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Improving legume yield and quality through conservation agriculture in Tunisia

Algeria

Improving legume yield and quality through conservation agriculture in Tunisia
Period
2019 - 2024

In Tunisia, intensive tillage has degraded arable land, decreasing legume yield and quality. Conservation agriculture (CA), with no-till, mulch cover, and crop rotation, offers a solution. This initiative was put into practice at the INGC (Institut National des Grandes Cultures) experimental site, located in a sub-humid climate, where two sub-sites were established, one for conservation agriculture and the other for conventional farming. The comparison of conventional and CA practices showed that CA improved soil fertility, increased legume yield and enhanced nutritional properties. CA also reduced soil erosion and improved water retention, supporting sustainable agriculture. This practice boosts local economies, ensures food security, and provides high-quality legumes, benefiting farmers and consumers.

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Identification needs

Recently, in Tunisia, as in the North African region, an increase in agricultural practices using intensive tillage to meet consumer demand for food has led to the degradation of arable land, followed by the effects of climate change and water insecurity, leading to a decline in soil quality, yield and nutritional quality of legumes. Indeed, environmental changes have been observed where the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil have been altered. In addition, an increase in CO2 has been observed as a result of intensive tillage; scientists estimate that the Earth will be about 1.8°C warmer by 2050. In addition, a reduction in legume production as a result of the above problems has affected the economic aspect. In addition, the use of ploughing increases costs. In terms of social problems, farmers suffer from a decline in soil quality and productivity, which also affects local consumers in terms of price and the low nutritional value of legumes. The United Nations estimates that around 30% of the world's land is degraded. In Tunisia, 50% of arable land is degraded by erosion (ICARDA). To meet these challenges, it is important to ensure sustainable agriculture. The FAO has stressed the importance of adopting sustainable agricultural systems such as conservation agriculture to meet current and next-generation food needs while preserving natural resources (FAO, 2023).

Stakeholder change

Given the positive effects of conservation agriculture worldwide in terms of the environment, natural resources, soil quality and the economy, and in order to solve the problems associated with soil degradation on legumes in Tunisia by improving their production and quality, I decided to focus my doctoral research on the quality of legumes under conservation agriculture practices, especially since few studies have been carried out in this area. In the course of implementation, a comparative study was carried out between two sites, one for conventional agriculture based on intensive tillage and the other for conservation agriculture based on no-tillage using a direct seeder, mulch soil cover and crop rotation association between legumes and cereals. The main people involved in this study are myself (researcher), my supervisors (Pr. Hanen Ben Ismail (Department of Agri-Food Industry) and Pr. Khaled Sassi (Department of Agronomy) and an engineer from the INGC (Institut National des Grandes Cultures) where the experiment was carried out. They met as part of a collaboration to study the impact of conservation agriculture on the quality of legumes in order to find the best solution to the problems of soil degradation.

About engagement; Me and the engineer (from INGC): Methodology Me: Software and discussion My supervisors: Supervision Yes, practice supports co-ownership of decisions and actions by beneficiaries. From participation to practice: Me and my supervisors: Scientific side where we share data and results of practice effect. INGC: statistical data to share with the government and farmers on the evolution of the practice in Tunisia. Engineer: Sale of legumes to local communities and industries.

Change triggered

The factors that have contributed to the success of this practice (conservation agriculture) are as follows: -The feasibility of the practice in the region and the ease with which it can be implemented. -The absence of tillage in conservation agriculture compared with conventional agriculture, where the soil is tilled three times before seeding.

The effects observed within the community or territory are as follows: After adoption of conservation agriculture, - an increase in soil organic matter compared with conventional farming (soil fertility). - A higher yield of legumes was observed, as the availability of legumes can reduce their price, which helps poor populations (economic aspect). - The nutritional properties (protein and ash content) of the legumes grown under this practice were higher than those of conventional agriculture (contribution to well-being and the fight against hunger in local communities). - The technological properties (water and oil absorption capacity) of the legumes grown under this practice are superior to those of conventional agriculture (legumes can be used by the food industry).

The positive changes concern ecological, cultural and/or socio-economic aspects: For farmers: - Reduced use of tillage costs - Sustainable farmland to ensure food security for the next generation - Increased production of legumes.   For consumers: - High nutritional properties such as proteins that can replace animal proteins. - Low prices compared with animal proteins - Thanks to high technological properties, local communities can prepare better local food recipes from legumes. What's more, thanks to their nutritional and technological properties, the legumes derived from this practice can be used to make bread, couscous and pasta.

The practice of conservation agriculture has had a positive effect on the environment and has helped to reduce environmental risks. Indeed, after the application of conservation farming, an improvement in soil texture was observed, as well as a regeneration of biological life with the presence of earthworms on the site compared to conventional farming. In addition, soil erosion was reduced and soil water content increased thanks to direct seeding (no-till) with mulch cover. We also found that rotation between cereals and legumes increased soil nitrogen levels due to legumes' role as natural nitrogen fixers in the soil, enabling fertilizer use to be reduced. Furthermore, over the 11 years of conservation farming adoption, we observed that during the driest years, the study of the conventional farming site was strongly affected compared to the conservation farming site. So, compared with conventional farming, the study of the conservation agriculture site has helped to reduce environmental risks and protect the soil from the problems of climate change, erosion and water insecurity. Of course, I believe that this practice can be replicated in other parts of the world, as it is a sustainable farming system recommended by the FAO.

This practice is a key factor in achieving environmental, economic and social sustainability. Limitations or challenges that may arise if someone tries to replicate the practice of conservation agriculture elsewhere: - All three pillars need to be applied together (no-till, crop rotation and mulch cover), as some farmers have only applied no-till and have not observed the same positive effects. - When applying this practice, it is important to be patient, as the positive effects are not apparent from the first year of application. - The choice of the best crop rotation is necessary to reduce weed problems.

Short description

The study of the experimental site at INGC in a sub-humid climate was divided into two sub-sites, one for conservation agriculture where the switch to this practice began in 2009-2010. In this practice, three pillars were applied: no-till using direct seeding,  crop rotation association (cereals/legumes) and  Soil mulch coverage. The other site was used for conventional farming, which consists of 3 tillage practices, followed by soil disking, and finally the seedbed loosening. During the 2019-2020 season, chickpea and faba bean were sown in both soil management systems and harvested in June 2020 for laboratory analysis of the grains. The essential measures taken and the critical stages in implementing the practice were as follows:  Glyphosate was used before sowing legumes under conservation farming. In order to encourage and support the adoption of sustainable agriculture in Tunisia, we chose the practice of conservation agriculture to study its effect on the yield and quality of legumes. For this reason, collaboration between stakeholders from different institutes, different scientific backgrounds and both genders were involved in this study. Stakeholders were: Experimental site control: me and the INGC engineer. Scientific parts including laboratory analysis of legumes, data analysis: me and my supervisors. Harvesting and selling the legumes: the INGC engineer. The practice of conservation agriculture supports the resilience of local communities by reducing i. the impacts of climate change in the region and the problems of water insecurity, ii. soil degradation and iii. global warming. Conservation agriculture directly involves improving soil quality, which in turn indirectly affects the yield and quality of legumes. If you're a farmer, a scientist, a food industrialist and you want to solve the problems of conventional agriculture; switching to conservation agriculture can help you achieve resilience and sustainability by preserving the soil for the next generation. Success factors and potential challenges to consider: Switching to conservation agriculture takes several years to achieve the best results; If you live in the driest region, conservation agriculture is very effective. Crop rotation using legumes is recommended rather than monoculture for best results.

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