1 Introduction

This chapter examines the evolution of crop management practices in the Fertile Crescent, which is the center of origin for many of the world’s crops, and the development of zero tillage (ZT) and conservation agriculture (CA) systems in the Middle East or West Asia. It focuses on a series of projects funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) being conducted by the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) between 2005 and 2015 with the aim of promoting improving cropping systems in the rainfed areas of northern Iraq. Before these projects started, the area of ZT adoption in the Middle East was effectively zero. This project had and continues to have significant impact in promoting the adoption of ZT in northern Iraq with spillover effects in other countries, especially in Syria , where most of the research experiments were conducted at the ICARDA Tel Hadya headquarters near Aleppo.

Haddad et al. (2014a) recently reviewed CA in West Asia but this chapter differs in a number of respects. We take a long-term view of tillage, rotations, and other farming practices in this region, starting with the first likely crop management techniques within the Fertile Crescent, and examining how these changed over the millennia. We also explore the relatively recent changes in dryland farming systems of Australia and their relevance to the Middle East. Data from an extensive evaluation of ZT by Syrian farmers are presented, including over 500 comparisons of ZT plus early sowing with conventional crop management practices in neighboring fields. Up-to-date, figures of CA adoption are summarized for the important cropping countries in the Middle East, including the 2012/2013 season not covered by Haddad et al. (2014a) , and the impact of the recent conflict in Syria on adoption is discussed.

2 Cultivation in the Fertile Crescent

About 12,000 years ago, inhabitants of the region now known as the Fertile Crescent, started gathering seeds of grasses and other edible plants to help overcome the threat of famine. Around 6,000 BC, they made the revolutionary step of purposefully planting seeds and managing crops, and at this point in history, agriculture, the active management of plants for food, feed, and fiber production, and human civilization began (Riehl et al. 2013) . The Fertile Crescent stretches from the Persian Gulf, north along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers restricted to the east by the Zagros Mountains which separate modern-day Iraq from Iran ; east across northern Syria and to the south of the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey; south down along the Mediterranean coast of what is now Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , and Jordan ; and along the Nile valley in Egypt . This area was the source of some of the most productive and important crops grown around the world today, as people from the other continents (e.g., Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia) acquired, adapted, and successfully cultivated the crops from this region. In effect, these crops were a great gift from this region that enabled the agricultural development of many other countries.

The first farmers in the Fertile Crescent probably made holes in their soils with a stick during the wet winter season and in each hole planted a few seeds of the wild progenitors of many of our modern crops—e.g., wheat (emmer and einkorn), barley, flax, chickpea, field pea, lentil, or bitter vetch. Over thousands of seasons of trial and error and collective experience, they gradually improved the management of their crops and actively selected the types of plants that produced the greatest yield and quality of seeds. Likewise, they domesticated goats, sheep, cows, and pigs which they grazed mainly on the rich production of the wild grasses and forage legumes in the vast uncultivated parts of the landscape. And so, the Fertile Crescent developed into a food basket driving population growth in the Middle East and Mediterranean region.

2.1 Tillage

Crop management in the Fertile Crescent was dominated by minimal soil disturbance for the first few millennia (Huggins and Reganold 2008) . Farmers, initially using human power and soon after with the help of animals, created furrows in which the seeds were spread and then backfilled with loose soil. About 3,500 BC, the Egyptians and Sumerians invented the plowshare, a wooden frame with an iron blade, to loosen the top soil, kill weeds, and facilitate seed placement. This plow technology and its more modern equivalents became the standard practice for seedbed preparation as agriculture spread to most parts of the world, but it was costly. Much of the fodder grown or grain harvested at the end of the season was required to feed the draft animals. It was not until the early 1900s that the development of farm tractors and cheap oil allowed farmers to plow the soil repeatedly and on large scales causing massive soil disturbance. This enabled farmers to increase the size of their fields and farms with minimal labor or animal costs. Three or four tillage operations before sowing with different types of cultivators and harrows (moldboard, disc, duckfoot, or chisel points) were common.

2.2 Improvements in Sowing

Seeding methods in the Middle East remained basic for many decades. The soil was cultivated once or twice using a plow or one-set duckfoot cultivator to loosen the soil, kill weeds, and initiate ridges and furrows on the soil surface. Fertilizer (when used) and seed were then spread into the furrows by hand, or top-dressed using a fertilizer spinner, or in more advanced cases, using a hopper with a simple metering device mounted on the plow. Finally, the furrows were backfilled with the use of harrows, spikes, or a heavy bar called “tabban” in Arabic (). Alternatively, the ridges were split and filled the furrows using the same plow device, thereby covering the seed. This sowing technique, known as “broadcast over ridges” or in Arabic as “ayar and rdad” (), is still used today in wheat- or barley-based systems in the less developed parts of the eastern Mediterranean region . It typically results in highly variable seed depth, and low and variable plant emergence.

Interestingly, another seeding practice called “skin planting” or “ziraat al jild” in Arabic () was developed in the region when farmers were exceptionally late in planting and had no time for the normal tillage operations. The farmer simply broadcast his seeds and fertilizer directly onto untilled soil, and then covered it with an animal-drawn plow, duckfoot cultivator, or shallow moldboard plow. This was an early form of “direct drilling” but the resulting seed depth and emergence were extremely inconsistent.

Modern conventional seeders or seed drills were introduced to the region in the second half of the twentieth century. These were designed for sowing after the seedbed had been plowed and harrowed, typically using duckfoot points (or soil openers) which created high soil disturbance and killed any remaining weeds growing in the field. Even though disc-type seeders were common in other countries, tines were preferred over discs in the Middle East because of their lower cost and weight—this was also the case in Australia and Canada . Modern seed drills usually have accurate seed and fertilizer metering and placement systems, and can produce uniform and excellent crop establishment. Of course, the seeders must be well maintained, calibrated, and operated correctly, which is often not the case for poor illiterate farmers in the Middle East. Even the simple tine-type seeders are too expensive for many small, poor farmers which is why the traditional seeding systems described earlier still exist today in some districts.

