Conservation agriculture farming systems in rainfed annual crop production in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa is, relative to the rest of the world, a water scarce country with a limited amount of arable land, especially land with a long-term sustainable agricultural production potential. Agriculture should therefore focus on the implementation of soil and water conservation systems. Soil conservation is administered in the South African legislation under the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act 43 of 1983. The objective of this paper is to summarise Conservation Agriculture (CA) systems practiced in South Africa. These include measures to control wind and water erosion as well as soil compaction through implementation of rip on the row, vertical mulching, controlled traffic, crusting control, mulching, water harvesting and crop rotation. No-tillage is not in the scope of this paper, although aspects of reduced and minimum tillage are covered. Integrating these with existing farming systems could be complex and should be considered with great care. It is proposed that CA specialists should be trained to assist farmers in the selection, adoption and implementation of appropriate CA systems.