III. No-Till Farming Systems - nifty

quences for agriculture, the environment, and the biodiversity that inhabit fragile
ecosystems.
The shift from conventional to CA requires the implementation of several aspects:
(a) exposure of farmers to different CA practices, particularly through participatory
activity and on-farm demonstrations to show the benefits and practicality
of new techniques, tools, equipment, and cropping techniques; (b) training in
the practical use of new technologies, combined with flexible funding mechanisms
and incentives, particularly during the period of transition; (c) fostering
cooperation and dialogue between scientists, suppliers and farmers, and between
government and educational institutes; (d) development and use of farmerfriendly
tools to measure soil physical health and water-use efficiency; and (e)
achieving and publicizing improvements in land productivity, reduction in farming
costs, and environmental benefits (e.g. carbon sequestration) resulting from
the application of new CA practices, within the BLUE AGRICULTURE integrated
management system.
Both our future food security and conservation of the global environment will in
large measure depend on advances in the science and technologies of sustainable
agriculture, particularly CA. Achieving such advances is indeed possible, but
meeting these challenges will require major increases in investment in specific
research areas, both in Italy and at a global level. The ever-present challenge in
agriculture is to optimize farm productivity in a sustainable fashion, while maintaining
the quality of farmers’ livelihoods, and minimizing impacts and degradation
of the broader landscape. This is particularly true for drylands, where productivity
is already low, options are limited and where many rural people live in
poverty.
The book has over 250 figures, including several pictures and tables explaining
and demonstrating the diverse range of applications of CA and the experimental
results from Italy and international studies. Key references and internet resources
are reported at the end of each chapter.
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