2.3 Crop Sequences

Rotation of crops has probably been used for millennia in the Fertile Crescent, after the early farmers noticed the yields of cereals following legume crops were much improved compared to the continuous production of cereals year after year. By alternating crops, weed, insect, and disease problems were reduced and, as we know now, legumes fix nitrogen from the atmosphere which is partly carried over in the crop residues and within the soil for following crops. A common crop sequence practiced in Syria and other countries consisted of cereal (wheat or barley) followed by a legume (lentil or chickpea), and then in the 3rd year, a winter fallow was implemented followed by a summer crop (melon, sugar beet, etc.) grown on residual moisture from the winter rains. In many cases, village agricultural land was divided into three large communal blocks, one for each course of the rotation, and each family in the village owned a portion of land within each rotation block. Livestock collectively grazed the winter fallow blocks before they were moved to open rangeland areas in spring, and back then to the cereal and legume blocks after harvest to utilize the valuable crop residues and spilt grain. This collective approach to farming contributed to the understanding still present in many areas of the Middle East that crop residues are a common property available to everyone.

The practice of fallowing or “resting” the soil was and still is thought to improve soil fertility , and any weed growth can be utilized by livestock. In the 1900s, the availability of cheap fuel, tractors, and plows allowed farmers to kill weeds during the fallow period with tillage, and thereby conserve more moisture from one season to the next. Although farmers missed out on any production during the fallow year, it was hoped that this would be offset by the increased moisture and fertility, resulting in improved production in the following season. Hence, the barley–fallow rotation remains widespread in dry areas of the Middle East and is highly integrated with the production of small ruminants (Ryan et al. 2008) .

2.4 Population Growth and Soil Degradation

In more recent decades, populations have rapidly grown, the numbers of sheep and goats have increased, and the pressure on the native rangelands and crop residues has escalated (Aw Hassan et al. 2010) . In addition, the production of forage crops including annual legume species native to the region is not widespread (Ates et al. 2013) . Feed resources for livestock are often insufficient, so supplementary feeding with barley or other feeds is required. Heavy grazing of crop residues often leaves the soil completely bare during the summer and autumn months, and highly prone to wind and water erosion, especially in dry seasons when feed is in short supply. Summer and autumn dust storms are common. The application of fertilizers rarely replaces the nutrients removed from the soil, and declining organic matter and poor structure caused by excessive tillage and wind and water erosion lead to reduced soil fertility. Although crop legumes (lentil and chickpea) had been grown for millennia in this region, they fell out of favor in many areas, partly because of an inability to harvest them with modern harvesters like cereals, problems with weeds, pests and diseases, and high wheat prices paid to farmers by governments who artificially inflated wheat’s value in an attempt to boost production and food security. A collapse in soil fertility is thought to have been a major factor in the decline of many ancient civilizations in several parts of the world including those in the Middle East (Montgomery 2007) .

The ongoing impacts of population growth, climate change, and unsustainable resource management exacerbate the constraints on land and food supply, and these are predicted to become increasingly evident in the Middle East and North Africa, where most countries rely heavily on imports to feed their growing populations (World Bank 2008). By the second half of the twentieth century, the Fertile Crescent had become just a glimmer of its former glory, and many areas could no longer be described as fertile, and it was not alone. Crop production in many parts of the world suffered a similar fate in a much shorter time frame during the first half of the century, including North America and Australia.

3 Australia’s Example and Gift to the Middle East

The current agroecologies in the dryland areas of the Middle East have many similarities to those which prevailed prior to the 1970s in southern Australia . The edaphic constraints of both environments are alike. Both experience a Mediterranean-type environment with hot dry summers and cool wet winters, and in most areas, crop production is only possible during the winter and spring period because irrigation is not widely available. Crop rotations are dominated by wheat and barley, although in southern Australia, these were often grown in rotation with pastures based on subterranean clover, and fallow was widely utilized in low-rainfall areas to conserve soil moisture for the following winter season (Burvill 1979) . Soils in both regions are typically infertile with poor structures and low amounts of organic matter. Alkaline, fine-textured soils are common to both regions, although parts of Australia also contain areas of acidic, coarse-textured soils, especially in Western Australia . Crop residues are heavily grazed by sheep especially in dry seasons, leading to water and wind erosion and dust storms. After the first autumn rains, two or three cultivations are often employed to kill weeds and this typically results in a 3–4-week delay before sowing can commence. As a result of the constraints of the climate and the crop management practices, the average grain yields of rainfed cereals are limited to around 1.0 t ha−1 in the Middle East, as was also the case in Australia in the 1960s.

Over the past 50 years, Australian farmers have changed their production systems dramatically. They have eliminated fallow phases, introduced new crops (e.g., grain legumes and canola), and embraced herbicides to kill weeds immediately before planting and/or selectively within the crop growth period (Anderson and Angus 2011) . Herbicides enabled farmers to manage weeds without plowing and plant crops before or soon after the first autumn rains. During the last two or three decades, there has also been a dramatic shift away from plowing before sowing toward the adoption of ZT seeders (mostly tine-type) to sow seeds and fertilizers into undisturbed soil in narrow slots while most of the residues from the previous crop are left either standing or on the soil surface between the rows. The adoption of ZT in Australia has been driven by a combination of three main factors: high fuel and labor costs; the ability to conserve soil moisture , which enables early crop establishment particularly when autumn rains are marginal; and a desire to minimize the risk of soil erosion (D’Emden et al. 2008) . The adoption of ZT practices is now widespread across Australia, and in many regions more than 85 % of all agricultural land is not cultivated (Llewellyn et al. 2012) . Australia is now held up as an example of where the adoption of three key principles of CA, that is ZT, soil cover, and diverse rotations, has been a success (Kassam et al. 2012) .

The similarities between the environments and cropping systems of the dryland areas of the West Asia and southern Australia gave collaborating Australian scientists confidence that CA practices, especially ZT and early sowing , could have a role to play in increasing crop productivity and improving farmer livelihoods in the Middle East. This led to the first phase of a project funded by ACIAR , which started in 2005. It was hoped that this project would provide a more advanced and sustainable cropping system for the Middle East, based on the one developed and used widely in southern Australia with crops originating from the Fertile Crescent. Australia had benefited greatly from the crops given by the Fertile Crescent. If elements of the Australian cropping system could be adapted to local conditions in the Middle East, it might in turn be a “gift” back to the Fertile Crescent that contributes to the restoration of the region as the food basket for its expanding populations who are much troubled by civil conflicts.

