Conservation agriculture: Minimal Tillage and Surface Mulching of Soils

Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Farming

Conservation agriculture (CA) combines three fundamental principles: minimal soil disturbance through reduced tillage, maintaining biomass residues on the soil surface, and crop rotation with nitrogen-fixing legumes or cover crops. This approach has demonstrated its efficacy in dryland wheat farming systems, offering multiple advantages. CA enhances soil quality, improves water use efficiency, stabilizes yields, reduces input costs, and minimizes energy and time demands. Furthermore, it enriches soil biodiversity, mitigates emissions, and sequesters carbon, benefiting both farmers and the environment.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 7/9

Project adoption

Technology integrated in the CREW project in Ethiopia (East Africa), in the ENSURE and TAISP projects in the region East Africa, and in the SEWPP project in Sudan (North-East Africa).

Beneficiaries

Ethiopia (CREW): 500,000 households (~2.3 million people)
ENSURE (Regional): 3,000,000 farmers (50% women)
Sudan (SEWPP): 400,000 smallholder households
Tanzania (TAISP): 1,200,000 households (40% women & youth)

Bugdet:

Ethiopia (CREW): USD 94.30M
ENSURE: USD 13.14M
Sudan (SEWPP): UA 56.78M (~USD 74M)
Tanzania (TAISP): UA 62.27M (~USD 84.07M)

Implementation period:

CREW (Ethiopia): Oct 2023 – Dec 2028
ENSURE: 2024–2027
SEWPP (Sudan): Sep 2022 – Jun 2025
TAISP (Tanzania): Sep 2022 – Jun 2025

Adoption figures

Ethiopia (CREW): yields 3.04 → 4.0 t/ha
ENSURE: 149,940 trained; 9,996 demos; 3,332 innovation platforms
Sudan (SEWPP): wheat area expands 330,000 → 400,000 hectares
Tanzania (TAISP): yields increase (wheat: 1.5 → 3.0 t/ha; rice: 2.0 → 3.0 t/ha); +1 million MT food production

See project details ›

15 - 22 %

Increase in yield

18 - 21 %

water use efficiency

20 %

increase in income

923 USD/ha

Increase in profit from wheat production

IP

Open source / open access

Problem

Declining Soil Fertility: Declining soil fertility in dry tropical and subtropical regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, primarily caused by excessive tillage and limited organic matter return to soils, leading to the degradation of nutrient exchange and water retention processes.
Water Stress: Increasing water stress due to the limited availability of water resources caused by drought spells, high-intensity rains, and overexploitation for agriculture.
Low Wheat Grain Yields: Low wheat grain yields and vulnerability to water shortages in dryland farming systems.
Environmental Impact: Environmental concerns, including emissions and carbon sequestration, in agriculture.
Weed Infestation: Weed infestation resulting from traditional tillage practices and lack of surface mulching, competing with wheat crops for resources and reducing overall yields.
Soil Erosion: Soil erosion due to intense tillage practices, leading to the loss of topsoil and degradation of soil structure, which further exacerbates soil fertility issues.
Soil Compaction: Soil compaction caused by heavy machinery and excessive tillage, hindering root penetration and water infiltration, thereby reducing crop productivity.
Pest and Disease Build-Up: Build-up of pests and diseases in conventional tillage systems, leading to increased reliance on chemical pesticides and fungicides, which pose environmental and health risks.
Labor Intensity: Labor-intensive weed management practices in conventional tillage systems, requiring significant time and resources, particularly in regions with limited access to labor.
Soil Salinization: Soil salinization resulting from improper irrigation practices and poor water management, leading to reduced crop yields and degradation of soil quality over time.

Solution

Conservation Agriculture (CA) Principles: CA involves minimal soil disturbance, retention of biomass residues on the soil surface, and rotation with N-fixing legumes or cover crops.
Improved Soil Quality: CA enhances soil quality, water use efficiency, and yield stability while diminishing expenditures on inputs, energy, and time.
Climate Change Adaptation: CA practices reduce drought and heat stress on crops, offering effective climate change adaptation in the food system.
Water and Herbicide Savings: CA slows down soil drying and weed growth, helping farmers save on irrigation water and herbicide applications.
Crop Rotation Benefits: Rotating between wheat and other crops like soybean, rice, cotton, or others offers advantages for managing soil nutrient supply and pest and disease build-up.
Broad Applicability: CA principles can be applied in various soil types and water regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa, benefiting both rainfed and irrigated production, as well as dry sub-humid and semi-arid regions.
Increased Crop Resilience: CA practices contribute to the resilience of crops against environmental stresses such as drought and extreme temperatures, ensuring more consistent yields even under challenging conditions.
Erosion Prevention: By minimizing soil disturbance and maintaining surface residues, CA helps prevent soil erosion, preserving soil structure and fertility.
Enhanced Biodiversity: The adoption of CA promotes soil biodiversity by creating a favorable habitat for beneficial organisms, improving overall ecosystem health.
Reduced Environmental Impact: CA practices contribute to reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture by minimizing soil erosion, pesticide runoff, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Improved Farm Economics: By reducing input costs, conserving soil moisture, and stabilizing yields, CA improves the economic viability of farming operations, leading to higher profitability for farmers.

