The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia

The ways in which farmers implement conservation agricultural (CA) practices – which entail reduced tillage, maintenance of soil cover, and crop rotations – varies considerably in different environments, farming systems, and by the intensity with which farmers administer management practices. Such v...

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Autores principales: Tianning Zhang, Wei Xiong, Sapkota, Tek Bahadur, Jat, Mangi Lal, Montes, Carlo, Krupnik, Timothy J., Jat, Raj Kumar, Karki, Saral, Nayak, Harisankar, Faisal, Asif Al, Jat, Hanuman Sahay
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126726
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author Tianning Zhang
Wei Xiong
Sapkota, Tek Bahadur
Jat, Mangi Lal
Montes, Carlo
Krupnik, Timothy J.
Jat, Raj Kumar
Karki, Saral
Nayak, Harisankar
Faisal, Asif Al
Jat, Hanuman Sahay
author_browse Faisal, Asif Al
Jat, Hanuman Sahay
Jat, Mangi Lal
Jat, Raj Kumar
Karki, Saral
Krupnik, Timothy J.
Montes, Carlo
Nayak, Harisankar
Sapkota, Tek Bahadur
Tianning Zhang
Wei Xiong
author_facet Tianning Zhang
Wei Xiong
Sapkota, Tek Bahadur
Jat, Mangi Lal
Montes, Carlo
Krupnik, Timothy J.
Jat, Raj Kumar
Karki, Saral
Nayak, Harisankar
Faisal, Asif Al
Jat, Hanuman Sahay
author_sort Tianning Zhang
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The ways in which farmers implement conservation agricultural (CA) practices – which entail reduced tillage, maintenance of soil cover, and crop rotations – varies considerably in different environments, farming systems, and by the intensity with which farmers administer management practices. Such variability requires an efficient tool to evaluate the cost-benefit of CA, to inform agricultural policymakers and development priorities to facilitate expanded use of CA under appropriate circumstances. Rice-wheat rotation is the principal production system in South Asia (SA). Research has shown that CA can be promising in this rotation because of improved irrigated water, energy, and labor use efficiencies, in addition to the reduction in atmospheric pollution and potentially long term improvements in soil quality. Yield responses to CA are however varying across studies and regions. With a nine-year rice-wheat CA experiment in Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia, this study parameterizes the Environmental Policy Climate (EPIC) model to simulate five CA and conventional managements on the RW cropping system. Information from geospatial datasets and farm surveys were used to parameterize the model at the regional scale, increasing the management flexibility and range of localities in the simulation. Yield potential of the CAs in the whole SA was thereby explored by utilizing the model with various management strategies. Our results demonstrate how geospatial and survey data, along with calibration by a long-term experiment, can supplement a regional simulation to increase the model's ability to capture yield patterns. Yield gains from CA are widespread but generally low under current management regimes, with varied yield responses among CAs and environments. Conversely, CA has considerable potential in SA to increase rice-wheat productivity by up to 38%. Our results highlight the importance of applying an adaptive definition of CA, depending on environmental circumstances, while also building the capacity of farmers interested in CA to apply optimal management practices appropriate for their environment.
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language Inglés
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
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publisherStr Elsevier
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spelling CGSpace1267262025-12-08T09:54:28Z The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia Tianning Zhang Wei Xiong Sapkota, Tek Bahadur Jat, Mangi Lal Montes, Carlo Krupnik, Timothy J. Jat, Raj Kumar Karki, Saral Nayak, Harisankar Faisal, Asif Al Jat, Hanuman Sahay rice wheat conservation agriculture yield potential The ways in which farmers implement conservation agricultural (CA) practices – which entail reduced tillage, maintenance of soil cover, and crop rotations – varies considerably in different environments, farming systems, and by the intensity with which farmers administer management practices. Such variability requires an efficient tool to evaluate the cost-benefit of CA, to inform agricultural policymakers and development priorities to facilitate expanded use of CA under appropriate circumstances. Rice-wheat rotation is the principal production system in South Asia (SA). Research has shown that CA can be promising in this rotation because of improved irrigated water, energy, and labor use efficiencies, in addition to the reduction in atmospheric pollution and potentially long term improvements in soil quality. Yield responses to CA are however varying across studies and regions. With a nine-year rice-wheat CA experiment in Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia, this study parameterizes the Environmental Policy Climate (EPIC) model to simulate five CA and conventional managements on the RW cropping system. Information from geospatial datasets and farm surveys were used to parameterize the model at the regional scale, increasing the management flexibility and range of localities in the simulation. Yield potential of the CAs in the whole SA was thereby explored by utilizing the model with various management strategies. Our results demonstrate how geospatial and survey data, along with calibration by a long-term experiment, can supplement a regional simulation to increase the model's ability to capture yield patterns. Yield gains from CA are widespread but generally low under current management regimes, with varied yield responses among CAs and environments. Conversely, CA has considerable potential in SA to increase rice-wheat productivity by up to 38%. Our results highlight the importance of applying an adaptive definition of CA, depending on environmental circumstances, while also building the capacity of farmers interested in CA to apply optimal management practices appropriate for their environment. 2022-06 2023-01-10T10:14:49Z 2023-01-10T10:14:49Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126726 en Open Access application/pdf Elsevier Zhang, T., Xiong, W., Sapkota, T. B., Jat, M. L., Montes, C., Krupnik, T. J., Jat, R. K., Karki, S., Nayak, H., Faisal, A. A., & Jat, H. S. (2022). The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia. Field Crops Research, 282, 108508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2022.108508
spellingShingle rice
wheat
conservation agriculture
yield potential
Tianning Zhang
Wei Xiong
Sapkota, Tek Bahadur
Jat, Mangi Lal
Montes, Carlo
Krupnik, Timothy J.
Jat, Raj Kumar
Karki, Saral
Nayak, Harisankar
Faisal, Asif Al
Jat, Hanuman Sahay
The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia
title The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia
title_full The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia
title_fullStr The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia
title_full_unstemmed The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia
title_short The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: Evidence from large scale gridded simulations across South Asia
title_sort optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location specific performance evidence from large scale gridded simulations across south asia
topic rice
wheat
conservation agriculture
yield potential
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126726
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