORFUNDAÇÃOAGRISUS Ivo Mello - FEDERARROZ/RS Sergio Porn - COTRIPALUNIJUÍ/RS Sergio K. Higashibara - SINDICATO RURAL DE MAUÁ DA SERRA Antonio Roque Dechen - FUNDAÇÃOAGRISUS Jean Leonardo Bowman - FUNDAÇÃO ABC

LONDRINA

SECRETARY JeankleberBortoluzzi

2º SECRETARY DIRECTOR Rafael Fuentes - IAPAR

MARKETING Luciana Bittencourt

1º TREASURERDIRECTOR LúcioDamalia - SINDICATO RURAL DE DOURADOS/MS

EDITORS Marie Luise Carolina Bartz Rafael Fuentes Llanillo Ricardo Ralisch

2º TREASURERDIRECTOR Marie Bartz - UNIVERSIDADEPOSITIVO

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND DIAGRAMATION Matusalem Vozivoda Leandro da Silva

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts EXPEDIENT ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Miguel Carbalhal

BOARD OF EXPERTS Amir Kassam - FAO Josef Kienzle - FAO Theo Friedric - FAO Kostas G. Stamoulis - FAO Chad Watts - CTIC Dwayne Beck - USA & CANADA Tom Goddard - USA & CANADA

President - CAAPAS

Pedro Vigneau

President (and local hoster) - AAPRESID

Alfonso Sleutjes

Vice-President - FEBRAPDP

Ryan Speer (No Till on the Plains president) - USA & CANADA Gottlieb Basch - EUROPA Presidente de APAD Sarah Singla (vice-presidente) - EUROPA Saidi Mkomwa - ÁFRICA Aziz Zine El Abidine - ÁFRICA Pilu Giraudo - AMERICA DEL SUR Miguel Carballal - AMERICA DEL SUR Rolf Derpsch - AMERICA DEL SUR Marie Bartz - AMERICA DEL SUR Cesar Belloso - AMERICA DEL SUR Carlos Crovetto - AMERICA DEL SUR John Dixon - AUSTRALIA Bill Crabtree - AUSTRALIA Hayden Montgomery - NEW ZELAND Dr Paroda - ASIA Enamul Haque (Bangladesh) - ASIA Li Hongwen - ASIA

Miguel Carbalhal

Vice-President - AUSID

Luis Cubilla

Vice-President - FEPASIDIAS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Pedro Vigneau - AAPRESID Maria Beatriz Giraudo - AAPRESID Guadalupe Covernton - AAPRESID Santiago Nocelli Pac - AAPRESID Marie Bartz - FEBRAPDP Alfonso Sleutjes - FEBRAPDP Ricardo Ralisch - FEBRAPDP Rafael Fuentes Lanillo - FEBRAPDP Miguel Carballal - AUSID Luciano Dabala - AUSID Rolf Derpsch - FEPASIDIAS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Coordinators Marie Luise Carolina Bartz - FEBRAPDP AND UP, BRAZIL Rafael FuentesLlanillo - FEBRAPDP AND IAPAR, BRAZIL Ricardo Ralisch - FEBARPDP AND UEL, BRAZIL COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE Santiago Nocelli Pac - AAPRESID Virginia Berizzo - AAPRESID Luciana Bittencurt - FEBRAPDPD

LEADERS Bram Goaverts - CIMMYT, MÉXICO Don Reicosky - CONSULTANT,USA John Dixon - ACIAR,AUTRALIA John Landers - CONSULTAT, BRAZIL Rolf Derpsch - CONSULTAT, PARAGUAY Theodor Friedrich - FAO, CUBA SCIENTIFIC REVIEW COMMITTEE Amir Kassam - UNIVERSITY OF READING, UK Christian Thierfelder - CIMMYT, ZIMBABWE Emilio González Sánchez - ECAF SPAIN EnamulHaque - MURDOCH UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA Gottlieb Basch - ECAF, GERMANY Hector Causarano - UNA, PARAGUAI Hein Jin-CAU - CHINA JackyDesbiolles-USA, AUSTRALIA José Camilo Bedano-UNRC, ARGENTINA Josef Kienzle FAO, ROME Li Hongwen-CAU, CHINA MarieLuise Carolina Bartz - UP, BRAZIl Martín Cubilla - CONSULTANT, PARAGUAI Miguel Taboada - INTA, BRAZIL Rafael Fuentes Llanillo - IAPAR, BRAZIl RajParoda - CONSULTAT, INDIA Ricardo Ralisch - UEL, BRAZIL SaidiMkomwa ACT, AFRICA SeemaSepat - IARI, INDIA Tony Fischer - CSIRO, AUSTRALIA Yashpal Saharawat ICARDA, INDIA

FOUND RISING COMMITTEE Alejandro Clot - AAPRESID Marcio Moran - AAPRESID Alfonso Sleutjes - FEBRAPDP LOGISTICS COMMITTEE Guadalupe Covernton - AAPRESID Santiago Nocelli Pac - AAPRESID Victoria Cappiello - AAPRESID

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts

Indíce por Título Conservation agriculture in times of climate change: what benefits can we expect for smallholder farmers in southern Africa? .................................... 5 Stratification of carbon fractions and carbon management index in ............................................ 6 conservation agriculture practices in Trans-Gangetic plains of India ........................................... 6 Soil C sequestration and CO2 fluxes under maize-based conservation agriculture systems in Eastern Cape, South Africa ................................................. 7 Follow up of the Status of the World’s Soil Resources Report 2015.

Global management of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) ...................................................................... 8 STRUCTURAL STABILITY IN SOILS OF THE ANDES MOUNTAIN IN THE ARAUCANIA REGION IN THE SOUTH OF CHILE. ........................................................ 9 ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT IN AGGREGATES OF SOILS IN THE WEST PATAGONIA IN THE SOUTHERN CHILE. ........................................................ 10 DEGRADATION IN SOILS OF THE FAMILY AGRICULTURE UNDER THE CATTLE SYSTEM - CROPS WITH DROUGHT EPISODES. PROVINCE OF MALLECO, CHILE. ........ 11 CHANGE OF SOIL USE AND WATER BALANCE IN SOUTHERN CORDOBA (ARGENTINA) ..... 12 CLEAN ENERGY COGERATION THROUGH WOOD WASTE PELLETS ............................... 13 EFFICIENT USE OF BIOGAS: THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIGESTORES ADDING VALUE TO RURAL PROPERTIES ........................................ 14 Evidence of Conservation Agriculture capability to ................................................................... 15 mitigate climate change in Northern Italy .................................................................................. 15 Agrobiodiversity enhancement to tackle climate change challenges in Northern Italy .............. 16 Conservation agriculture under a changing climate in a designated agricultural wetland in India: Issues and prospects .................................................................. 17 Project LIFE+ Climagri: Best agricultural practices for Climate Change: Integrating strategies for mitigation and adaptation .................................................................. 18 EFFECT OF LAND USE CHANGE ON SOIL CARBON STOCKS AND STRUCTURAL STABILITY IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN CHACO ............................................ 19

Adopción de las terrazas como tecnología para el control de la erosión hídrica en Entre Ríos .... 20 Impact of crop residues localization on organic carbon sequestration:experimentation and modeling ................................................................ 21 Precision irrigation and conservation agriculture for higher water use efficiency and grain yield in spring wheat under changing climatic scenario .......................................... 22 Mitigation of Climate Change through Conservation Agriculture in Europe .............................. 23 Conservation Agriculture in Tunisia: An option for enhancing the sustainability and resilience of agricultural production systems under climate change ................................. 24

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts

Indíce por Título The potential of SOC fixation in Spain trough of application ..................................................... 25 of Conservation Agriculture ....................................................................................................... 25 Improving productivity, resilience and sustainability through conservation agriculture based systems in the Ethiopian highlands ......................................... 26 Smallholder farmer adoption of Conservation Agriculture as a climate change adaptation strategy: A case study of Makonde district in Zimbabwe. ........................... 31 Conservation Agriculture in Turkey: a holistic approach to Sustainable Land Management and Climate-Smart Agriculture and Ecosystems Adaptation to Climate Change ...................... 32 NITROUS OXIDEEMISSIONS FROMNATRACUOLL SOILS WITH BOVINE EXCRETA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH EDAPHIC AND CLIMATE VARIABLES IN WINTER SEASON. .... 33

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts

7th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture Nowadays, human being´s demand for the global agriculture is to increase quantity and quality of food production, taking care of environment, using less fossil fuel and purchased inputs, promoting biodiversity, efficiency, resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation.In the Southern Cone of America, we have been working on addressing this challenge for more than 40years now. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay have massively implemented advanced technological,organizational and institutional innovations that have increased competitiveness and productivity withfarming systems, which are environmentally friendly.The world is supposed to produce 50% more food by 2050 using available natural resources efficiently andsustainably while reducing greenhouse gases emissions (GHG) per unit produced. However, some 89% ofthe current world crop production is managed under conventional tillage based systems, which degrade the environment, are inefficient in terms of resource use, and contribute to global warming.The intensive crop production (cereals and oilseeds) in these four countries is also associated with pasturesand other fodder crops for intensive livestock production. This modern agriculture is based on what isinternationally known as Conservation Agriculture, a No-Till System with no soil disturbance, permanentlycovered soils and diversity in the crops grown including rotation, along with the integration of crop-livestocktree systems,crop-livestock-agroforestry systems, strategic and balanced nutrition of soil health, integrated management of insects,weeds and diseases with a responsible use of agrochemicals and veterinary drugs. The rapid adoption ofthis system particularly since 1990 was possible in part because local companies manufactured machineryadapted to the demands of local farmers.

Conservation Agriculture systems reduce soil erosion and degradation, improves rainwater storage in thesoil and increases its use efficiency; and increases water use efficiency;recovers, maintains and improves soil health, promotes nutrient cycling,reduces GHG emissions, increases carbon sequestration; allows greater and more stable productivity.Science and technology development are crucial for the challenge to increase production while taking careof environment and human health.

