In the four southern districts (Kenthao, Paklay,Boten, and Thongmixay) of Xayabury province, the current cropping systems are based on cash crop production. Maize is the main crop under rainfed conditions and covers more than 30,000 ha in the region. Land preparation is based mainly on plowing, which degrades soil and destroys infrastructures (paddy fields and roads). These deteriorations result from growing pressure on agricultural systems and farmers’ lack of access to affordable labour.

Principes des SCV en vidéo: couverture végétale permanente: pas de labour, rotations et associations des cultures

Fiche technique pour le montage du balai chimique pour appliquer bouillie de pesticide avec mèche mouillante.

Petit rapport sur DMC dans le monde pour monter un plan d'action pour le Sud-Est asiatique.

Diaporama talking about problems of conventional ploughing (erosion, run-off), and principles of DMC, with litter, MOS, roots, soil cover, N fixation, nutrients recycling, biological pump. The different mulch: imported or produced, living mulch, in association with trees or animals. Worldwide of DMC in different zoes and examples all around the world.

Bibliographie CIRAD sur SCV par type de document (au 07/04/2006)

Avec ces techniques de semis direct sur couverture végétale, le sol est protégé en permanence et les adventices contrôlées par le paillage. L’enracinement profond,la structure du sol améliorée et l’activité biologique intense conduisent à augmenter l’efficacité de l’utilisation de l’eau et des éléments nutritifs, pour une agriculture rentable mais durable et préservant les ressources naturelles.

In mulch-based cropping systems, soil cover harbours a lot of organisms that may improve soil fertility but may also affect crop health. In the cotton systems of Cameroon, some millipedes (Diplopoda: Julidae) could become important pests by provoking important seedling damages. This study assesses the influence of mulch on the stand and health of cotton seedlings, as well as diagnoses emergence constraints. Two different assays were carried out during the growing season, one withCalopogonium mucunoides (2001) and the other withBrachiaria ruzisiensis (2002), both as cover crop mulches. The two studied factors were (1) presence or absence of mulch and (2) seed protection (insecticide and/or fungicide). Cotton seeding in non tilled soil showed that seedling stand was globally inferior under mulch compared to nude soil. In the supposed absence of soil structure or texture differences, this constraint seemed to come from exacerbated pressure of soil pests, for which mulch provides favourable habitat. With equivalent insecticide protection, seedling stand resulted significantly greater on nude soil, with less visible symptoms of attacks. On the other hand, mulch provided better growth of seedlings, associated with greater aphid infestation but balanced by seeding precocity that permits escape from delayed arrival of aphids. The major risk associated with seedling in mulch-based cotton is soil pests, whose species impact should be assessed to define sustainable control strategy based on the preservation of beneficial soil macrofauna.

In the "Cerrados" of Central Brazil, direct seeding mulch based cropping systems (DMC) applied by farmers have been adapted to tropical conditions (high temperature,high rainfall and resulting high rates of organic matter mineralization). Generally, time saved with no-tillage allowed farmers to plant another crop in the same year, producing additional biomass, increasing thereby organic matter entries into the soil,and maintaining the soil surface always covered and protected from soil erosion (pictures). However, the level of biomass restitution, and the long term impact on C sequestration in DMC systems will differ in function of the type of commercial crop rotation, the species used as cover-crops, the level of productivity and the farmer's management (Séguy et al., 2003.

Dry-farming system is commonly used in the Algerian semi-arid High Plateaus. It is based on cereal/sheep production in a cereal-fallow rotation. This cropping system degrades the structure f thetilled horizon and reduces its organic matter content (Kribaa et al, 2001). Soil structure degradation is reported as a major constraint regarding water infiltration, redistribution and storage in the soil profile (Canolly, 1998). It often results from the disturbance induced by tillage-tools. Under the crop growth conditions of the Sétif High Plateaus, as far as soil humidity is concerned, it appeared clearly that fallow till gave best results than no-till. This may be explained by the surface crusting that seals soil and by the absence of pores connectivity in the no-tilled fallow which penalized crop at the beginning of the season through a low stand. Hence under the no-till option,chiselling i.e. no soil reversing seems required. Direct seeding on cover crop may also be explored in theses conditions.