Agriculture is a source for three primary greenhouse gases (GHGs): CO(2), CH(4), and N(2)O. It can also be a sink for CO(2) through C sequestration into biomass products and soil organic matter. We summarized the literature on GHG emissions and C sequestration, providing a perspective on how agriculture can reduce its GHG burden and how it can help to mitigate GHG emissions through conservation...

The global research and development community in general as well as most of the farmers worldwide are at a crossroad, and must decide on the question: which way forward with agriculture in the 21 st century? The empirical evidence provided by the farming communities as presented in this paper tells us that farmer-led transformation of agricultural production systems based on Conservation Agricu...

Conservation agriculture (CA) integrates ecological management with scientific agricultural production. CA promotes minimal disturbance of the soil by tillage (zero tillage), balanced application of chemical inputs (only as required for improved soil quality and healthy crop and animal production), and careful management of residues and wastes. CA Promotes application of fertilizers, pesticides...

Ensuring the availability of the broadest possible germplasm base for agriculture in the face of increasingly uncertain and variable patterns of biotic and abiotic change is fundamental for the world's future food supply. While ex situ conservation plays a major role in the conservation and availability of crop germplasm, it may be insufficient to ensure this. In situ conservation aims to maint...

This paper reviews the risk assessments prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in support of regulations implementing the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). These two natural resource conservation programs were authorized as part of the 1996 Farm Bill. The risk assessments were required under the Federal Crop Insurance Reform a...