Key points to design your business plan

The technology enhances crop yields, ensuring food security and profitability for farmers. By minimizing soil disruption and conserving moisture, it reduces water and fertilizer needs, while also preventing erosion and chemical runoff, promoting environmental sustainability. Lower input costs and increased resilience to climate variability further benefit farmers economically and environmentally.

To assess the cost implications for your business, consider that the three-year average total production cost for wheat-chickpea rotation under Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Morocco is USD 740 per hectare compared to USD 838 per hectare for conventional tillage systems.

For profit estimation, note that in Mexico, profits from wheat production increase by USD 923 per hectare under CA management instead of intensive tillage.

Access to this technology is likely available through agricultural extension services, research institutions, local farming communities, and organizations dedicated to sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Moreover, explore opportunities to integrate this technology with complementary approaches, such as Heat and Drought Tolerant Wheat Varieties and pest-resistant wheat varieties.

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive high

Under 18: Positive low

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 7 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension (ENSURE)

Project funder: African Development Bank & East Africa Community
Planned Budget: USD 13.14 million
Location: East African Community (Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda)
Planned duration: 2024–2027
Deployment means: On-farm demonstrations, training, digital tools (SMS, IVR, video, radio, pictorial guides), bundled inputs + advisory services, Training of Trainers (ToT)
Project main implementer: East African Community (EAC)
Project Description: Strengthen agricultural extension systems using digital tools, private-sector approaches, regional coordination, and multi-commodity focus (maize, cassava, rice, drought-resilient crops).
Objective: Promote regional extension, enhance advisory services, scale climate-smart technologies, build sustainable private sector–led extension systems, strengthen policy and regulatory frameworks.
Expected outcome: Increased adoption of improved technologies, improved farmer productivity and profitability, enhanced access to quality inputs and pest management solutions, strengthened resilience to climate and pest risks, regional market integration, job creation for youth and agripreneurs.
Figures of adoption: Target 3 million farmers reached over 4 years, digital extension pilots in 7 EAC states, training of extension agents, lead farmers, cooperatives, and youth agripreneurs, rollout of Pest Information Management Systems (PIMS).
Profiles of adopters: Smallholder farmers, women, youth agripreneurs, cooperatives and producer organizations, public and private extension agents, National Plant Protection Officers (NPPOs).
Lessons learnt: System-level approaches needed beyond technology delivery, digital tools most effective with in-person facilitation, supportive policy/regulatory environment critical, regional harmonization boosts scalability and cross-border diffusion of technologies.

Ethiopia – Climate Resilient Wheat Value Chain Development Project (CREW)

Project funder: African Development Fund (ADF), Government of the Netherlands, OCP Africa, Global Center for Adaptation (GCA), Government of Ethiopia
Planned Budget: USD 94.30 million (UA 69.85 million)
Location: Ethiopia – 78 Woredas across Afar, Amhara, Oromia, and Somali Regional States
Planned duration: Oct 2023 – Dec 2028 (5 years)
Deployment means: Large-scale demonstrations of GAP, extension agent training, certified seed distribution, digital “e-extension” services, provision of equipment (e.g., solar water pumps)
Project main implementer: Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) of Ethiopia
Project Description: Focuses on climate-smart wheat productivity (seeds, soil health, irrigation, mechanization), market infrastructure (storage, finance), and project coordination
Objective: Increase wheat productivity and production, boost smallholder incomes, and help Ethiopia achieve national wheat self-sufficiency
Expected outcome: Wheat yield increase from 3.04 t/ha to 4.0 t/ha; national production to 8.2 million tons; average annual household income USD 1,680
Figures of adoption: 500,000 households reached; 23,092 ha irrigation rehabilitated; 1,000,000 ha soil mapped; 4,000 MT breeder/pre-basic seeds produced; 106 warehouses constructed
Profiles of adopters: Rural smallholder farmers; 50% women (75,000 female-headed households); youth involved in mechanization centers
Lessons learnt:
- Success factors: TAAT program synergy, high political commitment
- Constraints: Security threats, climate vulnerability (drought/flood), gender gaps in resource access
- Insights: Digital tools (GIS soil mapping, e-extension) are critical for scaling climate-smart solutions