Despite scientists, policy makers and others keep discussing how to feed the increasing population on thisplanet; farmers are not involved centrally in such discussions. The global Conservation AgricultureCommunity has more than 40 years of field experience and scientific evidence showing that this revolutionbegan with farmers. Later the scientist community validated and expanded the technology.Conservation Agriculture farmers represent more than 75% in the Southern Cone of South America but only11% of total cropland in the world. Therefore, it is the aim of this World Congress on ConservationAgriculture to demonstrate that CA is actually the best tool to mitigate climate change as well as to adapt to the effects of climate change, contributing to food security, promoting resilience and biodiversity and at the same timereversing the trend of soil degradation.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts The organizers also want to show the needs of having the adequate policies and applied prospective research to takedecisions at the same roundtable with farmers. With around 795 million people suffering hunger, most ofthem living in agricultural areas associated to smallholders and family farming, policy makers have animportant role of providing the tools those communities need. In order to accomplish the goal oferadicating hunger there is there is plenty of scientific evidence to show that supportive policies inthe agricultural sector pay off better than others when it comes to food security issues. Gender equality,smallholder and family agriculture are also relegated spots of conventional agriculture systems, but itshould not be a barrier for adopting more sustainable systems such as Conservation Agriculture, with thecollaboration mechanisms and organizations connecting farmers, researchers, educationalists, policy makers and local industries, such as machinery manufacturers across the world.

The organizers intend to bring together at the 7WCCA, farmers, policy makers, scientists and educationalist from allaround the world, along with financing organisms, risk brokers and otherstakeholders to identify the bestsolutions for all regions. The 7WCCA, as the global forum gathering the worldwide Conservation AgricultureCommunity, took place in Madrid (2001), Brazil (2003), Kenia (2005), India (2009), Australia (2011), Canada (2014), and this time is being organized side by side with the 25°Aapresid Annual Congress, consolidated as themost important meeting of technological reference in the Subcontinent and globally recognized,gatheringthe best experts and proposing a real networking for update, exchange and knowledge of advancedtechnologies as technical beacon for highlighting future challenges and innovative scenarios to address them.

Miguel Carballal President CAAPAS

Pedro Vigneau PresidentAAPRESID

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IN TIMES OF CLIMATE CHANGE: WHAT BENEFITS CAN WE EXPECT FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA? Christian Thierfelder CIMMYT-Southern Africa, c.thierfelder@cgiar.org P.O. Box MP 163 Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe; +263772815230 Interested in Oral Presentation: To be included in Theme 2 Abstract: Conservation Agriculture (CA) for smallholders has been promotedin southern Africa since the early 2000s to counter declining soil fertility, improve food and nutrition security and to reduce the negative impacts of climate variability and change. Results from long-term research show that CA systems adapt well to a variable climate through increased infiltration, moisture retention and the possibility to plant early. This has positive co-benefits on resilience and the ability of farmers to deal with climaterelated stress (e.g. in season dry-spells, erratic rainfalls, and heat stress). The mitigation effects of CA on increased carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse gas emission are more uncertain due to the specific environmental conditions (long dry season, limited biomass growth on sandy soils) and socio-economic circumstances of smallholder farmers in this region. Diversification with intercrops, shrubs and tree-based elements will lead to improvedbiomass production and greater carbon sequestration which will extend its mitigation benefit. Productivity and profitability increases of more than 100% have been measured across different CA farming systems in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. However, yield benefits accrue only after 2-5 cropping season depending on soil type, climatic conditions and the specific CA systems applied.Based on these results, conservation agriculture canbe labelled as climate-smartand should be promoted for its high adaptation and productivity benefits. More research is needed to better understand what drives mitigation in this area. CA systems in southern Africa are seen to be most suitable in areas where farm labour and draft power is limited; where delayed planting results in a pronounced yield decline; where crop yields are significantly affected by available soil moisture; and where severe soil erosion threaten the short- to medium-term productivity of existing farmland.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts STRATIFICATION OF CARBON FRACTIONS AND CARBON MANAGEMENT INDEX IN CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE PRACTICES IN TRANS-GANGETIC PLAINS OF INDIA Mishra, A. K.1, Shinjo, H.1, Jat, H.S.2, Jat, M.L.2, Jat, R.K.3, Funakawa, S.1 1Terrestrial Ecosystem Management Laboratory, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan, akm8cest@gmail.com 2 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, India 3Borlaug Institute of South Asia, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, India Abstract: Conservation agricultural (CA) systems based on the principles of minimal tillage, residue recycling and crop diversification for resource conservation and sustainable agriculture promote soil carbonrestoration by tipping the balance in favor of carbon inputs relative to carbon outputs.Carbon storage (sequestration)in soil can be achieved by maximizing carbon inputs and minimizing carbon outputs. Soil carbon fractions are influenced by the agronomic management practices adopted in conservation agriculture systems.Contrasting cropping systems, tillage and residue management have great influence soil quality, C and N cycling. SOM stratification (SR) and carbon management index (CMI) as an indicator for soil quality, related to the rate and amount of SOC sequestration generally used for natural and managed ecosystems. In general, the high values of stratification ratio (proportion of a soil property at the surface layer to that at a deeper layer) indicate good soil quality and are usually used to assess agricultural practices.This study aimed to: 1) analyze the contents of (Total Nitrogen (TN), (Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and POCX and their vertical distributions at the depths; and 2) evaluate the soil quality of different CA management practices using SR and CMI values as the main assessment parameters.Soil carbon stock increased in zero tillage and permanent beds as compared to conventional agricultural practices. Responses of SR in different CA management practices to change of soil depth were significantly different. The SR values of TN, TOC and POCX differed significantly only (0-5:5-15 cm). Distribution and stratification of carbon stock and poolwasinfluenced by the short-term (4 years) practices of conservation agriculture in western Indo-Gangetic plains of India. SOM stratification ratios serve as an efficient indicator for changes offered by management practices.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts Oral presentation SOIL C SEQUESTRATION AND CO2 FLUXES UNDER MAIZE-BASED CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS IN EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA Lindah Muzangwa1*, Pearson Nyari Stephano Mnkeni1, Cornelius Chiduza1, Diane E. Stott2 *Corresponding Author: lmuzangwa@ufh.ac.za 1Lindah Muzangwa, Pearson Nyari Stephano Mnkeni*, and Cornelius Chiduza Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Science and Agriculture University of Fort Hare P. Bag X1314 Alice 5700, South Africa.

2Diane E. Stott USDA-NRCS Soil Health Division 915 W. South Street West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 USA Abstract: Traditional farming methods deplete the soil of carbon and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

We investigated conservation agriculture effects on C-sequestration and CO2 fluxes from two agroecologies in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The field trials were laid in a split-split plot design. The main treatments were tillage: conventional (CT) and no (NT) tillage. Crop rotations were the sub-treatments: maize (Zea mays L.)-fallow-maize (MFM), maize-fallow-soybean (Glycine max L.)- (MFS); maize-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-maize (MWM) and maize-wheat-soybean (MWS).

There were two residue managements for each rotation: removal (R-) and retention (R+). Biomass production was higher at the semi-arid site, which had higher soil organic carbon (SOC), as compared to the sub-humid site. Biomass and carbon inputs for crop rotations were: MWM > MWS > MFM > MFS. The MWM and MWS rotations as well as residue retention had greater levels of particulate organic. Residue retention was effective (P<0.05) in increasing SOC in the 0-5 cm depth at both sites. The CT emitted higher CO2 fluxes than NT. While R+ had higher CO2 fluxes than R-, it also resulted in greater C-sequestration in the soil. The mean CO2 fluxes were significantly influenced by air temperature (P<0.001, r2 = 0.41) and soil bulk density (P<0.001, r2 = 0.16). The MWM and MWS rotations, under NT in conjunction with residue retention offer greatest potential for biomass and carbon inputs, and consequently carbon sequestration in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Keywords: Crop residue, greenhouse gas emission, particulate organic matter, soil organic carbon, soil management.

Acknowledgments: Special gratitude to the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) through Zero Hunger Project, the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre (GMRDC), University of Fort Hare for funding the study.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts FOLLOW UP OF THE STATUS OF THE WORLD’S SOIL RESOURCES REPORT 2015.

GLOBAL MANAGEMENT OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER (SOM) Miguel A. Taboada1 1INTA, CIRN, Institute of Soils; CONICET.taboada.miguelangel@gmail.com (*) Abstract: Soil organic matter (SOM) declines have been identified as a main threat for soil quality, so that increasing SOM levels represents a major part of the solution to various environmental concerns related to climate change and food production.The impact of different initiatives, practices and actions undertaken by different stakeholders involved in SOM management was assessed on the basis of reviewing recent scientific literature (focus on review articles) and responses to a stock template. Main drivers of SOM inputs and storage in soil are soil texture and clay percentage, soil type, climate and vegetation residues. Different authors found about 2.0 Mg C ha-1 as a minimum annual C input to maintain critical soil functions and/or stop further soil C losses. Field practices to reduce soil disturbance (zero tillage and others) may increase SOM content and improve topsoil quality, but their potential to mitigate climate change may be overestimated. Practices aiming to increase soil carbon stock including crop rotations, cover crops, afforestation and manuring, among others, generally have positive impact on SOM. Up to 2.2 Pg C (1 Pg = 1015 g) may be sequestered above- and belowground over 50 years in agroforestry systems, with largest carbon sequestration after croplands and with conifer species planted. Land use change to biofuel feedstock production impacts on SOC is highly dependent on the specific land transition, with overall 6–14% SOC gains after cropland conversions and carbon losses of 9-35% after of grassland or forest to corn (without residue removal) or poplar caused significant carbon loss.There is a need to be more realistic about both the benefits and disadvantages of these practices on climate change mitigation. Different land policies implemented at global, national or regional scale have demonstrated their potential to recover SOC and stop soil degradation.