4 Zero-tillage Adoption in Iraq and Syria

Nineteen years before the Australian-funded project started, a long-term tillage experiment was established at ICARDA’s headquarters at Tel Hadya, near Aleppo in northern Syria . The experiment compared conventional deep disc plowing and chisel cultivation, conservation tillage by a duckfoot cultivator, and direct seeding with ZT in two crop rotations: durum wheat–lentil–melon and bread wheat–chickpea–melon. All treatments were sown at the same time, well after the first autumn rains. Pala et al. (2000) reported no significant differences in the mean and range of grain yields and water-use efficiencies among the different tillage systems in both rotations over a 12-year period (1986–1997). Changes in weed populations were observed, and a higher level of weed management was required in the ZT plots. An economic analysis of the results was not conducted, but the ZT treatments would have provided cost savings associated with reduced fuel and labor inputs, and one could assume that these would produce higher profits than the conventional tillage (CT) treatments. However, no concerted effort was made to extend these results to farmers.

At the start of the ACIAR project, local researchers and extension specialists were skeptical whether crops could be grown in the region without plowing, partly because of the observations of increased weeds in ZT plots from the earlier tillage experiment. In response, the project initiated a series of research experiments commencing in 2005 to verify, adapt, and demonstrate ZT and other CA and improved crop management practices. These could not be done in northern Iraq (the target region of the project) because civil unrest and insurgency made it impossible for international staff to visit, undertake research, or conduct extension activities there. Instead, much of the research was conducted at Tel Hadya, where good facilities were available and international staff resided nearby. Early experiments confirmed that ZT cropping was indeed not only possible but also more profitable than CT systems, giving similar or better crop performance at lower cost. Other experiments and demonstrations were also conducted in Iraq by project collaborators, producing good results. These were instrumental in generating awareness and interest in ZT technology among other scientists and innovative farmers from Iraq and Syria inspecting this work and discussing the concepts of CA and ZT technology. The ICARDA adaptive research program also encouraged researchers, extensionists, and farmers to conduct similar experiments, demonstrations, and field evaluations in other parts of Syria, Iraq , and other neighboring countries .

To the best of our knowledge, no farmers were using ZT in Iraq or Syria when the project started in 2005. Since then, awareness and experience of ZT grew quickly, local ZT seeders were developed and became available commercially, and the technology was demonstrated and extended by participatory groups in both Iraq and Syria during the second phase of the project which started in 2008. The area and number of farmers adopting ZT increased steadily, undoubtedly as a direct result of the project, and with associated support from the national partners. In 2011/2012, measurements of adoption were around 30,000 ha by more than 500 farmers in Syria, and 7,800 ha by about 100 farmers in the Ninevah governorate in Iraq (Piggin et al. 2011) . More recent surveys show further increases in 2012/2013 to more than 10,000 ha in Iraq; however, accurate figures for Syria were not available because of the ongoing conflict in that country (Figs. 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, and 9.4).

Fig. 9.1
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Area and numbers of farmers that adopted zero tillage (ZT) in northern Iraq and Syria between 2006 and 2013

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Fig. 9.2
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Colin Piggin (Project Manager 2005–2011) explains to visitors one of the long-term experiments conducted at Tel Hadya, Syria, in 2008. (Photo: A. Haddad)

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Fig. 9.3
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A field workshop comparing the performance of various seeders at Tel Hadya, Syria, in 2009. (Photo: Y. Khalil)

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Fig. 9.4
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Syrian farmer, Ismail Jarrad, purchased an Ashbal zeo tillage (ZT) seeder made by Ibrahim Shibley at Qabbaseen, Syria, in 2011. (Photo: A. Haddad)

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The civil unrest which commenced in Syria in 2011 prompted ICARDA to withdraw its international staff in the middle of 2012, and while its input into the promotion of ZT was greatly reduced, Syrian research and extension partners continued to support farmer groups where they were able. In the 2012/2013 season, ZT adoption appears to have increased because the conflict prompted more farmers to reconsider their crop management practices (Haddad et al. 2014b) . The supply of fuel was often limited and prices increased by about four times in less than two years, so plowing rapidly became a lot more expensive. In 2012/2013, one farmer in the Kamishly area, Mr. Ali Alewi, indicated that he was able to plant four times the area of crop using ZT because of the fuel and other savings compared to his previous intensive plowing practices. In addition, plowing during a civil conflict involved considerable personal risk, not only while working in the field but also during travel and the transport of machinery from village residences to sometimes distant fields along public roads, so this was another motivation to switch to ZT. Haddad et al. (2014b) estimated that the area of ZT adoption in Syria in 2012/2013 may have reached as high as 50,000 ha, with plowed fields difficult to find in some northeastern districts.

There is little doubt that the project had a major impact in the adoption of ZT in Syria and Iraq in a relatively short period of time. The significant success of the project can be attributed to three critical strategies which we now explore:

  1. 1.

    Adaptive research to verify and fine-tune the technology for the region

  2. 2.

    Development of small, simple, and low-cost ZT seeders

  3. 3.

    Participatory extension campaigns that enabled farmers to test ZT seeders and develop CA packages on their own farms

5 Adaptive Research

During 2005–2012, more than 40 adaptive research experiments investigated the suitability of elements of the CA cropping systems used in southern Australia to northern Syria and northern Iraq. Other experiments were also conducted by the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research in Syria and the University of Mosul in Iraq. A number of aspects of CA and improved crop management were investigated.

5.1 Crop Yields

Results in bread and durum wheat, barley, lentil, and chickpea showed that seeding without plowing resulted in similar or better crop growth and grain yields than the CT systems requiring two or three cultivations before sowing. The importance of the combination of ZT and early sowing was clearly apparent in the first few seasons. For example, in 2007–2008, lentil yield was 0.67 t/ha with the traditional farmer practice of CT and late sowing, and 1.23 t/ha with ZT and early sowing—a massive increase of 84 % (Piggin et al. 2011) . The majority of the yield increase in the new cropping systems in northern Syria was attributed to the earlier sowing—in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, early sowing accounted for 52–83 % of the yield response. As was the case in Australia, direct seeding into undisturbed soils enabled early sowing either before or immediately after the first effective autumn rains which often improved water-use efficiency and produced significant yield increase in the cereals and grain legumes, particularly when the growing season rainfall was below average (Piggin et al. 2014) . The elimination of plowing, which reduces costs and in some cases increases crop yields, also permits early sowing, which subsequently increases yield in most seasons.

