Conservation Agriculture in Southeast Asia

Agriculture in the Southeast Asia region has been changing from traditional subsistence farming to modern commercial farming practices at various rates and this has led to specialized commercialized farming with mechanization, intensive tillage, and increased agrochemical use. The use of high inputs and labor-saving technologies has resulted in serious land degradation and vulnerable to more frequent and severe climate impacts, particularly drought and flood. Conservation Agriculture has been introduced in the region for the last two decades to conserve, improve, and make more effective use of natural resources through the integrated management of available soil, water, and biological resources, combined with purchased external inputs. Significant benefits of CA have been observed and technically proved, but the adoption is still in very limited areas and mostly in research and demonstration plots. For wider adoption, understanding the constraints that hinder adoption and addressing for specific situations including intellectual, social, financial, biophysical, technical, and infrastructure constraints, or policy related support.