Keywords: [soil organic matter, soil carbon stocks, C drivers, zero tillage, climate change mitigation, crop rotations, afforestation, land policies]

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts STRUCTURAL STABILITY IN SOILS OF THE ANDES MOUNTAIN IN THE ARAUCANIA REGION IN THE SOUTH OF CHILE. Manuel Vial Alarcón1 1Instituto de InvestigacionesAgropecuarias, INIA Carillanca, km 10, Camino Cajón-Vilcún, Chile. manuel.vial@inia.cl.

Abstract: The Andean range of the region of La Araucanía, in Chile, presents an increasing process of degradation of soils and desertification product, among other factors, to the grazing of goats of extensive way.

To this process are added projections of upward climatic variability between 300 and 500 meters of the zero isotherm.

This will cause the replacement of snow by rainfall. This aspect will have an unintended impact since snowfall is a factor in the constant supply of water in the grasslands of low sectors in spring summer.

In 2015/16, physical quality indicators were determined in soils classified as Dystrudepts (Inceptisol).

The sites are located in the Lonquimay commune (Lat. 38°37’38 “S; Long.71°05’26” W) between 850 and 1.350 meters above sea level, on north and north-west exposure slopes at an average altitude of 1.190 meters, in the altitudinal fringe of isotherm variability.

Three land uses were investigated: extensive degraded natural pasture (DP), alfalfa pasture (AP), ñirre forest (Nothofagusantartica) under grazing (FG), and three depths (0-5, 5- 15 and 15-25 cm).

Aggregate stability (%), organic matter (OM), aggregate stability as a Mean Weight Diameter (MWD) with the wet sieving method, Bulk Density (BD g cm-3) and Porosity (%) were determined. Sandy soils (FG 52% and AP57% sand) and sand-fine loam (DP 72% sand) with variable OM contents in FG (11%), AP (7 %) and DP (4.6 %) predominate; with low moisture available (≤10%). Total porosity is 60%. Although there were significant differences (p≤0.05) in soil aggregate stability between FG (0.25 mm), DP (0.24 mm) and AP (0.2 mm) all values were ≤0.4 mm of MWD classified as aggregates with low structural stability (very unstable).

It is concluded that in this sector of the Andean mountain of the Araucanía Region the soils present high structural fragility and increasing degradation processes, which under the current conditions of intensive grazing and probable incidence of adverse and irregular climatic events such as intense rainfall will induce erosive that will further increase the degradation condition.

Keywords: Araucanía, Lonquimay, soil, aggregation, MWD.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT IN AGGREGATES OF SOILS IN THE WEST PATAGONIA IN THE SOUTHERN CHILE. Manuel Vial Alarcón1 1Instituto de InvestigacionesAgropecuarias, INIA Carillanca, km 10, Camino Cajón-Vilcún, Chile. manuel.vial@inia.cl.

Abstract: Aggregates are defined as physically stable organometallic complexes that on the basis of their arrangement make up the soil structure, this structure, in turn, is susceptible to be modified according to grade of human intervention.

It was analyzed the content of organic carbon (OC) in macroaggregates (Σ≥0.25 mm Ø) and microaggregates (Σ <0.25 mm Ø) in a soil classified as Andisol (franc, mean, mesicTypicHapludands) in fluvioglacial terraces and slopes of the Chilean Patagonia (45º43’S, 72º07’W, 288 masl) with 5 extensive grazing land uses : terrace in degraded natural pasture (TD), terrace in well-kept planted pasture (TP), silvopasture (SP), degraded natural pasture on a hill site (DP), and well-kept planted pasture on a hill site (PP) at depths of 5, 10 and 20 cm.

The results indicate differences (p≤0.05) between OC content between treatments and depths. OC storage in the soil is high. 0-20 cm depth SP stored 247.38 t ha -1 followed by DP (245.7 t ha -1); TP (227.4 t ha -1); PP (221.6 t ha-1) and TD (174.9t ha -1), respectively.

The total aggregation in the soils is high (> 85%), predominantly the presence of macroaggregates, mainly in SP (78%), followed by the sequence: TP>TD>DP (62, 62 and 58%). The percentage of OC (0-20 cm) in the macroaggregates was higher in SP (8.6±1.8), followed by DP(7.75±1.2), PP(7.43±1.2), TD(7.07±3) and TP (4.75±0.8). In microaggregates the percentage of OC was higher in DP (9.55±1.9), followed by PP (8.13±2.2), TP(8.05±1.2), TD(7.75±4.4) and SP(6.79±1.5).

Microaggregates are more stable structures because they contain more chemical bonds and constitute the basis of macroaggregates in the hierarchical ordering. There is a tendency to greater %OC in microaggregates soil both treatments and depth, except the SP, where by the action of soil organisms (microrrizic activity associated with Nothofaguspumillio, exudates, polysaccharides presence and binders) occurs a higher% OC in macroaggregates. TP, on the other hand, %OC is significantly higher in microaggregates, which is attributed in origin to the disturbance suffered the soil when sowing and crack the macroaggregates.

Key words: Organic Carbon, Patagonia, silvopasture, macroaggregates, microaggregates.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts DEGRADATION IN SOILS OF THE FAMILY AGRICULTURE UNDER THE CATTLE SYSTEM CROPS WITH DROUGHT EPISODES. PROVINCE OF MALLECO, CHILE. Manuel Vial Alarcón1 1Instituto de InvestigacionesAgropecuarias, INIA Carillanca, km 10, Camino Cajón-Vilcún, Chile. manuel.vial@inia.cl.

Abstract: In order to know the characteristics of the soils used by family agriculture in dry lands, 30 sites with different soil uses (Los Sauces commune, Lat. 37º56’S and Long. 72º39’W) were analyzed naturalized prairie, crop rotation and meadow planted.

The topography is composed by terraces and with slopes.The area is under the orographic shade of the coastal mountain range with rainfall less than 800 mm.

Soil physical quality indicators were evaluated: Resistance to penetration RP (kPa), organic matter (%OM), texture (USDA), bulk density (BD g cm-3) and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), field capacity (% FC), permanent wilting point (% PMP) and total porosity (TP).

The predominant soils belong to the alfisol order classified as Fine, kaolinitic, mesic, UlticPalexeralfs and Fine, mixed, mesic, RhodicKanhapludalf. Its texture is sandy loam and loam sandy loam. The% of range useful water for plants (RU) (% RU=FC-PWP) was of 7.22% and the OM content of 3.05% decreasing in depth. Ks (cm hr-1) close to zero indicates the formation of impermeable surface layers in the winter season that causes water runoff and low vertical infiltration.

Compaction was detected (RP>2000 kPa) in sown pastures, natural pasture and crop rotation.

There were no differences between land uses.Soil BD was high (BD≥1.45 g cm-3).TP of the soil is variable, decreasing to a critical level when there are clay layers (≤30%).

The other correspond to ultisolssoils (very fine, mixed, isomesic, RhodicPaleudults) clay loam with 10.3% of RU and 2.3% OM, with compaction in pastoral slopes. Inceptisols (fine, mixed, mesic, FluventicDystrudepts) clay loam with 9.1% of useful water and 6.3% of OM, with sites compacted superficially and sub-surface.

The soil of the dry zone presents low water retention capacity, low OM levels and surface and subsurface compaction. Given these conditions, critical drought episodes are likely to be recurrent and constantly affect these the productive system of rural communities.

It is highly convenient concretely integrate into their productive systems practices that promote the formation of permanent vegetation cover, soil aggregation, increased OM and vertical water infiltration of rain in the soil.

Keywords: Alfisol, degraded soils, physical quality, compaction soils.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts CHANGE OF SOIL USE AND WATER BALANCE IN SOUTHERN CORDOBA (ARGENTINA) Horacio Videla Mensegue1, Leticia Avedano2, Américo Degioanni3 and Octavio Caviglia4 1INTA EEA Marcos Juárez (hvidelamensegue@gmail.com) – 2 ATR Regional AAPRESID Laboulaye – 3FAyV (UNRC) – 4 INTA EEA Paraná – FCA (UNER).

Abstract: In the last three decades, over the southeast region of Córdoba (Argentina) took place an important change in the use of soil causing a significant environmental deterioration. Our objective was evaluate the impact of soil use change in the regional water balance in the southeast region of Cordoba. The water balance was calculated as the difference of annual precipitation and weighted crop water use. Theprecipitation was obtained from National Weather Service database for Laboulaye station.

The water use was estimated with area of crops, nature grasslands and pastures (official reports); crops average yield (official reports) and grassland and pasture production (local literature data), and water use efficiency (local experiments). The water balance was analyzed in a 30 years period and correlated with the variation of the watertable depth in Laboulaye. The Laboulaye historical precipitation shows increasing values in the last 50 years, with higher frequency of years with more than 1000 mm (2 every 10 years). In 1986/87, 75% of the soil area was covered with pastures, and a low proportion with annual crops (maize, sorghum, wheat), resulting in water useof 1000 mm ha-1.

In the last decades, the area with pastures was replaced mainly with soybean and maize causing a reduction of water use down to 600 mm ha-1. The number of positive water balance years is similar to negative water balance years, however, the amount of water excess is higher than the water deficit, increasing water storage and causing watertable elevation (R2 0.67, p<0.001). In summary, the change of soil use in the southeast region of Córdoba (Argentina) caused a reduction in water use. This situationadded to precipitation frequently higher than average, resulted in water excesses that increased watertable levels and vulnerability of the region to waterlogging and flooding events.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts CLEAN ENERGY COGERATION THROUGH WOOD WASTE PELLETS Students: Nayara Santos Rodrigues Priscila Elise Alves Vasconcelos Teacher:Dr. Paulo Sérgio Vasconcelos Federal University of Grande Dourados - MS-Brazil.