5.2 Soil Moisture and Fertility

In an analysis of a long-term experiment in 2009/2010 on the clay soil at Tel Hadya and using crop modeling with over 30 years of weather data, Sommer et al. (2012) suggest there is little benefit in retaining standing stubble in terms of soil water retention and yield at this site. Insignificant differences in crop growth, water use, and grain yields were measured between plots where 100 or 30 % of the crop residues were retained. This may be because of the “self-mulching” characteristic of this soil, which naturally prevents soil evaporation , however, they measured about 55 % of the seasonal precipitation was lost by unproductive soil evaporation in most years. Another factor in the lack of a measurable mulching effect may have been the fact that the residue treatments differed only in the amount of standing stubble left after harvest, while the amount of residues left laying on the soil surface were similar.

Improvements in soil fertility (organic carbon, available phosphorus, water-stable aggregates, and water infiltration) were measured in the experiments after 5–6 years (Loss et al. 2013) . The carbon sequestration rate associated with increased soil organic matter was in the range of 0.27–0.30 Mg C/ha/year, and this rather modest increase was probably due to low to moderate crop productivity and a reasonable starting soil organic matter content of about 1.3 %. No effects of tillage or residue retention were measured on soil mineral N, microbial biomass, bulk density, or moisture retention.

5.3 Seed Rates and Varieties

Other experiments showed that seed rates could be reduced significantly because of the more accurate seed placement and metering with ZT seeders, resulting in improved plant establishment and early vigor, especially when crops were sown early. Traditional sowing practices with little control over seed placement (e.g., broadcast over ridges), poor quality seed, and the misperception that thick crops resulted in higher yields meant farmers typically used seed rates as high as 250–300 kg/ha for cereals. In contrast, the results from the field experiments indicated that seed rates of 70–100 kg ha−1 produced the most profitable outcomes over a range of seasons when sown early with accurate ZT seeders and good-quality seed.

In other experiments with a limited number of cereal and legume genotypes, results suggested that varieties which performed well under CT also performed well with ZT, and, therefore, breeders need not select varieties specifically for CA systems (Piggin et al. 2011) . This requires further confirmation with a greater number of genotypes. Nonetheless, it is advisable that breeding programs switch to the new crop management practices to develop varieties best adapted to this system, given the rapid adoption of ZT, early sowing , and reduced seed rates in Syria and Iraq. There may be traits that make some varieties better adapted to particular aspects of the new cropping system; for example, cereals with long coleoptiles are better able to emerge through thick crop residues.

5.4 Weeds and Diseases

Plowing and removal of crop residue was widely justified as a technique to avoid the buildup of weeds and diseases. In a long-term tillage × time of sowing experiment conducted at Tel Hadya, the total weed population was increased in a cereal grain–legume rotation under ZT compared to CT after 6 years, however, the total weed biomass was less under ZT than CT (Khalil et al. 2013) . The weed populations in the ZT plots were dominated by the legumes Scorpiurus muricatus L. (scorpion plant) and Coronilla scorpioides (L.) W. D. J. Koch (annual scorpion vetch) which tend to be small and are not very competitive with the crop, so their impact on crop growth was actually minimal. The weed spectrum changed with the adoption of ZT and it is likely that the weed seeds remaining on the soil surface in ZT were more prone to predation by insects and other animals, and their viability was reduced by greater exposure to the elements. Later observations in farmers’ fields confirmed that the overall weed burdens under ZT were often not different or lower than CT. In many low- to medium-rainfall environments in the Middle East, there is no summer rainfall and weeds are unable to grow until the first autumn rains. In the majority of the experiments at Tel Hadya, when crops were sown before or immediately after the first rains, there was no noteworthy weed growth immediately before sowing and the use of a nonselective herbicide was not required. Surveys of fungal diseases and nematodes in a number of crops in ICARDA’s long-term experiments showed no effect of ZT and crop residue retention, apart from Ascochyta blight in chickpea which was more widespread but not more severe in the ZT than CT plots, especially when sown early (Seid et al. 2012) .

5.5 Growing Awareness

The adaptive experiments conducted by ICARDA, the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, and the University of Mosul were instrumental in convincing skeptical scientists and technical staff that crops could be grown successfully without tillage. Some of these people had spent many decades believing that tillage was essential for weed control, good soil structure and water infiltration , low bulk density and favorable root growth, and disease and weed management, just as they had been taught many years earlier. But seeing the crop growth in the experiments first hand and the yield data after harvest played a critical role in changing their thinking.

Innovative farmers also visited the experiments at field days, and were given an introduction to the principles of the technology and how CA is implemented in other parts of the world. In many cases, the practice of tilling for land preparation was deeply ingrained and while many did not think ZT was viable, even after seeing the experimental results, they could see the benefits of reducing costs. Reluctant to abandon tillage completely, they often asked if reduced tillage might provide similar benefits. Consequently, there was an initial tendency to switch from the moldboard plow to using one pass of a chisel plow or duckfoot cultivator before sowing. However, early experimental results in Syria showed this was less preferable than going directly to ZT, partially because it did not allow early sowing or the same level of cost saving. Similar results with minimum tillage were obtained in Iraq (Alrijabo 2014) .

Some progressive farmers inspecting the experiments immediately saw the potential benefits of ZT and were keen to test the new approach including early sowing, so a “conservation cropping package” was developed as a set of “best bet” recommendations for crop management (Table 9.1). As discussed later, the elimination of plowing and use of a ZT seeder were depicted as the most important elements, because these delivered immediate cost savings to farmers and in most cases yield increases. All other elements, including crop residue retention and rotation, were communicated as desirable options but farmers were not encouraged to adopt all parts of the package simultaneously.

