Conservation Agriculture in Latin America

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) has been widely successful in the Southern Cone region of South America. A leader in the development of CA practices and technology, Brazil has encouraged the spread of CA throughout the region through an effective and innovative network of farmers and their associations, private and public partnerships. The benefits of CA in Latin America include soil conservation, reduced production costs, and increased soil biodiversity, which enhances environmental equilibrium, improves crop water balance, and increases yields. In other regions of Latin America, however, such as Central America and the Andean region, CA adoption has proven more difficult. A review of case studies in Latin America suggests that CA adoption is limited by socioeconomic constraints, access to appropriate machinery, crop-residue trade-offs, lack of adaptation of the technology to farmer’s agronomic constraints, and uncoordinated efforts of stakeholders. The development of effective CA innovation systems in countries such as Brazil and Mexico has been instrumental in overcoming factors limiting CA adoption and reflects the importance of collaboration between public and private sectors, including machinery manufacturers, as well as the need for positive incentives and low-interest loans to make technology affordable for farmers. In addition, CA education, information dissemination through extension agents and farmers, and greater policy support and social capital, can help change attitudes and conventional farming practices.