Global spread of Conservation Agriculture
Abstract
Conservation Agriculture (CA) comprises the practical application of three interlinked principles, namely: no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, biomass mulch soil cover and crop species diversification, in conjunction with other complementary good agricultural practices of integrated crop and production management. In 2015/16, CA was practised globally on about 180 M ha of cropland, corresponding to about 12.5% of the total global cropland. In 2008/09, the spread of CA was reported to be about 106 M ha. This change constitutes an increase of some 69% globally since 2008/09. In 2015/16, CA adoption was reported by 78 countries, an increase in adoption by 42 more countries since 2008/09, respectively. The average annual rate of global expansion of CA cropland area since 2008/2009 has been some 10.5 M ha. The largest extents of adoption are in South and North America, followed by Australia and New Zealand, Asia, Russia and Ukraine, Europe and Africa.
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Regenerative agriculture now covers approximately 5% of the cropland in Europe.
“It now covers more than 70% of the cropland in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) region and 34% in North America, but only approximately 5% in Europe (106).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [106]
Regenerative agriculture now covers more than 70% of the cropland in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) region.
“It now covers more than 70% of the cropland in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) region and 34% in North America, but only approximately 5% in Europe (106).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [106]
Regenerative agriculture now covers 34% of the cropland in North America.
“It now covers more than 70% of the cropland in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) region and 34% in North America, but only approximately 5% in Europe (106).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [106]
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Sustainable farming practices and soil health: a pathway to achieving SDGs and future prospects
Sharma, P., Sharma, P., & Thakur, N. (2024) · Discover Sustainability · doi:10.1007/s43621-024-00447-4 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Arneth, A., Olsson, L., Cowie, A., Erb, K.-H., Hurlbert, M., Kurz, W. A., Mirzabaev, A., & Rounsevell, M. D. A. (2021) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-054809 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
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Strauss, J., Swanepoel, P., Smith, H., & Smit, E. (2021) · South African Journal of Plant and Soil · doi:10.1080/02571862.2021.1979112 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Hart, J. P., Dotzel, K. M., & Winchell-Sweeney, S. (2026) · Journal of Field Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00934690.2025.2577501 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kassam, A., Friedrich, T., & Derpsch, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Reading (GB)
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (IT)
- International Consultant for Conservation Agriculture/No-till, Asunción, Paraguay
- Corresponding author
- Kassam, A.
- ORCID
- Friedrich, T.
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-08-06
- Volume
- 76
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 29-51
- ISSN
- 0020-7233 (ISSN-L)
- 1029-0400
- OpenAlex
- W2885927416
- Cited by
- 818
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 73 · 2025: 107 · 2024: 101 · 2023: 123 · 2022: 136 · 2021: 132 · 2020: 96 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 64.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2018-08-31)
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Studies (publishedVersion)
- CentAUR (University of Reading) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Management and Crop Yield
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant and soil sciences
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agricultural Innovations and Practices
- Keywords
- conservation agriculture, adoption, cropland area, soil disturbance, crop diversification, global spread, agricultural practices
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