Postgraduate Program in Agribusiness - Master e-mail: naysanro@gmail.com prisvascon@gmail.com prof.paulosergio.ufgd@gmail.com

Abstract: The objective of this study is to analyze the bottleneck between the market opportunities for wood pellets and the demand for renewable energy.

The amount of emissions (GHG),depicts a worldwide problem, the fight against global warming.

Several industrial processes contribute negatively to this scenario. In the country’s energy matrix, the percentage of energy coming from the burning of fossil fuels by 17,039% (ANEEL), generating environmental impacts and favoring the imbalance of the biosphere. Energy consumption has expanded by 65% in the last 30 years and the estimate By 2030 is to increase by 40% (Brazilian Association of Biomass and Renewable Energy Industries).

Brazil is the second largest forest cover in the world, where 69% of the area has productive potential. According to IBA (Brazilian Tree Industry) report, the sector generated 46.8 million tons of agroforestry resources, 33.60 million generated by forest activities and 13.8 million by industrial activities, 65.9% of which waste favoring the use of biomass for cogeneration of renewable energy.

Alternatively for the reduction of wood residues, pellets continue to gain participation as a source of clean and efficient fuel. Pellets are an agglomerate resulting from the cleaning and waste from the wood and crushed timber industry, where after compressed it has the shape of small cylinders. Due to the ease of transportation and export, there is a forecast of doubling demand, reaching 50 million pallets produced in 2024.

It is managed in the international market by AEBIOM (European Biomass Association). In the last 14 years, the number of Brazilian pellet industries has increased from 70 to 950 units (BIOMASSA BR).

The importance of this study contributes to the achievement of the challenges posed to the country in the Kyoto, COP21, COP22 treaties regarding the reduction of CO2 emissions. Wood pellets as raw material for clean energy cogeneration contribute to the reversal of problems caused by (GHG) and achieve sustainable development. It will commercialize Brazil, rich in biomass biodiversity, in order to highlight it worldwide.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts

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EFFICIENT USE OF BIOGAS: THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIGESTORES ADDING VALUE TO RURAL PROPERTIES Student: Nayara Santos Rodrigues Nayara Brandão Blans Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados- MS-Brasil.

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agronegócios – Mestrado

e-mail: naysanro@gmail.com naryddos@gmail.com Abstract: The objective of this study is to analyze the efficiency of Biogas from the transformation of animal waste, through the sustainable use of biodigesters, so that there is added value to the agricultural segment. Due to the problems faced by the rural producers, as to the destination of the large amount of biomass originated from animal waste, many environmental impacts on both soil and water resources began to emerge. In this work, it used an exploratory methodology, where the results from the process originate by - products, which contribute significantly in agricultural activities.

Biofertilizers is natural fertilizer, replacing chemical and defensive fertilizers. The use of biogas enables the generation of renewable energy and replacement of liquefied petroleum gas, in addition to providing lower costs within the properties and contributing to sustainability. The relevance of this study is the dissemination of knowledge, so that the use of biodigestors technology derived from biogas is seen as sustainable investment. It will avoid contamination of water and groundwater through the correct management of waste, providing economic development to rural properties, adding value to the segment generating renewable electricity, biogas and biofertilizers.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts EVIDENCE OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE CAPABILITY TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE IN NORTHERN ITALY Stefano Brenna* and Mauro Piazzi* * ERSAF – Regional Agency for Agriculture and Forests of Lombardy (Italy) Corresponding Author: Stefano Brenna stefano.brenna@ersaf.lombardia.it Abstract: A set of 20 farms were selected in Northern Italy to compare Conservation (CA) and Conventional (CV) Agriculture cropping systems. To this aim agronomic and environmental indicators were monitored for three years (2014-2016). Different soil types (Cambisols, Luvisols, Vertisols, Calcisols and Fluvisols) and mean annual precipitation (ranging from 650 mm/year to 1000 mm/year) characterize the sites. Crop rotations included winter and summer cereals, soybean and cover crops in the conservation test plots.

All information concerning soil and cropping management, including fossil fuel consumption for tillage practices, was collected. A soil sampling was carried out in the 2014 and 2016 after the harvest of summer crop, providing three replications per plot, in order to assess the SOC (Soil Organic Carbon) concentration and stock.

Data collected pointed out as a rule a higher SOC content in CA test plots compared to CV, even thought a wide variability was showed due to the different soil and cropping conditions occurred in the farms.These facts were confirmed by the results of long-term simulations carried out through the model ARMOSA (Acutis, 2013), that indicated a relevant potential soil carbon sequestration rate for CA, under both current and future (IPCC, RCP 4.5) climatic scenarios; however SOC increase mainly occurred on the condition that all the conservative principles (e.g. crop rotation, cover crops, no-till) were wholly applied. On the contrary a loss of SOC under CV practices, that could be partially compensated only by the introduction of cover crops into the cropping systems, was simulated by the model.

A Life Cycle Assessment (ISO 14040 – 14044) was also provided using the data gathered in the farms. A strong reduction of carbon footprint with CA compared to CV came out. SOC sequestration plays the leading role in the CO2 emissions decrease, even if a reduction was showed also if SOC balance is not accounted, mainly due to the fuel saving resulted on average equivalent to 41%.

Evidences achieved in this study support CA can actually give a relevant help to tackle climate change in Northern Italy, providing a beneficial contribution to mitigation challenges.

ACKNWOLEDGEMENTS Results here presented were achieved in the frame of the Life HelpSoil project (LIFE12 ENV/ IT/000578), leaded by the Lombardy Region and co-funded by the European Commission (www.lifehelpsoil.eu).

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts AGROBIODIVERSITY ENHANCEMENT TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES IN NORTHERN ITALY Mauro Piazzi* and Stefano Brenna* * ERSAF – Regional Agency for Agriculture and Forests of Lombardy (Italy) Corresponding Author: Mauro Piazzi piazzi.ufficio@gmail.com Abstract: Fostering agrobiodiversity can have a key role in enhancing the resilience of rural land to the impact of climate change. Number of crop species cultivated, extent of land cover over the year with living plants and soil biodiversity (e.g. occurrence of earthworms and microartropodes, biological activity) point out a positive effect in maintaining soil functions and increasing the long-term sustainability of cropping systems.

These indicators were assessed comparing Conservation (CA) and Conventional (CV) Agriculture practices in20 farms representative of pedoclimatic conditions and cropping systems occurring in the Po plain and the bordering foothill landscapes in Northern Italy, where agriculture is very intensive.

To this purpose data on crop rotations, including cover crops and intercropping practices, were collected in the farms for three years (2014-2016) and a soil sampling was carried out in the 2014 and 2016 after the harvest of summer crop, providing three replications per plot, in order to evaluate the earthworms abundance and the QBS-ar index based on presence/absence of microartropodes.

Results achieved in the survey indicate an higher performance with CA compared to CV, further increased when all the conservative principles (e.g. crop rotation, cover crops, no-till) are applied.

Farmers applying CA are pushed to get more diversified crop rotations, with plants of more species and botanic families cultivated; moreover, the introduction of double cropping and cover crops allows a longer cover of soils during the year, leading to favourable condition for organisms living in the agroecosystems.Less disturbance of soils enhances presence and activity of soil fauna, contributing also to improve water infiltrability, incorporation of organic carbon into the soil, regulating nutrient cycle and availability for plant uptake. However, soil biodiversity indicators (earthworms and QBS-ar index) appeared strongly influenced by soil conditions (water content, temperature) at the moment of sampling.

Evidences achieved in this study support CA can actually help to tackle climate change in Northern Italy, providing an important contribution to adaptation challenges.

ACKNWOLEDGEMENTS Results here presented were achieved in the frame of the Life HelpSoil project (LIFE12 ENV/ IT/000578), leaded by the Lombardy Region and co-funded by the European Commission (www.lifehelpsoil.eu).

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE UNDER A CHANGING CLIMATE IN A DESIGNATED AGRICULTURAL WETLAND IN INDIA: ISSUES AND PROSPECTS Shadananan Nair Nansen Environmental Research Centre (India), A6, Oxford Business Centre, Ravipuram, Kochi, Kerala, India, e-mail: nair59@yahoo.com Abstract: Vembanad-Kol agricultural wetland, the largest designated wetland in India recognised as a Globally Important Agriculture Heritage System by FAO for the unique, below sea level farming practice and traditional knowledge in water management developed ingeniously over a century is the major rice producing area in the State of Kerala. Rice production is declining very fast because of unsustainable management of land and water resources, encroachment, failure in development project, and changing rainfall characteristics that result in soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and depletion of surface and groundwater resources. The State with heavy rainfall and fertile soil produces less than 25% of its requirement in rice. Conservation agriculture is an ideal option to maintain food security. Wetland has been widely encroached for residential complexes, economic expansion zones, roads and mining. Increasing convection produces heavy rainfall that erodes topsoil, which is then deposited in rivers, adding to summer water scarcity and creating seasonal floods. Increasing rainfall seasonality makes the dry season longer. Groundwater level is receding at an alarming rate of 1 metre per decade because of high rainfall seasonality and unsustainable use. Loss of soil moisture due to rise in temperature and seasonal rainfall deficiency significantly affects farming. Increasing severity of hydrological extremes causes tremendous loss in agriculture. Setbacks in agriculture lead to several socio-economic issues such as hike in food price, migration and conflicts over the allocation of land and water, and the suicide of farmers due to financial reasons. Thousands of traditional farmers have quit agriculture. Presence of pesticides and chemicals in food products from other states has created awareness among the public and the new generation once reluctant to agriculture is being attracted to conservation agriculture. Government has started some initiatives such as cooperative farming through women’s self-help group under rural employment guarantee schemes and incentives for farmers. This paper analyzes the various issues related to rice production in the wetland including climate change, environmental degradation and the changing government policies and examines the possibility of extending conservation agriculture in overcoming the crisis. Guidelines for successful conservation agriculture and climate change adaptation have been provided.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts PROJECT LIFE+ CLIMAGRI: BEST AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE: INTEGRATING STRATEGIES FOR MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION E.J. González-Sánchez1,2,3*, J. Gil-Ribes3,2, R. Ordóñez-Fernández3, O. Veroz-González1,P. Triviño-Tarradas4,I. Lorite-Torres3,R. Carbonell-Bojollo3, F. Márquez-García2,C. SantosRufo3,J.F. Robles del Salto5,M. Gómez-Ariza1,A. Holgado-Cabrera4 1Asociación Española Agricultura de Conservación Suelos Vivos. Ifapa Alameda del Obispo.

