Conservation agriculture is a concept which defines different farming systems. Its implementation depends on soil properties, climate and socio-economic considerations. Since two thousands, no-till technology; which is one facet of the conservation agriculture has begun to take place in the high plains of Sétif province-Algeria. Its adoption is facing several problems of socio-economic and technical issues. This work monitored the track of no-till adoption within a sample of 28 farmers during two years 2014 and 2016. During 2014 farmers were supported financially and technically through a subsidy program that aimed at the support of conservation agriculture via no-till technique. In 2016, the subsidy program has ended; hence, farmers have no longer incentives. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to diagnose the evolution of no-till adoption and behavior’s farmers between the two periods. In 2016, results showed an increase of no-till area, even though, the drop of the number of adoptive farmers by 71%. The main reasons for adopting no-till according to the adoptive farmers were the minimization of farming operation costs and saving time. However, the major impediments facing no-till adoption; were the rise of weeding charges and the concern of weed infestation especially by bromus.sp, which is a vigorous prevalent weed, which locally developed some pesticide’s resistance. Also, the excessive use of pesticides may be considered as an environmental reason for no adopting no-till.

Maize and dry bean are the most important food crops that feed over 85% of Kenyan households. However, the productivity of these crops is low due to the high costs of land preparation and weed control, soil infertility and limited soil moisture under the current conventional tillage system of production. A study was carried in Embu County and Kirinyaga County to determine the economic returns of a maize-bean rotation system under different tillage systems and fertilizer regimes. Maize was produced during the long rains under no-till with crop residue retention (NT+CR) and conventional tillage with no crop residue retention (CT-CR) and inorganic fertilizer regimes (NK, NP, PK, NPK, and NPK+CaMgZnBS). Dry bean was planted in the short rains in the same plots where maize under different nutrient management regimes and tillage systems had been grown and harvested. The trial was laid out in a split-plot design with the tillage method as the main plot and fertilizer as sub-plot. Economic performance was assessed using partial budget analysis based on labor data and prices of all inputs used during the production period. Grain yields were reduced by 10% to reflect farmers’ yield levels. Maize and dry bean grains were sold at the prevailing farm gate prices. Results showed that maize-bean rotation was KE 22,718 cheaper under no-till with crop residue retention (NT+CR) than under conventional tillage with no crop residue retention (CT-CR). On average, NT+CR recorded KE 29,569 higher net benefit than CT-CR. The NT+CR tillage recorded a benefit to cost ratio of 3.7 compared to 2.7 recorded under CT-CR tillage system. The NT+CR with NK combined was the most profitable treatment with a benefit to cost ratio of 4.92 for maize and 4.33 for maize-bean rotation system. Based on this research, combination of no-till with crop residue retention has the potential to improve economic status and alleviate poverty among resource-constrained farmers.

The trials were set up in Busia, Embu and Kirinyaga Counties to assess the effect of tillage methods and application of different fertilizer combinations on maize productivity in the lower and upper midland agro-ecological zones of Kenya. Tillage methods were no-tillage (NT) with crop residue retention as mulch (+CR) (NT+CR) and conventional tillage (CT) without crop residue retention on farm surface (-CR) (CT-CR) while fertilizer combinations were NK, NP, PK, NPK, and NPK+CaMgZnBS. The N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, B and S nutrients were applied at the rates of 120, 40, 40, 10, 10, 5 and 26.3 kg ha-1, respectively. The trials were laid in a randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement and replicated three times. The results showed that maize leaf area index, plant height, aboveground biomass, crop growth rate, and grain yield were significantly higher under CT-CR than under NT+CR in most of the sites. The CT-CR system out-yielded NT+CR system by 0.3 t ha-1 and 0.6 t ha-1 maize grain in Alupe and Kirinyaga, respectively. However, NT+CR system out-yielded CT-CR system by 0.4 t ha -1 maize grain at Embu. Across all the sites, application of PK and NPK+ZnBMgCaS fertilizer combinations resulted, respectively, in lowest and highest maize shoot biomass, leaf area indices, crop growth rates, plant heights, and grain yields. Based on this result alone, the potential of conservation agriculture in improving yields compared to conventional tillage could not be conclusive despite consistently recording higher soil moisture content across all sites and better yields in Embu. Again, application of a wide range of nutrients may be beneficial to maize production in the study areas as evidenced in the study. Therefore, we recommend multi-season and multi-location trials to comprehensively assess the impact of tillage methods and fertilizer management, particularly in relation to micronutrients.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production is constrained majorly by drought and low soil fertility in Kenya. These limitations have never been adequately approached due to financial challenges and lack of better technology. A study was carried out in Kirinyaga and Embu Counties to evaluate the effects of tillage method and residual fertilizers on yield performance of dry bean. Dry bean was grown in the short rains season on plots preceded by fertilized maize (Zea mays L.) grown in the long rains season. The trials were laid out in a randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement. The tillage methods, NT+CR and CT-CR, where NT: No-tillage, CT: Conventional tillage, and CR: Crop residue, were assigned the main plot and residual fertilizers (NK, NP, PK, NPK, and NPK+CaMgZnBS) the subplots. The results showed that there was 35% and 46% more water retention under NT+CR than under CT-CR system in Embu and Kirinyaga sites, respectively. NT+CR produced higher biomass, more number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, and 1000-seed weight. Plots with residual NPK+ZnBMgCaS yielded higher biomass at 60 DAE, number of seeds per pod, 1000-seed weight and grain yield than plots with other treatments. The residual NPK+ZnBMgCaS and NPK treatments out yielded PK treatment by 600 kg ha-1 and 370 kg ha-1 (Embu) and by 710 kg ha-1 and 330 kg ha-1 (Kirinyaga), respectively. Based on these results, cultivation of dry bean on residual fertilizer nutrients solely or in combination with no-till and crop residue retention after maize harvest has the potential to improve the yields and food security among farmers in the region.

Agricultural farming is a complicated system that involves continuous interactions among its multiple components over a period of time. The series of activities involved in farming practices have enormous contributions to ensure food security for the humanity. With the passage of time, agriculture sector faces diversified challenges like high food demand of rapidly growing population, scarcity of available resources and adverse effect of climate change. In developing countries like Bangladesh, food sufficiency is mostly achieved through intensive farming which has detrimental effects on natural resources, surrounding environment, and the whole ecosystem. The review attempts to discover the potentials of conservation agriculture practices for sustainable crop productivity and economic profitability of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh. This study revealed that conservation farm management practice is a cost-effective modernized technique that has the ability to accelerate crop productivity and farmers income through minimum utilization of agricultural inputs. Although the concept of conservation agriculture is widely practiced in other parts of the world, Bangladesh is experiencing a slow rate of adoption during the last few years. The policy implication of the study suggests that the government should take coordinated and combined initiatives involving both public and private sector organizations to incorporate this concept into the mainstream agricultural system of Bangladesh.