Table 9.1 The elements of the recommended “conservation cropping package” derived from field experiments conducted in Syria and Iraq from 2005 to 2010
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6 Development of Zero Tillage Seeders

To implement the most critical part of the cropping package, i.e., eliminating plowing and direct drilling , farmers needed access to suitable ZT seeders. Most imported ZT seeders were heavy, expensive, complicated to use, and difficult to maintain and repair, and therefore were not suitable for small farmers in developing countries. Several earlier research and development projects in other countries had demonstrated the advantages of ZT using imported seeders, but subsequent adoption was usually limited to large farmers who could afford to invest in imported machinery and derive a rapid and substantial return on their investment over the large areas of their farms. For example, in Morocco CA research started in the 1980s and demonstrated significant improvements in soil fertility and crop production (Mrabet 2007) , but 30 years later adoption is still low. Similarly, the benefits of ZT were measured in various parts of Turkey two decades ago, but subsequent adoption by farmers was negligible (Gültekin et al. 2011) . For most small farmers, the lack of suitable small ZT seeders or service providers using such equipment is a major barrier to adoption. Farmers in northern Syria and Iraq are relatively small (less than 20 ha), they lack the financial resources to invest in expensive machinery, and they can derive only a small benefit each year because of their limited cropping area. So the development of at least one supplier of small, simple, and affordable ZT seeders was considered essential if permanent and widespread adoption of ZT was to occur in the Middle East.

6.1 Syrian Manufacturing

In the Middle East, tined seeders with knifepoints were favored over disc machines because of their simplicity, robustness, and suitability to a wide range of soil types. A number of machinery workshops operated in Syria but their scale and quality was low by international standards. In 2007, machinery manufacturers near Aleppo were invited to inspect the field experiments at Tel Hadya and be introduced to CA technology. After seeing examples of ZT seeders and the impressive crop results in the field, several expressed interest in producing ZT prototypes. Their manufacturing capacity was enhanced with expertise from Australian agricultural engineers, and a number of prototype ZT seeders were manufactured commencing in 2008.

The flexible conservation cropping package promoted to farmers permitted grazing of crop residues before sowing, so the ability of the ZT seeders to sow into thick stubble was not essential, especially in rainfed fields where yields are often low. But in irrigated areas with intensive cropping, high yields, and low populations of grazing animals, there were some difficulties with heavy crop residues causing clumping and blockages of seed and fertilizer during sowing operations. These were overcome by widening the spacing between rows (typically from 15–17 to 20–25 cm), redistributing tines on three rather than two tool bars (or ranks), and lifting the seed and fertilizer boxes to allow the free flow of seed and fertilizer down the tubes to the furthest tines. Most had separate seed and fertilizer placement, but did not include press wheels to minimize the cost.

Many of the Syrian manufacturers benefited from a close association with their customers and they became promoters of the technology to a wider group of farmers inquiring about the purchase of machinery. Iterative improvements in seeder design and manufacture were assisted by the close links between the machinery workshops and farmer groups . In 2012, there were seven manufacturers of ZT seeders in Syria, mostly village based, and over 70 locally made seeders had been purchased by farmers for US$ 2000–7000 (see Fig. 9.5). Some seeders were also exported to other countries for CA development projects. The local manufacturing of ZT seeders created badly needed employment in rural areas and provided farmers with good access to advice, spare parts, and repairs when required.

Fig. 9.5
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Six of the simple zero tillage (ZT) seeders produced commercially by local village workshops in Syria in 2011. Prices varied from US$ 2000 to 7,000. (Photos: A. Haddad)

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During 2012, improvements in materials, design, and construction were ongoing when the escalation of the civil unrest disrupted manufacturing operations and workshops were unable to meet the increasing demand for ZT seeders. With the decline in the manufacture of seeders, Syrian farmers have recently turned more towards converting conventional seeders to ZT by simply replacing the traditional duckfoot points with locally made narrow knife-edge openers (Haddad et al. 2014b) .

6.2 Iraqi Manufacturing

In northern Iraq, manufacturing capacity and availability of materials had been weakened by decades of conflicts and isolation of that country, so the initial focus of innovative farmers wanting to test ZT was to convert their existing conventional seeders using narrow knifepoints made locally and increasing row spacing from the common 17 to 22–30 cm (Jalili et al. 2011) . Australian John Shearer seeders introduced by earlier Australian aid projects and Rama seeders made in Jordan were popular in Iraq , and proved cheap and easy to convert to ZT. Press wheels were considered an important part of the seeding systems by the Iraqi researchers and farmers, and these were also manufactured locally and fitted to converted seeders. In Iraq, more than 40 seeders were converted to ZT and several Iraqi farmer–manufacturer groups were involved in the development of locally made seeders, tines, and press wheels. The first Iraqi-manufactured ZT seeder prototype was completed in 2012, and several units were made in 2013/2014 (Jalili et al. 2014) .

7 Participatory Extension Program

The “conservation cropping package” developed from the adaptive experimental program was initially evaluated by innovative farmers in Syria and Iraq in 2008/2009 when locally made ZT seeders first became available, and further fine-tuned to their local conditions in subsequent seasons. This package deliberately focused on eliminating tillage, adoption of ZT seeders, and sowing early with reduced rates of seed, because these changes provided the greatest immediate benefits to farmers through reduced costs (fuel, labor, and seed) and often increased yields (Table 9.1). In contrast to many other projects promoting CA around the world, little emphasis was given to the other two main principles of CA because it was recognized that maintaining soil cover with crop residues and diversifying crop rotations are more difficult changes for farmers in this region. For small farmers, many of whom are poor and illiterate, including all three aspects of CA simultaneously would have been too great a change in one step and the added complexity would have increased the likelihood that something would go wrong causing them to reject the whole package. Instead, adoption of CA was seen as a process, whereby farmers could take a step at a time when they felt ready, with ZT being the most important first step. Similar stepwise adoption of technological packages by farmers has been noted in Mexico (Byerlee and Hesse De Polanco 1986) .

7.1 Participatory Approach

The approach of this development and extension program was based on experiences from Australia, where initial research showed direct drilling or ZT cropping without plowing was promising; farmers modified their seeders because of local unavailability of commercial ZT seeders; and farmers, researchers, and extensionists worked closely together in promoting ZT awareness, experience, and adoption in a participatory manner. Lessons were also learned from CA demonstration projects in other developing countries where activities had been less successful in generating real adoption. These projects often ran CA “farmer demonstrations” where government research, development, and extension staff conducted all operations from start to finish largely independently of the farmer; used large, complex, expensive, and imported ZT seeders; provided all the inputs for the farmers; and in some cases paid farmers for use of their land. These projects were less successful probably because a sound awareness and firsthand experience with ZT was not developed by the farmers who had low levels of ownership of the activity . With no simple access to small, affordable, and effective ZT seeders, it should have been no surprise that farmers went back to their CT and sowing methods at the end of the project.