Córdoba, Spain. www.agriculturadeconservacion.org 2 Departamento Ingeniería Rural, Etsiam, Universidad De Córdoba, GI AGR 126. Mecanización y Tecnología Rural. Campus de Rabanales, Córdoba, Spain. www.uco.es/cemtro 3Área de Producción Ecológica y Recursos Naturales. IFAPA. Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía.

4European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF).Rond Point Schumann 6 Box 5. Brussels (Belgium) www.ecaf.org 5Asociación Agraria de Jóvenes Agricultores de Sevilla (ASAJA Sevilla). www.asajasevilla.es Corresponding author: egonzalez@agriculturadeconservacion.org Abstract: The project LIFE+ ClimAgri (Best agricultural practices for Climate Change: Integrating strategies for mitigation and adaptation, LIFE13 ENV/ES/000541) presents a holistic approach to the climate change concerns for the agricultural sector, more specifically for the irrigated regions of the Mediterranean Basin.

Through improved farming practices based on Conservation Agriculture, LIFE+ ClimAgriaddressesthe mitigation of climate change in the geographical area of study, and also favor the adaptation of crops to thefuture agro climaticscenario, which is likely to happen due to the expected climatic variations in the southernregions of Europe (increase of temperatures, increase of extreme weather events and reduction of rainfall). To this end, the project has implemented adaptation and mitigation measures in irrigated crops, based on a decalogue of Best Management Practices (BMPs), including the three principles of CA: Minimum soil disturbance, maintenance of permanent soil cover, and crop rotations.

The project is being developed at two different scales:BMPs effectiveness is being verified at pilot scale both in the present climatic conditions -in several demonstration farms- and in the expected future climatic conditions, through their simulation in a greenhouse under controlled conditions; at global scale, in order to guarantee the replicability of the proposed set of BMPs, the project has established a European network of 12 demonstrative farms in Mediterranean countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece) to test these BMPs in regions with similar climatic conditions.

Preliminary results in pilot farms show that the implementation of the set of BMPs in maize (Zea Mays) saves around 20% of energy consumption and increases around 30% the carbon sequestration in soils with respect to the conventional farming practices.Additionally, in the framework of this project, a GIS platform has been developed. The GIS is a tool available at project’s website (www. climagri.eu) that enables the calculation of a set of 25 indicators that can help farmers evaluate the performance of the current BMPs, and eventually suggest new ones.

KEYWORDS: climate change mitigation and adaptation,Conservation Agriculture, Best Management Practices, GIS. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This paper has been possible thanks to the contribution of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Community.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts EFFECT OF LAND USE CHANGE ON SOIL CARBON STOCKS AND STRUCTURAL STABILITY IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN CHACO Osinaga, N.1,3*; 1; Álvarez, C.R.1; Taboada, M.A.1,2,3 1Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía, Cátedra de Fertilidad y Fertilizantes 2Instituto de Suelos INTA Castelar 3CONICET *Corresponding autor, Tel: +54 11 4524 8073 E-mail Addresses: nosinaga@agro.uba.ar (N. Osinaga); alvarezc@agro.uba.ar (C.R. Alvarez); mtaboada@agro.uba.ar (M. Taboada) Abstract: In the Argentine sub-humid Chaco since the end of the ‘70 there has been an advance of the agricultural frontier over the native forest. Loss of forest reduces carbon stocks in vegetation and causes significant losses of soil organic carbon (SOC), one of the elements that contribute to the union of the elementary particles of the soil to form aggregates. The objective of this study was to determine the SOC stock up to 1-meter deep, determine its fractions in the surface soil layers and determine the structural stability (SS) through the Le Bissonnais method under different land uses: agricultural under no-tillage (less than 10 years and more than 20 years under agriculture), pasture and forest in the ChacoSubhumid region. The OC contents up to 1 m deep expressed in equivalent mass were as follows: forest (119.3 Mg ha-1)> pasture (87.9 Mg ha-1)> agricultural (71.9 and 77.3 Mg ha-1). The most sensitive OC fraction was the coarse fraction (2000 μm -212 μm) in both studied depths (0-5 cm, 5-20 cm). Resistant carbon (<53 μm) was the main organic matter fraction for all the studied situations except for the forest. The weighted average diameter (WMD) is higher for forest and pasture (1.67 mm). Agricultural soils have a WMD of 0.76 mm, 54% less than the pristine situation and pasture. The SS is directly related to the coarse particulate fraction of the organic carbon (r = 0.60 p = <0.01) and the total carbon (r = 0.48 p <0.01). The stock of SOC, its quality, its distribution in the profile and SS were sensitive to the change of land use in the studied region. The conversion of the Chaco forest to crops was associated with the decrease of OC up to the meter deep, SOC labile fractions and SS that make soil more susceptible to erosion. The loss of such important ecosystem services that help to mitigate global warming and the loss of SS could be reduced by appropriate management practices, one of which may be the incorporation of pastures of warm-season grasses.

This project was funded by the University of Buenos Aires (UBACYT, 20020130100274BA; 2014-17).

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts ADOPCIÓN DE LAS TERRAZAS COMO TECNOLOGÍA PARA EL CONTROL DE LA EROSIÓN HÍDRICA EN ENTRE RÍOS Adoption of terraces for controlling soil erosion in Entre Ríos Gvozdenovich, J.1,2; Pioto, A.1; Barbagelata, P. 1,2 1 INTA EEA Paraná; 2 Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias (UNER) * gvozdenovich.jorge@inta.gob.ar; Ruta 11 km 12.5 (3101) Oro Verde (ER).

Abstract: Degradation of productive land by water erosion has been a relatively known issue for many years and of great economic importance due to its impact on current and future production.Entre Ríos province presents a wavy landscape, with high intensity rains and soils susceptible to erosion due to the presence of dense subsurface horizons that limit water infiltration. Because of this, excesses of runoff water are produced causing erosion of the slopes, even in the case of conservation tillage systems.Since 1967, with the implementation of the Agreement between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), investigations have been conducted to determine the local factors included in the Universal Soil Loss Equation.Major achievements in generation and adoption of soil conservation technologies are attributed to the continuous interaction of state policies oriented to research, experimentation, extension, and promotion.The objective of this work was to evaluate the current terraced agricultural land area of the province, after more than 40 years of implementation of this technology. The results showed that there is a clear predominance of terraces adoption in the southwestern sector of the province. This may be due to longer agricultural use history of this region and to the wider extension and diffusionefforts of this practice. However, with the implementation of no-till system in the middle ninety’s, the agricultural frontier expanded to the south-central region of the province.Nowadays, Paraná and Diamante departments count with more than 25% of their agricultural area systematized with terraces, while Victoria, Nogoyá, Gualeguay, Uruguay, Tala, and La Paz just have between 10 and 20%.Total systematized area with terraces is about 420,000 ha, which represents 21% of the agricultural area of Entre Ríos province.Evacuation terraces are the best option to control soil degradation in soils susceptible to water erosion, but their insufficient adoption evidences the need to promote and educateabout the great importance of soil resource conservation.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts IMPACT OF CROP RESIDUES LOCALIZATION ON ORGANIC CARBON SEQUESTRATION: EXPERIMENTATION AND MODELING Mohamed Annabi1*, Haithem Bahri2, HatemCheick M’hamed1, Amir Souissi1,Haifa Héni1, Roukaya Chibani3, 1 Sciences et Techniques Agronomiques Lab, INRAT, Ariana 2049, Tunisia 2Sciences et Techniques Agronomiques Lab, INRGREF, Ariana 2049, Tunisia 3 Arid land research Institute, Medenine, Tunisia *Corresponding author: email: mannabi@gmail.com; phone number: 0021624595254

Abstract: The absence of tillage in conservation agricultural system (CA) changesthe patternsof crop residues input,localization and decomposition in different the soil layers. The principal goal of this study is to determine the organic carbon flux in CA(wheat residues in surface) compared to inversion tillage system (IT) (wheat residues incorporated into soil) under laboratory controlled conditions.

Particulate organic matter, C-CO2 and resistant organic carbon were monitored during three months of incubation at 28°C. The Roth-C model (www.rothamsted.ac.uk) was used to simulate the longterm evolution of different organic pools for data obtained during incubation.

The results showed a larger (+26%) amount of the particulate organic matter in CA compared to IT system. The C-CO2 evolved from soil under CA was 20% lesser then the amount of organic carbon mineralized in IT system. The Roth-C model, optimized with the curve of C-CO2 measured during incubations, allows us to obtaina good simulation of labile and resistant soil organic carbon pool evolution with aRMSE ranged between 9 and 17%.

On the other hand, the Roth-C model was used also to predict the evolution of organic carbon in soil in two long experimentations located in Northern Tunisia with some success. Some modification in the Roth-C parameters is needed to validate the use of this model in the context of CA where there are a huge change of crop residues localization and decomposition compared with the traditional practices with tillage.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts PRECISION IRRIGATION AND CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE FOR HIGHER WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND GRAIN YIELD IN SPRING WHEAT UNDER CHANGING CLIMATIC SCENARIO Raj Pal Meena, SC Tripathi and RK Sharma ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research, Karnal, Haryana-132001- India adityarajjaipur@gmail.com, subhtripathi@gmail.com, rks20037@gmail.com Corresponding author: Raj Pal Meena Email ID; adityarajjaipur@gmail.com Interest : Poster Presentation Theme : 2 Abstract: Water is an indispensable for crop production and its rational use calls for prime agronomic interventions, particularly in the water stress regions. World’s land and water resources are under considerable stress as the race between food production and population growth surges relentlessly.

