Can Conservation Agriculture Deliver Its Benefits in Arid Soils?: An Overview

To feed around 9.8 billion people by 2050, it is equally important to increase food production while maintaining the sustainability of the environment. Conservation agriculture (CA) is one of the approaches to manage agro-ecosystems in order to improve productivity, increase the profitability and food security and enhance the resource base and environment. Although many researchers have pointed out the prospects and concerns of adopting CA in different climatic conditions, CA in arid regions raises uncertainties due to its extreme climates, most of the soils with low water holding capacity, high potential evapotranspiration, low and non-uniform distribution of rainfall and greater wind erosion. However, CA practices could benefit the arid agriculture through moderation/reducing of evaporation, regulating water and nutrient in soil and reducing wind erosion. Arid soils, largely characterised by low soil organic carbon (SOC), have the greater potential for higher C sequestration with the use of CA practices. Among the key components of CA, no-tillage (NT) coupled with mulching might be effective in distribution of the soil moisture at proper stage of the crop growth. The emission of CO2 flux from soil and soil salinity are reduced with the adoption of CA in arid soils with the use of cover crops. Due to better aeration and nutrient movement in CA land, beneficial bacterial community and diversity are promoted. However, for CA to work effectively in arid regions, the three components of CA such as minimum disturbances of soil through no- and reduced-tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotation must be critically followed together or simultaneously for improving soil health, crop productivity through high nutrient and water efficiency, carbon sequestration, mitigation of climate change and sustainability.