I have gone through the voluntary guidelines – I have chosen to work on the English version, hence my comments in English. Attached the document with my suggested changes in track change mode inserted in the text. In general I think this is a very important long overdue exercise for FAO – congratulations. In the substance, I have to criticise that the document is still written from a point of view “before sustainable intensification”, i.e. with an agricultural paradigm accepting soil tillage as necessary practice and soil degradation as unavoidable consequence.
If we are serious about sustainable soil management, this is not acceptable. It is scientifically proven, that any kind of mechanical soil disturbance (tillage) applied in a regular way leads to soil degradation at rates very much higher than the natural soil formation processes. Therefore, only with strict no-till approach a truly sustainable soil management will be possible. This should be clearly stated.
The representation of such no-till systems, as characterized by conservation agriculture, in the end of the document, is still full of prejudices from sources with limited practical CA experience. For the problems mentioned there is in the meantime sufficient literature available confirming feasible solutions to these problems. With this in mind, the literature list should be extended and the last chapter might be rewritten, reflecting the experiences from actually implemented CA systems around the world. References such as the FAO 2008 soil health workshop report should be included in the document along with other books on CA, published in the recent past.
I am copying this comment also to Amir Kassam, moderator of the CA-CoP, for further inputs. I hope, these comments and contributions are found useful and will be taken up.
Dear colleagues,
I have gone through the voluntary guidelines – I have chosen to work on the English version, hence my comments in English. Attached the document with my suggested changes in track change mode inserted in the text. In general I think this is a very important long overdue exercise for FAO – congratulations. In the substance, I have to criticise that the document is still written from a point of view “before sustainable intensification”, i.e. with an agricultural paradigm accepting soil tillage as necessary practice and soil degradation as unavoidable consequence.
If we are serious about sustainable soil management, this is not acceptable. It is scientifically proven, that any kind of mechanical soil disturbance (tillage) applied in a regular way leads to soil degradation at rates very much higher than the natural soil formation processes. Therefore, only with strict no-till approach a truly sustainable soil management will be possible. This should be clearly stated.
The representation of such no-till systems, as characterized by conservation agriculture, in the end of the document, is still full of prejudices from sources with limited practical CA experience. For the problems mentioned there is in the meantime sufficient literature available confirming feasible solutions to these problems. With this in mind, the literature list should be extended and the last chapter might be rewritten, reflecting the experiences from actually implemented CA systems around the world. References such as the FAO 2008 soil health workshop report should be included in the document along with other books on CA, published in the recent past.
I am copying this comment also to Amir Kassam, moderator of the CA-CoP, for further inputs. I hope, these comments and contributions are found useful and will be taken up.
With best regards,
Theo
Dr. Theodor Friedrich
Representante en Cuba
Organización de las Naciones Unidas
para la Alimentación y la Agricultura
Calle 154 y 3ra, #301, Rpto. Náutico, Playa
La Habana, Cuba