The development of Conservation Agriculture in Australia--Farmers as innovators

The Australian story of farmer innovation in Conservation Agriculture reveals a complex interplay of policy,economics,science,and farming.Farmer experimentation with Conservation Agriculture began in the 1960’s and has continued to this day where around 80%-90%of Australia’s 23.5 million hectares of winter crops are now grown using Conservation Agriculture principles.This remarkable achievement is the result of both sustained investment in agricultural research and development and farmer innovation.Australian economic settings and science policies have encouraged and facilitated farmer participation in the Conservation Agricultural innovation system.Australian farmers have embraced Conservation Agriculture because it has met their needs,maintaining productivity and profitability in the face of declining terms of trade,and sustainably intensifying production with enhanced environmental outcomes.Drawing on individual farmer case studies,the specific strengths of farmer innovation are identified and the enabling conditions necessary for farmer innovation to flourish are discussed.

A WAY TO SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION THROUGH SCIENTIST−FARMER ENGAGEMENT

Feeding a large and growing population with scientifically sustainable food production is a major challenge globally,especially in smallholder-based agricultural production.Scientists have conducted a considerable theoretical research and technological innovation to synergistically achieve increased food production and reduced environmental impact.However,the potential and feasibility of synergistic smallholder-led agricultural production to achieve increased food production and environmental friendliness is not yet clear.Exploring the potential and feasibility of smallholders to synergistically achieve these two goals,this research collected survey data from 162 farmers implementing standard farming practices and 112 farmers engaged in Science and Technology Backyard(STB)in Quzhou County,Hebei Province,China.Grain yield,nitrogen use efficiency(NUE),greenhouse gas emissions(GHG),and emergy ecological footprint(EEF)of the wheat-maize cropping system dominated by smallholders were analyzed.The results showed smallholders in the STB group improved wheat and maize yields by about 13%and NUE by 20%,respectively.Also,a reduction of 23%in GHG emissions and 52%in EEF were simultaneously achieved in the wheat-maize cropping system.Compared with standard farming practices,75 kg·ha−1 nitrogen-based fertilizer was saved in the STB farmers.In summary,this study shifts the main perspective of research from scientists to smallholder,and uses a combination of greenhouse gas emission calculations,EEF and material flow analyses to demonstrate from multiple perspectives that agricultural systems under the leadership of smallholders can synergistically achieve high crop yields and low resource use and environmental impacts.The results of this study also show that the smallholder-led scientist-farmer collaborative model established by STB can fully exploit the initiative and potential,and that this collaborative model can be a successful strategy for smallholders as operators to achieve food security at low environmental impacts.The results of this study can provide useful evidence for a sustainable shift toward more sustainable agricultural production systems.