The agriculture sector makes use of at least 75 per cent of the water drawn from various sources.

As a result of this demand-supply gap, groundwater tables are plunging at an alarming rate. This necessitates for more scientific use of water with respect to agricultural production. The present study investigates the combined effect of conservation agriculture and precise irrigation scheduling on crop establishment, growth, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) in wheat under different moisture regimes. This experiment was conducted at Karnal, India during four consecutive years (2011-12 to 2014-15) in split plot design with three replications and revealed that crop residue retention @ 2.5 t/ ha produced significantly higher grain yield (5725 kg/ha) in comparison to no crop residue retention (5540 kg/ha). This increase was to the tune of 3.34% for yield and 25% in WUE due to increase in thousand grain weight, earhead/m2 and grains/earhead over no residue retention. Precision irrigation regimes based on soil water potential enhanced WUE at 60 kPa (1.43 kg/m3) and 80 kPa (1.51 kg/ m3) over irrigations at physiological growth stages (1.01 kg/m3) and this increase was to the tune of 41.58 to 49.50%. Among the studied years, maximum yield (6277 kg/ha) and WUE (1.49kg/m3) was recorded during the year 2012-13 due to favourable weather conditions and evenly distributed rainfall commencing from December to April (203 mm). Wheat is quite sensitive to water stress but too much moisture can also lead to yield losses owing to disease, lodging, nutrient loss by leaching, etc. Wheat crop needs light and frequent irrigation for desired yield but precision takes an important role particularly for declining inputs like water so as to enhance total factor productivity. Therefore, it may be concluded that higher wheat yield could be obtained with residue retention coupled with

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts MITIGATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IN EUROPE G. Basch1,2*, E.J. González-Sánchez1,3,4*, J. Gil-Ribes3,4, R. Ordóñez-Fernández5, O. Veroz-González3, P. Triviño-Tarradas1, R. Carbonell-Bojollo5, F. Márquez-García4, M. Gómez-Ariza3, A. Holgado-Cabrera1, M. Moreno-García1 1European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF). Rond Point Schumann 6 Box 5. Brussels (Belgium) www.ecaf.org 2Institute of Mediterranean and Environmental Sciences. Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal.

3Asociación Española Agricultura de Conservación Suelos Vivos. Ifapa Alameda del Obispo.

Córdoba, Spain. www.agriculturadeconservacion.org 4Departamento Ingeniería Rural, Etsiam, Universidad De Córdoba, GI AGR 126. Mecanización y Tecnología Rural. Campus de Rabanales, Córdoba, Spain. www.uco.es/cemtro 5Área de Producción Ecológica y Recursos Naturales. IFAPA. Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía.

Corresponding author: gbasch@ecaf.org Abstract: Agriculture and climate change are closely related. In this communication, the European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF) presents how the European agricultural sector can respond to climate change through Conservation Agriculture (CA). It is based on the outcomes and the realization of several European (LIFE) public-funded projects based on the assessmentof CA performance in Europe, and on a literature review on the topic.

In terms of contribution, approximately 10% of greenhouse gases (GHGs) globally emitted come from the European Union (EU). Within the GHGs emitted in Europe, around 10% derivefrom agriculture. In order to reducethese emissions the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) and the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the KyotoProtocol (CMP) was held at the end of 2015 in Paris. It concluded with the adoption of a historic agreement to combat climate change and promote measures and investments for a lowcarbon, resilient and sustainable future, the so-called Paris Agreement.

Scientific studies, carried out in different European biogeographic regions and countries, agree that the less soil is tilled, the more carbon is sequesteredand stored in it. These studies show that, during several years of Conservation Agriculture, it is possible to sequester large amountsof CO2 per hectare andyear in soils, when compared to systems based on soil tillage. In relation to conventional tillage systems the implementation of CAin EU-28 countriesin both annual and perennial crops could result inan annual sequestration of almost 190 millions of tons CO2as soil organic carbon.

The amount of CO2 sequestered into the soil through the application of the CA would contribute significantly to reach the targets committed in Paris Agreement by 2030. Considering acceptedEuropean emission reduction targets, carbon sequestration that could take place on farmland under Conservation Agriculture would amount to 22% of reductions committed in alldiffuse emission sectors by 2030, which corresponds to 10% of total annual diffuse emissions. This would allow for some flexibility in the reduction of emissions in other sectors such as housing or transport.

KEYWORDS: climate change mitigation, Conservation Agriculture, Best Management Practices, SOC, no-till, groundcovers.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IN TUNISIA: AN OPTION FOR ENHANCING THE SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE HatemCheikh M’hamed1*, Mohamed Annabi1, Haithem Bahri2, Houcine Angar3, Salah ben youssef1, Aymen Frija4 and Mohamed Chakroun1 *Corresponding author: hatemcheikh@yahoo.fr 1 National Institute of Agricultural research of Tunisia (INRAT); Agronomy Laboratory hatemcheikh@yahoo.fr 2NationalResearchInstituteof Rural Engineering, WaterandForests-Tunisia (INRGREF) 3 National Institute of Field Crop-Tunisia (INGC) 4International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) ORAL PRESENTATION Theme II: Conservation agriculture and Climate change Tunisia is located in North Africa, on the border of the Mediterranean. A big part of the country is located under semi-arid climate conditions, which are particularly characterized by low rainfall (200 to 400 mm per year) with high annual and monthly variability. Tunisia will be seriously vulnerable to climate change and has been qualified as one of the “hot spots for climate change”. Even under no climate change scenarios, water scarcity in the country will be one of the most critical problems in the next few decades. Agricultural production also faces major challenges in relation to the soil fertility deterioration and the inadequacy of agricultural practices with sustainability principles. Conservation Agriculture (CA) was identified as an adapted set of management principles that ensure sustainable agricultural production, and can also contribute to enhance agricultural systems resilient to climate change. CA principles allow increasing water use efficiency (WUE) by crops and improving soil organic matter in the soil surface. In Tunisia, the CA experience started in 1999. Several R&D projects were implemented. Conservation agriculture areas in the country started to progress slowly reaching nowadays a total area of 14 000 hectares, operated by almost 300 farmers and 102 seeders. This progress is very limited compared to the potential areas highly suitable for the adoption of CA. Main results obtained from the projects carried out in Tunisia are as follows: (i) improvement of soil organic matter by more than 1% after five (5) years of adoption of CA in most of the studied locations, (ii) improvement of soil biological life (iii) decrease of water erosion, (iv) improvement of water use efficiency of cereals by 20-40 % in semi-arid areas, (v) slight improvement and / or stabilization of cereal yield at the end of the simulation periods, (vi) introduction of new species of forage crops (vetch, triticale, etc.) and crop mixture (triticale*vetch, oats*vetch) in crop rotations was identified as a highly suitable option for the marginal wheat systems, (vii) reduction in the consumption of gasoil at the farm level by more than 50% and consequently a reduction of CO2 emission, (viii) 20 to 40% reduction in operating costs and an increase of more than 100% in the farmer’s net income, (ix) a local prototype of no till drill was manufactured, (x) adoption of innovative practices (agronomy of opportunity, sowing under permanent cover crop, relay crop,…).

Key Words: Conservation agriculture, climate change, soil fertility, water use efficiency Acknowledgement:This research was done in the framework of CANA project and CLCA project.

The authors would like to thank CANA project, financed by ACIAR and managed by ICARDA and CLCA project, financed by IFAD and managed by ICARDA.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts THE POTENTIAL OF SOC FIXATION IN SPAIN TROUGH OF APPLICATION OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE Authors:Rafaela Ordóñez Fernández, Rosa M. Carbonell Bojollo, Manuel Moreno García, Miguel A. Repullo Ruibérriz de Torres.

Affiliation: IFAPA (Andalusian Institute of Agricultural Research and Training), Agriculture and Environment Department Rafaela Ordoñez Fernandez: rafaelam.ordonez@juntadeandalucia.es Abstract: The evident global climate change requires the implementation of measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and minimize their concentrations in the atmosphere. Among the latter, carbon sequestration through management changes in agriculture has gained great relevance after the latest conferences about climate (Paris and Marrakech), therefore introducing agriculture into the “4 per 1000 Initiative, Soils for Food Security and Climate”. Its objective is to mitigate GHG levels through an annual increase of 4 per 1000 (0.4%) each year of organic carbon in all soils of the planet.

A part of the CO2 that crops are able to fix from the atmosphere through photosynthesis accumulates carbon in the soil as organic (SOC). It is extremely important to increase the coefficient of SOC fixation in soils through management practices, such as conservation agriculture (CA). In general, studies about the potential effect of CA on SOC at the national level, explain its implementation as an all or nothing, or, by percentages with certain subjectivity, not estimating an evolution associated with the decisions that, ultimately, farmers themselves make.

This report presents the potential of SOC fixation in Spain, depending on the future application of CA. This potential has been calculated on the basis of the expected evolution, over the next 10 years, if agri-environmental aid was established for its implementation, similar to those currently available for organic farming. Therefore, potential sequestration level was calculated as accurately as possible in case of wider application of the CA. The information obtained will help national institutions to make decisions regarding climate change and, specifically, with regard to the actions which should be taken to reduce GHG emission to which Spain has committed by signing the Paris Agreement.

