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Rapid changes in agricultural systems call for profound changes in agricultural research and extension practices. The Diagnosis, Design, Assessment, Training and Extension (DATE) approach was developed and applied to co-design Conservation Agriculture-based cropping systems in contrasted situations. DATE is a multi-scale, multi-stakeholder participatory approach that integrates scientific and local knowledge. It emerged in response to questions raised by and issues encountered in the design of innovative systems. A key feature of this approach is the high input of innovative systems which are often although not exclusively based on conservation agricultural practices. Prototyping of innovative cropping systems (ICSs) largely relies on a conceptual model of soil–plant–macrofauna–microorganism system functioning. By comparing the implementation of the DATE approach and conservation agriculture-based cropping systems in Madagascar, Lao PDR, and Cambodia, we show that: (i) the DATE approach is flexible enough to be adapted to local conditions; (ii) market conditions need to be taken into account in designing agricultural development scenarios; and (iii) the learning process during the transition to conservation agriculture requires time. The DATE approach not only enables the co-design of ICSs with farmers, but also incorporates training and extension dimensions. It feeds back practitioners’ questions to researchers, and provides a renewed and extended source of innovation to farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In north-eastern Laos, the savannah grasslands of the Plain of Jars cover vast areas of potentially cultivable land. However, soil acidity, low inherent fertility, and the absence of alternatives to tillage represent significant constraints to the development of sustainable smallholder agriculture. Our objective was to evaluate the potential for conservation agriculture (CA) to enhance soil productivity and farming system profitability. A three-year rotation of rice/maize/soybean was tested under three fertilization levels and four agricultural systems: one conventional tillage-based (CT) system and three CA systems based on no-tillage with cover crops. After four cropping seasons, our results show that, compared with CT, CA systems led to similar-to-higher grain production, similar-to-higher profits, higher opportunity of livestock system intensification, and higher labour productivity regardless of fertilization levels. While CA represents a relevant alternative to current practices, our results suggest that its contribution to the emergence of a sustainable smallholder agriculture is conditioned by broader institutional transformations, including the enrolment of local manufacturers and traders for deploying no-till implements and seed market channels for cover crops, long-term public support to maintain active research and technical mentoring to farmers, and possibly the integration of ecosystem services in agricultural policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is widely assumed that agricultural practices have a major impact on soil living organisms. However, the impact of agricultural practices on soil microbes is poorly known, notably for species richness, evenness, and taxonomic composition. The taxonomic diversity and composition of soil indigenous microbial community can be assessed now using pyrosequencing, a high throughput sequencing technology applied directly to soil DNA. Here, we studied the effect of agriculture management on soil bacterial and fungal diversity in a tropical grassland ecosystem of northeastern Laos using 454 pyrosequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes. We studied soil microbial diversity of agricultural soils 3 years after conversion from native grasslands. We compared five systems: one tillage, two no-tillage rotational, one no-tillage improved pasture, and one natural grassland. Our results show first that compared to the natural grassland, tillage decreases fungal richness and diversity by −40 % and −19 %, respectively and increases bacterial richness and diversity by +46 % and +13 %, respectively. This finding evidences an early impact of agricultural management on soil microbial diversity. Such an impact fits with the ecological concept of "intermediate perturbation"-the hump-backed model-leading to classify agricultural practices according to the level of environmental stress they generate. We found also that land use modified soil microbial taxonomic composition. Compared to the natural pasture, tillage decreased notably the relative abundance of Actinobacteria (by −6 %), Acidobacteria (by −3 %) and Delta-proteobacteria (by −4 %) phyla, and by contrast increased the relative abundance of Firmicutes (by +6 %), Gamma-proteobacteria (by +11 %), and Chytridiomycota (+2 %) phyla. We conclude that soil microbial diversity can be modified and improved by selecting suitable agricultural practices. Moreover no-till systems represented intermediate situations between tillage and the natural pasture and appear therefore as a fair trade-off between the need for agriculture intensification and soil ecological integrity preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past half-century, major efforts have been made worldwide to develop sustainable alternatives to agricultural tillage. In line with these efforts, two main research development initiatives have supported the experimentation and dissemination of conservation agriculture (CA) in Laos. Here we present the results of a 4-year monitoring and evaluation study conducted in 21 villages targeted for dissemination. In a context of rapid transition to intensive commercial agriculture in Laos, CA has become an important constituent of agricultural landscapes. However, there are significant variations in adoption rates across the study region. Statistical and qualitative evidence suggests that experimentation and adoption are not contingent upon farm-level variables such as capital, labor, age and education. While access to land helps shape local decision-making, the land tenure threshold under which farmers are not willing to experiment with alternative cropping systems is relatively low and highly variable in both space and time. Rather, experience and awareness of land degradation, production costs, social cohesion and leadership appear to be key factors in explaining most variations in local adoption rates. These results indicate that the practice of CA is not necessarily incompatible with smallholder farming. However, while complex crop associations and rotations are necessary for integrated weed control and reduced chemical use, their diffusion would require a broader transformation of the agricultural industry and the current market demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]