Conservation Agriculture minimizes production costs and the negative impacts on the environment, while improving productivity and resilience, including adaptation to climate change and mitigation of its effects.

Organisation

Key reasons to attend this course

Better understand the concepts and principles of CA and its benefits.
Evaluate the challenges and solutions for better management of CA systems.
Better manage the transition process from conventional agriculture to CA.
Integrate theory and practical experiences to provide support for effective adoption of CA.
Develop a framework for economic, social and environmental evaluation of CA.
Be aware of the possibilities offered by the institutional framework supporting the development of CA.
Strengthen cooperation between the main stakeholders for promoting and improving CA.
Connect with professionals from other countries and promote networking to foster the consolidation of the CA.

Lecturers

S. Abidi, INRAT, Tunis (Tunisia)
J. Álvaro-Fuentes, CSIC-EEAD, Zaragoza (Spain)
P. Annicchiarico, CREA, Lodi (Italy)
M. Benetti, Univ. Padova (Italy)
V. Bodas, AgriSat Iberia SL, Albacete (Spain)
C. Cantero-Martínez, UdL, Lleida (Spain)
H. Cicek, FiBL, Frick (Switzerland)
G. Cruz, APOSOLO, Évora (Portugal)
M. Devkota, ICARDA, Rabat (Morocco)
G. d’Alessandro, Agromnia, Bisceglie (Italy)
T. Gitsopoulos, HAO-Demeter, Thessaloniki (Greece)
M. Latati, ENSA, Alger (Argelia)
D. Marandola, CREA, Roma (Italy)
M. Marguerie, ARVALIS, Gréoux (France)
R. Moussadek, INRA, Rabat (Morocco)
M. Rinaldi, CREA, Foggia (Italy)
L. Sartori, Univ. Padova (Italy)
Y.A. Yigezu, ICARDA, Cairo (Egypt)

Online live sessions with applied examples, case studies, debate and virtual technical visit

18 Leading international experts

Course in English, French and Spanish with interpretation

Programme

Programme Timetable Brochure
  • 1. Introduction and overview
    • 1.1. Principles and concepts of CA and its role in sustainable agriculture in dry areas
    • 1.2. Overview of CA farming systems in Mediterranean environments and current status
  • 2. Bases of CA under Mediterranean environments
    • 2.1. Soil properties and functions change under CA
      • 2.1.1. Soil biodiversity
      • 2.1.2. Soil erosion
      • 2.1.3. Soil organic matter dynamics and its role in CA
    • 2.2. Water use efficiency and water productivity
  • 3. Technical challenges and advances in crop management under CA
    • 3.1. Crop residues
    • 3.2. Crop fertilization
    • 3.3. Cropping systems
      • 3.3.1. New breeding approaches for CA adapted plant material
      • 3.3.2. The importance of legumes in cropping systems
      • 3.3.3. Rotation, associations, sequences and cover crops
      • 3.3.4. Integration of CA in organic farming systems
    • 3.4. Crop-livestock integration under CA
    • 3.5. Crop protection under CA: weeds, herbicide resistance, pests and diseases
    • 3.6. Equipment and machinery in different CA systems
    • 3.7. Discussion: transition from conventional to CA systems
  • 4. Socioeconomic and environmental implications
    • 4.1. Farmer benefits at short and long term (productivity, efficiency, output benefit, income, resilience)
    • 4.2. Environmental benefits
    • 4.3. Social, cultural and economic barriers for CA adoption
  • 5. Policy and institutional options
    • 5.1. Need for knowledge integration in education, research and extension services
    • 5.2. Strategies to promote CA adoptions in Mediterranean environments
    • 5.3. The role of the main stakeholders (farmer organizations, policy-makers, extension services, private sector, NGOs, etc.)
  • 6. Case studies
    • 6.1. ICARDA’s experiences in promoting CA farming in CWANA region
    • 6.2. Reasons for adopting conservation agriculture in a specific irrigated and rainfed cereal farm in Alentejo, Portugal
    • 6.3. Practical case on integration of crops and livestock under CA in Tunisia
    • 6.4. Fixing CA based on living covers with and without irrigation in southern France
    • 6.5. Cereal-legume rotation in rainfed cropping systems in southern Italy
    • 6.6. Cereal-legume intercropping in a rainfed cropping system in Algeria
    • 6.7. Effects of CA on soil properties and productivity under a dryland cereal-based system in Morocco
    • 6.8. Irrigated and rainfed crop rotations in Greece
    • 6.9. Case study discussion
  • 7. Virtual Technical visit

Train at an outstanding international institution

Registration

If you wish to participate in the course, apply online at the following address: admission.iamz.ciheam.org

The course is designed for 30 professionals with a university degree. It is intended for technical specialists, researchers and decision-makers involved in or concerned with the development and application of Conservation Agriculture.

  • The course will be held online from 14 to 23 February 2022, 8 days, 4 hours per day, scheduled from 9:15 h to 13:45 h (Central European Time).
  • Application deadline: 15 January 2022.
  • There are no registration fees for this course.

Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza

Av. Montañana 1005, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain

www.iamz.ciheam.org

iamz@iamz.ciheam.org

+34 976716000

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