KEYWORDS: climate change mitigation, Conservation Agriculture, Best Management Practices, SOC, no-till, groundcovers.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY, RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE BASED SYSTEMS IN THE ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS Tesfay Araya1, Jan Nyssen2, Wim M. Cornelis3 1University of Fort Hare, Department of Agronomy, PBX 1314, 5700 Alice, South Africa 2Ghent University, Department of Geography, Krijgslaan 281 (S8), B-9000 Gent, Belgium 3Ghent University, Department of Soil Management, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Gent, Belgium Email: tesfayaraya@gmail.com or tesfayw2002@yahoo.com Summary Abstract: Intensive mining of soil resources using repeated tillage, crop residue removal, overgrazing, biomass burning and mono-cropping practices will not ensure farm productivity and food security in the coming years. Food security consists of four main elements, i.e., availability, stability, utilization, and access, only availability is discussed in this research. Ten years (2005 to 2014) experiment was conducted in permanently kept plots to assess the impacts of resource-conserving agriculture (RCA) that integrates principles of conservation agriculture (CA) on building resilience against climate change, soil erosion and food security in two sites, in the semi-arid Gum Salasa and in sub-humid May Zeg-zeg catchment, northern Ethiopia. The two RCA practices were derdero+ (DER+) and terwah+ (TER+). (i) DER+ is a furrow and permanent raised-bed planting system that is tilled once at planting by refreshing the furrow and retaining 30% of the crop residue. (ii) TER+ is ploughed once at planting, furrows are made at 1.5-m intervals and 30% crop residue is retained. These RCA practices were compared against conventional tillage (CT) characterized by a minimum of three tillage operations and complete removal of crop residues at harvest. The experimental layout was a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Runoff and soil loss was collected at the lower end of each plot. Soil water content was measured using gravimetric method at 5 to 6 day intervals. Significantly different (P<0.05) runoff coefficients (%) and soil losses (t ha-1 yr-1) averaged over 10-yrs in Gum Salasa were 14 and 3, 22 and 12, and 30 and 18 for DER+, TER+ and CT, respectively.

In May Zeg-zeg catchment, soil loss was 35.4 t ha-1 yr-1 for CT and 14.4 t ha-1 yr-1 for DER+. Soil water storage (0–80 cm soil depth) during the growing season was always highest with DER+ followed by TER+ and CT. Although improvements in crop yield were observed, a period of at least 3-yrs of cropping was required before they became significant. On average, crop yields under DER+ and TER+ increased by 30% and 16%, respectively, as compared to CT. RCA systems constitute an in-situ soil and rainwater conservation strategy in northern Ethiopia that increase agro-ecosystems resilience to climate change (such as declining or increasing rainfall, increase in temperature) and climate variability (periodical drought, dry spells, periodical water-logging) and thereby boosting crop yield for ensuring food security.

Introduction The FAO (2002) definition of food security comprises four key dimensions of food supplie1s: availability, stability, access, and utilization, only availability of sufficient food through boosting crop production is the main discussion in this research.There is a close link between crop

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts productivity, soil degradation, climate change and food security. According to the report from IFDC (2006), about 95 million ha of arable land in Africa have reached a state of land degradation in Ethiopia are mainly related to intensive and repeated tillage, complete removal of crop residue at harvest, intensive aftermath grazing in croplands, burning of crop residue, use of crop straw and animal dung for fuel and deforestation leave soils unprotected and reduce soil organic matter. This has increased soil erosion processes and reduced soil water availability, thereby reduced land productivity (Araya et al., 2015a) and weakened the natural ability of the ecosystems to adapt the climate change. In northern Ethiopia, the climate change have reduced agricultural productivity and income and increased production instability and thus, high levels of food insecurity and limited means of coping with adverse weather (Araya et al., 2015b; Tilahun, 1999). Climate change can alter rainfall amount and distribution, evaporation, runoff, and soilmoisture storage, whereas higher temperatures can lead to an increase in evaporation and crop water requirements. Rainfall variability and drought-associated food shortages in Ethiopia have been reported by Tilahun (1999). The number of food insecure people in a given year is positively correlated with water deficits.

Adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) is persistently low in Sub-Saharan Africa particularly in Ethiopia (Araya et al., 2015a). Resource-conserving agriculture (RCA) that integrate the principles of CA aims at reducing soil erosion and improving soil- moisture and thus increase crop yield to enhance availability of food by minimizing soil disturbance, retaining crop residue, using crop rotations and adding in situ soil and water conservation tillage practices (terwah and derdero) in crop fields. The bed and furrow local tillage structures of terwah and derdero are integral elements of CA. Traditional in situ conservation tillage practices such as terwah, with contour furrows at 2-4 m wide intervals, and derdero planting systems are used by farmers in the northern Ethiopian highlands. Crops in derdero are grown on the ridges where they are protected from water logging (Araya et al. 2015a).

Long-term RCA field experiments impact on climate change and food security are rare in SubSaharan Africa. Therefore, this study evaluates the effects of two RCA (DER+ and TER+) systems compared to conventional tillage system on soil loss, runoff and soil-moisture storage and their consequences on adaptation to climate change for ensuring food security through improving crop yield during the 10-yrs study period in Vertisols in northern Ethiopia. The hypothesizes in this study is that the RCA practices reduce soil loss and runoff and improve soil-moisture storage for climate resilient agriculture while the increased biomass production could compensate for the straw that was retained rather used as animal feed.

Materials and Methods The study area and experimental field This study was conducted in permanently kept plots (2005-2014) at farmers’ fields in two agro- ecological zones in the sub humid May Zeg-zeg catchment (13°39’N, 39°10’E) at an altitude of 2550 m a.s.l. and in semi-arid drought prone Gum Selasa (13°14’N, 39°32’E) at an altitude of 2100 m a.s.l. in northern Ethiopia. The experimental layout was a randomized complete block design with 3 replications (Fig.1).

The soil type under the experimentation in both study sites was a Vertisol. The slope gradient of the experimental plots were 3% at Gum Selasa while 6.5% at May Zeg-zeg catchment. Mean annual 26yrs rainfall in the sub humid study site was 741 mm, while the mean annual 31-yrs rainfall in the semiarid study site was 499 mm. Wheat, teff, barley and grass pea were grown in rotation in Gum Selasa while wheat, gras pea, hanfets (wheat and barley sown together). Glyphosate was sprayed at 2 l ha-1 to control weeds before crop emergence, starting from 2007 with RCA.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts Two RCA practices were developed from traditional furrow-tillage practices: (i) DER+ is a bed and furrow planting system, where beds remain unploughed, furrows are tilled once at planting time and 30% of crop residue is retained. (ii) TER+ is ploughed once at planting, furrows are made at 1.5 m interval, creating fresh broad beds, and 30% crop residue is retained. These RCA practices were compared against conventional tillage (CT) characterized by a minimum of three tillage operations and complete removal of crop residues at harvest. All plowing was done using a local ard plow mahresha.

Data collected Runoff and soil loss was collected and measured at the lower end of each plot in collector trenches (Fig. 1) following the method explained in Araya et al. (2015a). Rainfall was recorded daily at 8:00 AM by rain gauge. Changes in soil water storage were quantified using gravimetric water content method recorded at regular times at soil depths of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 cm in Gum selasa as described in Araya et al. (2015b).

Grain and straw yield were determined at harvest from 1x1 m areas in three replicates per plot.

Fig.1. Layout of the experimental plot from 2005-2014 at May Zeg- zeg catchment in northern Ethiopia

Statistical analysis ANOVA was used to test statistical differences (t-tests at α= 0.05) of soil loss, runoff, soil moisture and crop yield between treatments using the SAS statistical software (JMP version 5.0). The standard error of treatment means was used for separation of means (SAS, 2002).

Results and Discussion Soil loss and runoff were significantly lowest in DER+ followed by TER+ with the largest record from CT (Table 1). This indicates that RCA practices reduced accelerated soil erosion rates that avoid the potential treat to food security. The cumulative change in soil water storage was slightly higher throughout the growing season in the DER+ followed by TER+ compared to CT (Fig.2). This shows that RCA systems have a significant potential as water management tools to increase green water availability in the rootzone (0-80 cm) which was mainly due to reducing loss of blue water in the form of runoff. This also indicates the potential of RCA systems to build resilience against drought and to all forms of dry spell effects during the growing season. On the other hand, the bed and furrow structures in the DER+ systems avoided crop yield losses related to periodic water-logging or climate change induced increase

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts in rainfall by draining the excess rainwater to the furrow from the bed where the crop grows (Araya et al., 2015a). RCA systems are promising for smallholders farmers on Vertisol with equal or higher crop yield during the 10-yrs study period except in 2006 (Table 1). However, improvements in crop yield in RCA treatments required a period of at least 5-yrs of cropping before they became significant in May Zeg-zeg catchment while in a shorter period (3-yrs) in Gum Selasa. The DER+ system performed better even during unfavourable weather conditions compared to the other treatments. Barley and teff yield in Gum Selasa were highest in DER+ during the driest years in 2008 and 2014, respectively. Therefore, this implicates that RCA systems strengthen the natural ability of the ecosystems to adapt climate change (such as increasing or declining rainfall) for ensuring food security.

Table 1. Soil loss, runoff, grain and straw yield from 2005-2014 (n = 3) for two experimental sites in northern Ethiopia (p<0.05).

