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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2011, Vol. 10 Issue (6): 850-859    DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(11)60071-0
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Benefits of Conservation Agriculture on Soil and Water Conservation and Its Progress in China
LI Ling-ling1, HUANG Gao-bao1, ZHANG Ren-zhi2, Bill Bellotti3, Guangdi Li4 and Kwong Yin Chan5
 1 Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science/Faculty of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, P.R.China
 2 Faculty of Resource and Environment, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, P.R.China 
 3 School of Natural Sciences, University of Western Sydney, NSW 1797, Australia 
 4 EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation (Alliance Between Investment & Industry NSW and Charles Sturt University), Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, NSW 2650, Australia
 5 Investment & Industry NSW, NSW 2753, Australia
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摘要  Conservation agriculture has been practised for three decades and has been spread widely. There are many nomenclatures surrounding conservation agriculture and differ to each other lightly. Conservation agriculture (CA) is a system approach to soil and water conservation, high crop productivity and profitability, in one word, it is a system approach to sustainable agriculture. Yet, because conservation agriculture is a knowledge-intensive and a complex system to learn and implement, and also because of traditions of intensive cultivation, adoption rates have been low, since to date, only about seven percent of the world’s arable and permanent cropland area is farmed under conservation agriculture. The practice and wider extention of conservation agriculture thus requires a deeper understanding of its ecological underpinnings in order to manage its various elements for sustainable intensification, where the aim is to conserve soil and water and improve sustainability over the long term. This paper described terms related to conservation agriculture, presented the effects of conservation agriculture on soil and water conservation, crop productivity, progress and adoption of CA worldwide, emphasized obstacles and possible ways to increase CA adoption to accelerate sustainable development of China agriculture.

Abstract  Conservation agriculture has been practised for three decades and has been spread widely. There are many nomenclatures surrounding conservation agriculture and differ to each other lightly. Conservation agriculture (CA) is a system approach to soil and water conservation, high crop productivity and profitability, in one word, it is a system approach to sustainable agriculture. Yet, because conservation agriculture is a knowledge-intensive and a complex system to learn and implement, and also because of traditions of intensive cultivation, adoption rates have been low, since to date, only about seven percent of the world’s arable and permanent cropland area is farmed under conservation agriculture. The practice and wider extention of conservation agriculture thus requires a deeper understanding of its ecological underpinnings in order to manage its various elements for sustainable intensification, where the aim is to conserve soil and water and improve sustainability over the long term. This paper described terms related to conservation agriculture, presented the effects of conservation agriculture on soil and water conservation, crop productivity, progress and adoption of CA worldwide, emphasized obstacles and possible ways to increase CA adoption to accelerate sustainable development of China agriculture.
Keywords:  China      conservation tillage      crop residue mulch      no-till      soil and water conservation      sustainability  
Received: 10 June 2011   Online: 10 June 2011   Accepted:
Corresponding Authors:  HUNAG Gao-bao     E-mail:  lill@gsau.edu.cn;huanggb@gsau.edu.cn
About author:  LI Ling-ling, Ph D, Tel: +86-931-7631156, Fax: +86-931-7630810, E-mail: lill@gsau.edu.cn; Correspondence HUNAG Gao-bao, Professor, Tel/Fax: +86-931-7632188, E-mail: huanggb@gsau.edu.cn

Cite this article: 

LI Ling-ling, HUANG Gao-bao, ZHANG Ren-zhi, Bill Bellotti, Guangdi Li and Kwong Yin Chan. 2011. Benefits of Conservation Agriculture on Soil and Water Conservation and Its Progress in China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 10(6): 850-859.

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