Australian experts in participatory approaches were engaged to deliver training to extension specialists in Syria and Iraq . Farmer groups were established in Iraq and Syria to evaluate the conservation cropping package, and each group was provided with a simple and affordable ZT seeder, either manufactured or converted locally in the region (Haddad et al. 2014a) . These groups involved not only farmers but also seeder manufacturers , local government employees, private and nongovernment organizations, researchers, and extension officers. Within each group, a ZT seeder was made available to farmers interested in testing it on their farm without providing any payment or inputs or other incentives to the farmer, other than use of the seeder free of charge. Some farmers were concerned about damaging the seeder, so it was guaranteed that they would not be held liable for any damage. Most groups elected a leader to coordinate the testing of the ZT seeder and arrange repairs if they were required during or after the sowing season. The fact that there were no payments for participating in the evaluation and the farmers were expected to provide all their own inputs (seed, fertilizer, fuel) was rarely questioned. This was not a constraint for innovative farmers who were keen to improve their profitability and could see the potential of the technology to increase production, reduce costs, and improve their soils.

Farmer-to-farmer communication and learning were supported and they willingly shared their experiences with other members of the group at field days and postharvest meetings (Fig. 9.6). These activities proved popular with the members of the groups and highly effective in raising awareness and adoption, with the number of participants and comparisons growing exponentially as ZT was accepted more widely each year. Many participating farmers took much pride in presenting their results and discussing potential improvements at field days and meetings with everyone present, sometimes including national television coverage. The participatory aspect of this program was critical to its success as it gave farmers ownership of the ZT demonstrations and direct experience with ZT seeder operation, early planting of crops, and reduced seed rates in their own fields.

Fig. 9.6
figure 6

Participants at a conservation agriculture (CA) field day at Al Shaikhan, Iraq, in 2013. (Photo: Z. Taha)

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As was the experience in Australia and many other parts of the world where CA has been successfully adopted (Kassam et al. 2012) , farmers and farmer-led organizations are taking a lead in developing and promoting ZT technology in Syria and Iraq in collaboration with researchers and extension organizations, and local machinery manufacturers. In an encouraging development in both Iraq and Syria, some groups of farmers proud of their achievements and keen to spread the benefits of ZT technology have independently organized and funded their own field days. An important development in Iraq was the formation of the “Mosul Society of Conservative Agriculture,” a group of farmers and scientists who encourage and support CA development and education in Ninevah.

7.2 Farmer Yields

Farmers were encouraged to compare the crop performance of their ZT field (mostly including early sowing at reduced seed rates) with CT crops in their own or nearby conventional fields, and keep good records of their management and yields. A preliminary analysis of the Syrian farmer evaluation data over three seasons is presented in Table 9.2—this includes a number of different crops (mainly barley, wheat, and lentil, but also chickpea, vetch, Lathyrus, and cumin), grown in a wide number of regions and rainfall conditions including some irrigated fields. Apart from ZT and early sowing (and in some cases reduced seed rate), the fields compared were managed similarly. In the vast majority of cases, crop growth and yields were equivalent or significantly better with ZT and early sowing compared to fields sown conventionally. Given this was the first time that many farmers had used the technology, it was surprising that CT fields outyielded ZT in only a handful of cases. On average, over all 3 years, the grain yield increases with ZT compared to CT were 0.26 t/ha (15 %) for barley (n = 278), 0.33 t/ha (19 %) for wheat (n = 264), and 0.23 t/ha (21 %) for lentil (n = 88).

Table 9.2 Summary of farmer yields comparing ZT plus early sowing with CT in nearby fields in three seasons in Syria for various crops (unpublished data)
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The 2010/2011 season was especially dry in some parts of Syria, and among the 460 comparisons, there were 103 where crops grown with CT and late sowing could not be harvested (i.e., no yield was harvested) while nearby ZT fields with early sowing produced an average grain yield of 0.57 t/ha for both wheat and barley, and 0.48 t/ha for lentil. This evidence unmistakably confirms the benefit of ZT and early sowing in dry conditions, and the ability of this technology to increase the resilience of many crops to drought and climate change in the Middle East. In addition, under situations where yields were greater than 3.0 t/ha (some irrigated) the average yield increase with ZT and early sowing across all three seasons was 0.45 t/ha (13 %) for barley (n = 71) and 0.35 t/ha (9 %) for wheat (n = 69). So, contrary to studies in other regions, these data suggest CA technology is also highly suited to favorable environments (Farooq et al. 2011).

7.3 Experiences Under Irrigation

Some researchers and farmers in Iraq also tested the conservation cropping package under supplementary sprinkler irrigation and observed similar benefits (Alrijabo 2012) . In irrigated areas where livestock numbers and the potential for grazing are low, such as the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, crop residue levels are usually large and farmers typically burn their stubbles before sowing. In some cases, excessive crop residues caused issues with direct drilling with a ZT seeder and poor crop establishment, and further improvements in the stubble-handling capacity of the seeders were required. Where crop establishment was good, farmers noted reduced irrigation water requirements and less tendency for the soils to become muddy and untrafficable, probably as a result of improved soil structure and water infiltration under ZT. As was the case for rainfed conditions, yields produced with ZT were usually similar or better than nearby CT fields. Improved timeliness of operations was also reported as an advantage of the ZT and early sowing technology, especially for farmers growing multiple crops each year. Many were able to harvest a crop one day and sow the next crop on the following day with the ZT seeder. While farmers in the region do not pay for water or face water quotas, they require fuel or electricity to run their irrigation pumps, so the ZT fields incurred lower costs associated with the pump use, in addition to the fuel savings with reduced tillage operations. Reduced need for irrigation will also increase the sustainability of local groundwater supplies.