Tanzania Agricultural Inputs Support Project (TAISP)

Project funder: African Development Fund (ADF) and Government of Tanzania; JICA co-financing interest
Planned Budget: UA 62.27 million (~USD 84.07 million)
Location:
- Wheat: Arusha, Manyara, Mbeya, Rukwa, Kilimanjaro, Njombe
- Sunflower: Singida, Manyara, Arusha, Rukwa, Dodoma, Morogoro, Songwe
- Rice: Shinyanga, Mwanza, Simiyu, Geita (Lake Zone corridor)
Planned duration: Sep 2022 – Jun 2025
Deployment means: E-voucher subsidies for seeds/fertilizers, extension training on GAP, electronic tagging for seed quality control
Project main implementer: Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), United Republic of Tanzania
Project Description: Rapid multiplication and distribution of climate-adapted certified seeds (wheat, sunflower, rice), provision of subsidized fertilizers, and support for smallholder adoption to address food security and climate challenges
Objective: Improve production, productivity, and profitability of priority crops by scaling affordable, high-quality inputs to smallholders
Expected outcome: Wheat yields 1.5 → 3 t/ha, rice 2 → 3 t/ha; additional 1 million MT of food; post-harvest losses reduced from 30% to 15%
Figures of adoption: 1,200,000 smallholder households targeted; distribution of 7,200 MT wheat seeds, 5,600 MT sunflower seeds, 16,000 MT rice seeds; 600,000 MT fertilizer delivered
Profiles of adopters: Smallholder farmers (avg. 2 ha), 40% women and youth, 1,000 small/medium seed producers, 10,000 unemployed youth engaged in value chains
Lessons learnt:
Success Factors: Digital e-vouchers ensure transparency; private sector engagement via agro-dealers; scaling of TAAT-proven varieties
Constraints: High fuel and fertilizer prices due to international conflict and climate-induced stresses

Sudan Emergency Wheat Production Project (SEWPP)

Project funder: African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – African Development Fund (ADF) & TSF Pillars I and III
Planned Budget: UA 56.78 million (~USD 73.81 million)
Location: Major irrigation schemes – Al Gezira, Managil, New Halfa (Kassala), Northern State, River Nile, White Nile, Sinnar; plus rain-fed areas in Darfur (Sudan)
Planned duration: Sep 2022 – Jun 2025(24 months; covering 2 harvest cycles)
Deployment means: E-voucher input subsidies, Training of Trainers (ToT), extension services, demonstration plots, radio/TV programs, national farmers’ field days
Project main implementer: World Food Programme (WFP) – Third-Party Implementing Agency, in coordination with Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF)
Project Description: Emergency operation to boost wheat production using high-quality, heat-tolerant varieties and fertilizers to mitigate food security risks from the Russia-Ukraine crisis
Objective: Improve production, productivity, and profitability of wheat by scaling climate-resilient seeds and fertilizers to smallholder farmers
Expected outcome: Increase yields from 2.3 t/ha to 3.8 t/ha; expand wheat area to 400,000 ha; additional 891,000 MT of wheat produced
Figures of adoption: 400,000 smallholder households; distribution of 57,000 MT certified seeds and 135,000 MT fertilizers
Profiles of adopters: Smallholder farmers; 40% women, 20% youth
Lessons learnt:
- Success Factors: Use of TAAT heat-tolerant varieties; WFP’s logistical capacity; digital e-voucher platforms for transparent targeting
- Constraints: High inflation, heat stress (>38°C), political instability

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Burkina Faso	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Niger	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
South Sudan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Sudan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zimbabwe	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid	–	–	–	–
Humid	–	–	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

Select Quality Wheat Seed: Choose improved varieties of bread and durum wheat that offer high yield potential, heat tolerance, and resistance to pests. Quality seed is essential for satisfactory production.
Prepare Seeding Tools: Utilize tools designed for direct seeding with minimal soil disturbance. Options include disc seeders drawn by tractors or animals and dibble sticks or jab planters for manual operation.
Set Row Spacing and Seed Rate: Maintain the same row spacing and seed rate density as in conventional farming systems to ensure optimal plant distribution.
Apply Fertilizers: Follow recommended rates for inorganic fertilizers and animal manure. Apply them either in planting holes or through topdressing to promote high grain yields and water use efficiency.
Cover Soil Surface: Obtain materials for covering the soil surface. These materials can be sourced from stover residues of the previous crop on the field or from external sources.
Weed Control: Treat the soil under CA management with herbicides to control weed encroachment and maintain a weed-free environment.
Mulch Maintenance: Spraying insect-repelling agents on the mulch layer may be necessary to keep it in place for an extended duration, ensuring effective surface mulching.