Year

2005

2006

2007 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Treatment

Gum Selasa Crop soil rotation loss

DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+ CT DER+ TER+

Wheat

CT DER+ TER+ CT

Runoff (mm)

Grain yield

Straw yield

5b 9ab 17a Teff 1b 23a 29a Wheat 10c 27b 32a Barley 2b 4a 6a Wheat 4b 6b 9a Teff 5b 8b 17a Grass pea 4c 9b 17a Teff 1c 6b 15a Wheat 1c 5b

7c 9b 16a 14b 25ab 29a 15c 27b 32a 14c 19b 28a 14c 20b 25a 14c 19b 24a 16c 21b 33a 23c 30b 41a 12c 22b

2.03a 1.97a 1.53a 0.68c 0.93b 1.17a 2.76a 2.2b 1.7c 0.69a 0.57b 0.53b 2.6a 1.9b 1.6c 1.53a 1.55a 1.42a 1.76a 1.66a 1.31b 1.09a 1.11a 0.88b 4.20a 3.50b

6.18a 5.99a 4.25a 2.37ab 3.08b 3.75a 5.19a 4.31ab 3.45b 0.54a 0.34b 0.24b 5.2a 4.2b 3.7c 4.25a 4.45a 4.03a 2.03a 1.99a 1.59b 5.33a 5.89a 4.33a 12.22a 10.33b

12a 4c 19b 30a

40a 62c 93b 116a

Teff

(t/ha)

(t/ha)

2.80c 3.00a 1.22b 0c

(t/ha)

6.50c 0.69a 0.28b 0c

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May Zeg-zeg catchment Crop soil Runoff rotation loss (mm) Wheat

Grass pea

Wheat Hanfets

Grass pea

wheat

Grass pea

Wheat

Wheat

Grass pea

(t/ha)

13c 15b 23a 11c 15b 24a 20c 25b 34a 12c 14b 24a 16c 23b 33a -

110b 119a 122a 92b 113a 113a 92c 97b 118a 78c 89b 98a 78c 88b 94a 92c 124b 167a -

-

-

Grain yield

Straw yield

3.10a 2.73a 2.76a 2.12b 2.07b 2.92a 2.90a 2.95a 2.96a 2.00a 1.92a 1.88a 2.23ab 2.80a 2.01b 5.17a 4.50b 4.00c 5.33 4.97 4.13 2.93 2.67 2.6 3.50a 2.80b

2.83b 2.88b 4.06a 6.78a 6.70a 6.92a 3.10a 2.99a 2.99a 3.88a 4.36ab 3.55b 6.67a 5.33b 4.67c 2.53 2.5 1.9 1.43 1.33 1.27 17a 14b

2.00c 6.12a 5.22b 3.91c

11c 2.22a 1.57b 1.20c

(t/ha)

(t/ha)

1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts

Fig. 2. Cumulative change in soil water storage at 0–80 cm soil depth from each treatment throughout the growing season (n = 6) in 2009 (a) and 2010 (b). DER+ = derdero+, TER+ = terwah+, CT = conventional tillage practice, P= Cumulative precipitation. The bars shown are the standard error of mean (p<0.05).

Conclusions RCA systems minimizes the effects of land degradation associated with soil erosion and hydrological challenges facing smallholder farmers in Ethiopia through building resilience against climate change and climate variability and thereby boosting crop yield for ensuring food security. RCA practices reduced accelerated soil erosion rates that avoid the potential treat to food security. The DER+ system performed better crop yield even during unfavourable weather conditions compared to the other treatments.

However, the improvement in crop yield is not immediate and the full benefit of DER+ with permanent raised beds plus retention of crop residues can only be expected after several years. Restoration of these degraded soils’ water holding capacity and infiltrability using RCA practices proved to be sustainable for food production that can potentially build climate resilient agriculture and improve food availability.

Acknowledgement This research was funded by the Institutional University Cooperation (IUC) Project in Mekelle University through the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR, Belgium).

References Araya T., Nyssen J., Govaerts B., Baudron F., Carpentier L., Bauer H., Lanckriet S., Deckers J., Cornelis M. 2015a. Restoring cropland productivity and profitability in northern Ethiopian drylands after nine years of resource-conserving agriculture. Exp Agric. 1-23. doi:10.1017/ S001447971400060X Araya T., Nyssen J., Govaerts B., Deckers J. Cornelis WM. 2015b. Impacts of conservation agriculture-based farming systems on optimizing seasonal rainfall partitioning and productivity on vertisols in the Ethiopian drylands. Soil Till. Res. 148, 1–13 FAO. 2002. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001. FAO, Rome, Italy IFDC. 2006. African Soil Exhaustion. Science 312, pp. 31.

SAS. 2002. JMP Software Version 5. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. Tilahun K. 1999. Test of homogeneity, frequency analysis of rainfall data and estimate of drought probabilities in Dire-dawa eastern Ethiopia. ESSS. 1, 125–136.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts SMALLHOLDER FARMER ADOPTION OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE AS A CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGY: A CASE STUDY OF MAKONDE DISTRICT IN ZIMBABWE. Canaan Chiradzaa, Raymond Mugandani ab aMidlands State University, Department of Land and Water Resources Management, Bag 9055, Senga, Gweru, Zimbabwe. Email:chiradzacan@gmail.com. abSchool of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa. Email: mugandanir@gmail.com Corresponding author information: Address: Department of Land and Water Resources Management Midlands State University Bag 9055 Senga Gweru - Zimbabwe Phone: Mobile: +263776627096 Email:chiradzacan@gmail.com Presentation type: Poster Theme: 2 Abstract: Sustainable agriculture is required to improve yields in sub-Sahara Africa where there is intricate link between climate change, land degradation, decline soil fertility, poverty and hunger. An adoption of sustainable agriculture practices such as conservation agriculture is needed to improve yields.

However adoption rates of conservation agriculture is poor despite years of promotion. Some scholars have suggested that lack of adoption is due to more emphasis on the characteristic of the technology and very little emphasis on how adoption is influenced by the characteristic of the farmer.

Therefore this research aims to close this gap by investigating how the adoption of conservation agriculture as a climate change adaptation strategy is influenced by the characteristic of the farmer in Makonde District north eastern part of Zimbabwe. Structured key informant interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires were used for data collection. A total of 100 households were randomly sampled to administer the questionnaire. The key informant interviews were conducted with the civil servants, traditional, religious, and political, farmer opinion leaders. The key informant interviews, focus group discussion and questionnaires sought information linked to the research objectives and research questions. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science.

Descriptive statistics, tables and figures were used for graphical representation and visual comparison of results. Preliminary results indicate that farmer characteristics such as age, education level, wealth status, experience in farming and agricultural training are significant factors that explain adoption of conservation agriculture as a climate change adaptation strategy in Makonde district.

Keywords: adoption, conservation agriculture, climate change and adaptation strategy.

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IN TURKEY: A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT AND CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE AND ECOSYSTEMS ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE H. Muminjanov1, F. Bozdemir1, E.J. González-Sánchez2,3,1 1Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Ankara, Turkey 2European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF). Rond Point Schumann 6 Box 5. Brussels (Belgium) www.ecaf.org 3Universidad De Córdoba. Campus de Rabanales, Córdoba, Spain. www.uco.es/cemtro Corresponding author:Hafiz.Muminjanov@fao.org Abstract: Turkey is a country with high potential for adopting Conservation Agriculture (CA). In the last few years a number of projects have addressed the issue, especially taking into consideration the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change, whilst improving sustainability of agriculture through the diffusion and adoption of low-carbon technologies with win-win benefits for farmers and the environment.

The EU funded project GCP/TUR/063/EC has provided assistance in reviewing the status of CA and developing the national strategy for its promotion in Turkey. FAO as a working agency of Global Environmental Facilityis implementing CA within the Konya Closed Basin (KCB) in the framework of the project GCP/TUR/056/GFF.In KCB agriculture leads the local economy. Main crops include: cereals, animal fodder, fruits, vegetables and legumes, and livestock. Konyaproduces on average 1 M t of cereal with an average of 2,600 kg/ha. The agricultural lands of the region are heavily degraded, being wind erosion a major problem. This has decreased the organic matter of the soil and increased its susceptibility to further degradation.CA principles have been demonstrated in similar conditions to KCB, and that is why CA is the core of this project. But there is another issue receiving close review: KCB agriculture is highly dependent upon irrigation. The total arable land in the basin isapproximately 2.2 million ha, where approximately 427,000 ha of this are officially irrigated.Therefore, not only for increasing soil organic matter and avoid erosion CA is needed, but also to improve water balance, and therefore require less irrigation.

The results of CA to date are promising. Over 5,000 farmers have received trainings, due to the collaboration with about 600 national extension officers of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. This has resulted in more than 4,600 hectares of Conservation Agriculture in the province only in the last season.The recent foundation of the National Turkish Association of Conservation Agriculture (TACA) will consolidate the extension of CA across the region and country. As well, the integration in ECAF will provide TACA access to know-how in topics ofbroad and current interest.

Keywords: Climate Smart Agriculture, no tillage, soil degradation

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1st to 4th of August 2017 Rosary - Argentina Congress proceedings - Simple Abstracts NITROUS OXIDEEMISSIONS FROMNATRACUOLL SOILS WITH BOVINE EXCRETA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH EDAPHIC AND CLIMATE VARIABLES IN WINTER SEASON. Perez, Mónica Gabriela1,2, Busto, Mercedes 2, Gonzalez, Franco2, Cosentino, Vanina1, Romaniuk, Romina 1, Taboada, Miguel 1, Costantini, Alejandro *1,2 Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Instituto de Suelos, CIRN Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Edafología. Buenos Aires, Argentina. *Corresponding author: costantini.alejandro@inta.gob.ar Abstract: One of the most important environmental impacts generated by the livestock sector is the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), mainly nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). The main source of nitrous oxide (N2O) is the excreta of grazing cattle. Given the relevance of this GHG, the aim of this research was to evaluate theN2O emissions from the soil in winter season with addition of feces and urine, and its relation with some climatic and edaphic variables. Samples of N2O were measured by using the closed static chamber method. In addition, edaphic and climatic variables were analyzed. The N2O emissions were concentrated when soil temperature was in the range of 8.1 and 10.2 ° C, air temperaturebetween 4.2 ° C and 12.1 ° C, 60 and 80% of the water-filled pore space (WFPS). There was not correlation among the soil N2O emission and the measured soil chemical parameters. Since soil nitrates, soluble carbon and WFPS were not limiting factors, the soil temperature seems to drive the N2O emission from soil in winter season when temperatures are very low. The urine increased the N2O emission from soils. However, feces application did not affect the N2O fluxes. Despite the increases in this GHG when urine was added to soils, the N2O emission levels were generally low for all treatments, probably due to a predominance of very low temperatures during the duration of the experiment.

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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations With technical support of

81,9(56,'$'(