Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsUnited Nations Development Programme2016-04-192016-04-192001FAO Soils Bulletins 780253-2050http://hdl.handle.net/10919/65326Metadata only recordThe purpose of this publication is to show how conservation agriculture can increase crop production while reducing erosion and reversing soil fertility decline, improving rural livelihoods and restoring the environment in developing countries. Soil organic matter and biological activity in the rooting zone, stimulated by continual additions of fresh organic material (crop residues and cover crops) are the basis of conservation agriculture, as described in the first chapter.text/plainen-USSoil erosionSoil conservationGreen manure cropsSoil fertilityConservation tillageSoil organic matterAgricultural ecosystemsNo-tillCover croppingEcosystemAbstract