The farmer evaluation campaign clearly demonstrated that the ZT seeder was widely applicable to all soils and seasons, and it was rare for a farmer to try a ZT seeder and not continue or expand their ZT plantings in subsequent years, by either borrowing the group’s ZT seeder again or borrowing or renting from another farmer, or purchasing their own. Economic data were also collected and are currently being analyzed, but all farmers benefited through savings in fuel and labor because of the elimination of tillage operations, as well as reduced seed costs because of lower seed rates . In combination with the cost savings, increased yield also boosted overall profits significantly.

7.4 Socioeconomics

As part of the ACIAR project, several detailed socioeconomic surveys were conducted in Syria and Iraq to better quantify the impact of the extension program and patterns of adoption, and identify constraints and possible solutions. In 2011, a survey was conducted of 338 wheat farmers in Ninevah, of whom 35 used the conservation cropping package (Abdulradh et al. 2012) . The average yield of wheat was increased significantly by adopting ZT and the mean level of technical efficiency between farming systems was 87 % for ZT farms compared to 75 % for those using CT. The cost of ZT seeder purchase or conversion was highlighted as an obstacle for adoption, especially by small poor farmers. It was suggested that adoption of CA would be enhanced further if government subsidies for inputs such as seed, fertilizer, and fuel which tend to promote their overuse were redirected towards reducing the cost of ZT seeders.

An analysis of a large survey conducted in 2011 of 820 households in 28 villages is presented by Yigezu et al. (2014) in Chap. 10 of this book. They found that the average Syrian farmer is able to increase their production efficiency by 86 % by adopting ZT, or produce the same levels of outputs as CT but with 22 % less inputs. By adopting ZT, the typical Syrian farmer was getting about 465 kg/ha (31 %) more yield than using CT, and net farm income increased by US$ 194/ha. Based on the Syrian poverty line of US$ 1.25 per capita per day, the adoption of ZT helped 57 % of farmers lift themselves out of poverty. The survey results also highlighted the effectiveness of field days and farmer testing to promote ZT.

8 Conservation Agriculture Adoption in Other Countries

8.1 Turkey

Since the late 1990s, various research projects have demonstrated the benefits of CA in Turkey’s dryland and irrigated farming systems . Fuel costs in Turkey are among the highest in the world, and reduced costs and similar yields make CA technologies more profitable compared to CT systems (Gültekin et al. 2011) . In addition, significant benefits in soil fertility were measured and soil erosion which is a major issue in many parts of Turkey was reduced. Unlike other countries in the region, Turkey has a well-developed machinery manufacturing sector, and about seven companies currently manufacture reduced-tillage or ZT seeders, mostly disc type which are heavy, and complicated to use compared to tine-types. These ZT seeders attract government subsidies. Despite the favorable research results and local supply of relatively cheap ZT seeders, adoption of CA by farmers in Turkey is negligible apart from a few pilot CA demonstration areas. Barriers to adoption include the perceived cost and effectiveness of ZT seeders, the high value of crop residues for animal feed, although residues are often burned in irrigated areas, and the expectation that weeds will increase without tillage. Most importantly, a lack of knowledge and awareness about the practical implementation of ZT, and limited experience in residue handling under irrigated systems has discouraged any widespread attempts of implementing CA in Turkey to date .

8.2 Lebanon

In studies conducted in Lebanon during 2005–2007, Yau et al. (2010) compared the growth of barley, chickpea, and safflower under ZT, minimum tillage, and CT . They concluded that in contrast to most farmer opinions, there was no evidence showing that ZT yields less than CT, but also, little evidence that it would yield more. Other research in Lebanon showed that CA lowers production costs , thereby increasing farmers’ profits, and reduces land degradation (Bachour et al. 2009) , so there are net benefits with CA. Savings of US$ 2,000/ha were reported over three years in olive tree orchards interplanted with vetch using ZT by Jouni and Adada (2010) , and adoption of this technology had expanded to more than 2,000 hectares in 2012. The perceived obstacles to adoption are lack of awareness among researchers, extensionists, and farmers; lack of suitable ZT seeders; crop residues creating a fire hazard in the summer season; and the need to use crop residues for animal feed. In addition, farm sizes in Lebanon are very small. About 70 % of farms are less than 1 ha, and farmers rely on local contractors to conduct most machinery operations, although this may not be a barrier to adoption if contractors embrace ZT and purchase ZT seeders .

8.3 Jordan

In Jordan, a CA demonstration program was established in 2009 by a joint project between the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension and ICARDA . Syrian ZT seeders were imported and found to be less efficient than ZT seeders from Spain or Brazil which is not surprising given the Syrian seeders were four to ten times less expensive. Following the ICARDA evacuation of Syria, the ACIAR project was based in Amman, and it has worked with a local manufacturer (Rama Manufacturing) to design and produce affordable ZT seeder prototypes with considerable success. Further development and commercial availability of the Rama seeders will help promote adoption in Jordan and the region. Awareness of CA in Jordan is increasing but adoption currently remains low, which may be related to the facts that cropping is not a major enterprise in Jordan and, as in Lebanon , farm sizes are small and use of contractors is high .

8.4 Iran

Initial studies on irrigated wheat production in central and arid regions of Iran confirmed that ZT improved soil structural stability and, although crop productivity did not increase in the short term, costs were reduced (Hajabbasi and Hemmat 2000) . Later work measured an improvement in crop productivity and water-use efficiency in continuous wheat, wheat/fallow, and wheat/chickpea rotations under rainfed conditions (Hemmat and Eskandari 2004a, b, 2006) . As in Turkey , Iranian machinery manufacturing is relatively advanced and at least four companies have commenced producing small cost-effective ZT seeders, both disc and tine types. Reduced tillage (use of chisel plough rather than moldboard) is spreading and the Iranian government has plans to promote CA to Iran’s vast dryland and irrigated agricultural areas .

8.5 Egypt

To the best of our knowledge, research into CA in Egypt is relatively new . This country has large areas of irrigation like central and southern Iraq , and crops are dominated by wheat–rice–cotton–forage and grain–legume rotations. Large amounts of crop residues are often burned if they cannot be harvested for hay or direct grazed. Initial studies in Egypt led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have demonstrated significant benefits of CA and they can learn much about CA under irrigated conditions from central Asia (Nurbekov et al. 2013) and India (Lienhard et al. 2013) .

8.6 Israel and Palestine

According to our information, there is no adoption of CA in either Israel or Palestine . Although these countries produce dryland cereals and other crops in almost identical conditions to Syria and Jordan, ZT seeders are yet to be introduced into these countries.

