Sustainable Soil Management Is More than What and How Crops Are Grown - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 362

followed by physical planning of layout of fields and infrastructure items in
catchment-related patterns, to facilitate effective management of any run-
off that may occur in consequence of excessive rainstorms (Carver 1981;
Shaxson et al. 1977). This is of particular significance where “new” land is
being opened to cropping. This is because a physical allocation of proposed
land uses that is sensitive to the physical characteristic of the chosen land-
scape is more forgiving of mistakes in management than where land use
allocations have not taken account of such realities.
Achieving this effectively represents the achievement of good land husbandry
(Shaxson et al. 1989).
14.5.3 r eStoring D egraDeD a gricultural S oilS anD l anDScaPeS
A sustainable approach to soil management in rainfed and irrigated production can-
not be a single technology but rather a range of mutually reinforcing practices. For
both tillage and no-tillage systems, their best performances can be achieved only
when the production systems are supported by effective plant nutrition, soil mois-
ture provision, and best agronomic practices. Production systems are most sustain-
able and function best when all three key soil, crop, and environmental management
principles listed in Section 14.5.1 are applied simultaneously. CA is a good example
of progress in this regard as it is based on no-till and maintenance of soil cover and
has now spread across all continents and ecologies (Hobbs 2007; Friedrich et al.
2009; Kassam et al. 2009, 2010). There are other complementary ecosystem-based
approaches, which together form lead to SCPI, that have also proven to be success-
ful as a basis for sustainable intensification in all continents under a wide range
of circumstances (Uphoff et al. 2011; Kassam et al. 2011b). The responses of rice
plants to aerobic soil environment suggest the possibility of discovering comparable
positive responses in other crops also and establishing the scientific knowledge that
can explain the effects of the symbiotic interactions between root systems and their
coevolved soil microorganisms on the crop's phenotypic performance.
Sustainable production systems also mobilize plant nutrients through biological
transformations of organic matter, providing micronutrients that may not otherwise
be available (Flaig et al. 1977). For example, mulch-based no-till production sys-
tems can retain and mimic the soil's original desirable characteristics (“forest floor
conditions”) on land being first opened for agricultural use. Throughout the transfor-
mation to agricultural production, sustainable systems based on an agroecological
no-tillage approach can safeguard desirable soil characteristics, sustain the health of
long-opened farmland that is already in good condition, and regenerate land that has
reached poor condition due to past misuse (Doran and Zeiss 2000).
Such types of information from soils and ecosystems in good condition under CA
systems provide a range of “yardsticks” against which to compare the benefits of CA
and the health of the soil and the ecosystem, as against the “classical” tillage agri-
culture. Tillage agriculture with monocropping and no organic cover represents the
most vulnerable and detrimental production system, whereas CA represents a more
sustainable option (Montgomery 2007).