Environmental implications of three modern agricultural practices: Conservation Agriculture,the System of Rice Intensification and Precision Agriculture

Substantial and rapid changes in agricultural land management practices are being made in many countries on all five inhabited continents: Conservation Agriculture, comprising practices that avoid or minimise mechanical soil disturbance, maintain a protective soil mulch cover, and produce crops in rotations or associations; the System of Rice Intensification, in which rice is grown in mainly moist, aerobic soils; and Precision Agriculture, using practices that optimise the use of seed, fertilisers and other production inputs. These management systems provide considerable financial benefits to farmers as well as important environmental benefits, including reversal of land degradation, reduction of river pollution, increased carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The nature and scale of these benefits need to be measured and monitored in different agro-ecological and socio-political environments. The reasons for different rates of adoption of these improved practices between and within countries also deserve examination.