9 Challenges for Conservation Agriculture in the Middle East

There are several challenges for ongoing adoption of CA technology in the Middle East.

9.1 Soil Cover

Crop residues are highly valued in the integrated crop and livestock production systems common throughout central and West Asia and North Africa, and in dry years, the straw of crops can be more valuable as a stock feed than the harvested grain (Magnan et al. 2012) . Where ZT has been adopted in the Middle East (mainly in Syria and Iraq), very little has changed in terms of crop residue retention or soil cover. In any case, the amount of crop residue produced in these dryland systems is relatively low and the benefits of crop residues may be relatively small (Sommer et al. 2012) . This deserves further research in the region.

If farmers want to retain crop residues to benefit soil fertility and moisture retention, fields would need to be fenced because many livestock owners and shepherds do not recognize the farmer’s ownership of the crop residue once the crop has been harvested. The high cost of fencing is a major obstacle for most farmers in the Middle East. However, one innovative farmer in Ninevah, Mr. Sinan Jalili, has started a fencing program to protect and allow effective management of his crop residues. If alternative feed sources were developed and adopted, and grazing better controlled, it is more likely that crop residues would be retained on the soil surface.

Many forage legumes or dual-purpose cereal crops (for both grazing and grain production) have potential, especially for farmers that produce both crops and livestock (Christiansen et al. 2000) . The use of palatable perennial species like Atriplex spp. or cactus to form permanent alleys in combination with CA cropping in between the alleys could also provide another forage source, but grazing would need to be carefully managed to maintain soil cover between the alleys, and also avoid overgrazing of the alley species. The role and benefits of residues and alternative feed sources need more detailed study in the region, especially where rainfall is low and/or highly variable.

In irrigated areas where livestock numbers are relatively low, excessive crop residues can be an issue for effective crop establishment under ZT. Researchers and farmers in irrigated areas can learn much from experiences with CA in central Asia and India.

9.2 Diverse Rotations

Cropping systems in central Asia, West Asia, and North Africa continue to be dominated by cereals, especially in rainfed and risky environments. Development and promotion of productive and profitable alternative crop options to diversify rotations would be beneficial to the productivity and sustainability of the farming systems . Grain legume crops such as lentil, chickpea, and field pea should be reexamined and any promising varieties and technologies promoted widely, in addition to oilseed crops such as canola which is now grown extensively in medium-rainfall areas of Australia. Improved mechanical harvesting of lentil and chickpea should be a priority, as this is a major obstacle to their adoption.

Productive and persistent forage crops including legumes, once identified and verified, should be promoted widely. Both Vicia spp. and Lathyrus spp. have considerable potential to break the barley monoculture or replace fallow in the fallow–barley rotations common in dry areas (Ates et al. 2013) . Government policy also has a role to play in regard to the production of alternative crops. Part of the dominance of wheat in some countries may be attributed to governments subsidizing wheat prices in an attempt at enhancing food security, in addition to low productivity and/or poorly developed markets for alternative crops.

9.3 Pest Management

While little change in the overall burden of weeds, insects, and diseases has been observed under ZT in Syria and Iraq, these could pose serious threats in localized areas, especially in high-rainfall zones where summer rainfall is more likely or under irrigation. In these cases, an integrated pest management system including crop rotation will help minimize their occurrence and impact. In general, spraying technology and practices are basic in the Middle East, and there may be greater reliance on the use of pesticides under ZT, so targeted training may be required to improve the efficiency of pesticide application within CA systems. Herbicide resistance has been a major issue in the CA systems of Australia requiring high levels of integrated weed management (Anderson and Angus 2011) . However, the low level of herbicide use in the Middle East means this is not an immediate concern.

9.4 Farm Size

Another factor contributing to low adoption of ZT and other new agricultural technologies is that farm sizes have become very small (1–5 ha) after centuries of inheritance in countries like Jordan and Lebanon . In the absence of irrigation, these properties are often too small to generate a reasonable income for a family, and the owners have to seek employment in other enterprises to supplement their income. Often, these small farms are not a serious full-time endeavor but more a weekend activity or past time, in which case the efficiency and profitability of production are not always a high priority for the owner. By contrast, Australian farmers have increased their efficiency greatly by increasing their size and through increased mechanization improved their economy of scale. Small dryland properties in the Middle East are often planted to orchards or olives requiring low maintenance, but even in these cases, ZT and the use of forage legumes between trees can profitably replace tillage as reported by Jouni and Adada (2010) . An important step in promoting adoption for small landholders in Lebanon , Jordan, and elsewhere will be working with machinery contractors who provide seeding services to these small farmers to develop their ZT awareness, knowledge, and skills.

10 Conclusions

Despite the challenges discussed above, many researchers, extensionists, and farmers are now convinced CA is a technology which is both profitable and sustainable for most cropping areas of the Middle East, and one of the few cropping methods capable of increasing the resilience of farming systems to annual weather variability associated with Mediterranean environments as well as any added stresses of climate change. With minor modifications and a modicum of flexibility, CA can be applied to a wide range of crops in diverse environments including irrigated conditions. ZT and early sowing deserve greater evaluation, promotion, and adoption across the dry areas of the world, particularly in developing countries. On the back of the success of the ACIAR project, other ICARDA projects have been recently funded to promote the adoption of CA in Morocco , Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt , Jordan , Lebanon , and Tajikistan, and there is also much interest from Iran, Palestine , Turkey, and Sudan. These and other CA projects will benefit from the lessons learned and the successful strategies used in Iraq and Syria. The three important elements of the success in Syria and Iraq were verifying and adapting the CA technologies to suit local conditions and farming systems, providing access to suitable ZT seeders, and facilitating and encouraging farmers to test the technology and promote it among themselves in a participatory approach.

While CA is a package of the three principles or pillars (ZT, soil cover, crop rotation), not all principles are equally important in all environments. In the dryland areas of the Middle East, as in southern Australia, ZT appears to be the most important pillar and farmers can reap significant benefits by adopting ZT, especially as this allows crops to be sown early. We recognize that ZT plus early sowing is not CA according to the rigid definition used by some authors, but it is a major step towards improving crop productivity, profitability, and sustainability, and one that many farmers can make with little risk of failure.