Conservation agriculture practices adopted in southern Brazil. Issue 5 (3rd September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Telles, Tiago Santos; Righetto, Ana Julia; da Costa, Gustavo Vaz; Volsi, Bruno; de Oliveira, José Francirlei
• Is Part Of: International journal of agricultural sustainability. Volume 17:Issue 5(2019)
• Page Start: 338
• Page End: 346
• Publication Date: 2019-09-03
• Subjects: No-tillage -- farming practices -- soil and water conservation -- cluster analysis -- agricultural sustainability; Agriculture -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Agricultural ecology -- Periodicals; 338.14
• DOI: 10.1080/14735903.2019.1655863
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-5903

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) practices are essential for soil and water conservation. In CA, farmers must adopt no-tillage (NT) with crop rotation to maintain a permanent soil cover. In Brazil, mainly in the South region, for CA to be more efficient, practices such as contour farming and agricultural terraces should also be adopted. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine the extent to which NT has been adopted with crop rotation and others soil and water conservation practices. Data from the Agricultural Census in Paraná State, southern Brazil, were used. For the data analysis, the relationship between the level of adoption of NT and the use of crop rotation, contour farming and agricultural terraces was analyzed. A factor and cluster analysis were performed to distinguish regions in terms of soil and water conservation practices. The results show good overall soil and water conservation practices, although heterogeneity has been observed in the adoption practices between regions. Adoption of NT is high in almost all the studied regions. The conservation practice most widely used with NT is contour farming, whereas the least used is agricultural terraces. Conservation practices for runoff control are being neglected by farmers.