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Advance Sowing (also known as "no kill cropping" [1] ) is an agricultural method developed by Bruce Maynard in 1996 in NSW, Australia that allows the production of annual crops from perennial grasslands. It involves dry-sowing crops directly into existing pastures without using tillage, fertilizer or chemicals.
Advance Sowing has 5 major principles:
The rationale behind the method is to produce crops without simplifying the biodiversity. All other commonly used sowing methods of cropping rely on eliminating some or all of the plant and animals present to create an advantage for the growing crop. Advance sow relies on complementarity of plant/animal interactions to produce biomass that can be utilised directly for human consumption or fed to animals.
No Kill Cropping offers opportunities to expand the grain crop production throughout the world as an addition to the grazing resources that people depend upon. By using No Kill in areas that are already grasslands or are arid or highly erodible, grain can be produced without risking ecological damage. Other advantages include the low capital costs involved and also low needs for outside energy intensive inputs.
No Kill Cropping is mentioned in the book "Here on Earth" by Tim Flannery, 2010. It is described as 'Zero Kill' or 'Zero Till' on pages 264 and 268. Flannery confuses the method by including the use of ploughs and also of the term pastures rather than grasslands that the crop is sown into. He proposes that the system has possibilities to promote "coevolution's capacity to increase biological productivity and ecosystem stability".
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to agriculture:
Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Indeed, so-called "organic pioneers" wanted to keep farming with nature, without being dependent on external inputs. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or severely limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as garlic extract, bicarbonate of soda, or pyrethrin which is found naturally in the Chrysanthemum flower are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides such as glyphosate are prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed, only in exceptional circumstances, include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming positively impacts sustainability, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, animal welfare, food security, and food safety. Organic farming can therefore be seen as part of the solution to the impacts of climate change, as also established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming, conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital, labour, agrochemicals and water, and higher crop yields per unit land area.
Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services. There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business processes and farming practices. Agriculture has an enormous environmental footprint, playing a significant role in causing climate change, water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and other processes; it is simultaneously causing environmental changes and being impacted by these changes. Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without causing damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects on soil, water, biodiversity, and surrounding or downstream resources, as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. Elements of sustainable agriculture can include permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation.
Pasture is land used for grazing.
In agriculture, rotational grazing, as opposed to continuous grazing, describes many systems of pasturing, whereby livestock are moved to portions of the pasture, called paddocks, while the other portions rest. Each paddock must provide all the needs of the livestock, such as food, water and sometimes shade and shelter. The approach often produces lower outputs than more intensive animal farming operations, but requires lower inputs, and therefore sometimes produces higher net farm income per animal.
A feedlot or feed yard is a type of animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used in intensive animal farming, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) in the United States and intensive livestock operations (ILOs) or confined feeding operations (CFO) in Canada. They may contain thousands of animals in an array of pens.
Extensive farming or extensive agriculture is an agricultural production system that uses small inputs of labour, fertilizers, and capital, relative to the land area being farmed.
Land management is the process of managing the use and development of land resources. One aim of sustainable land management is to prevent or reverse land degradation. Another aim is to ensure water security by increasing soil moisture availability, decreasing surface runoff, and decreasing soil erosion. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include for example agriculture, forestry, water resource management, human settlements and tourism. Unsustainable land managements leads to land being over- or misused which in turn degrades the land, reduces productivity and disrupts natural equilibriums.
In agriculture, the yield is a measurement of the amount of a crop grown, or product such as wool, meat or milk produced, per unit area of land. The seed ratio is another way of calculating yields.
In agriculture, a field is an area of land, enclosed or otherwise, used for agricultural purposes such as cultivating crops or as a paddock or other enclosure for livestock. A field may also be an area left to lie fallow or as arable land.
Themeda triandra is a species of C4 perennial tussock-forming grass widespread in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass and in East Africa and South Africa it is known as red grass and red oat grass or as rooigras in Afrikaans. Kangaroo grass was formerly thought to be one of two species, and was named Themeda australis.
Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets for consumption, the application of patent protection to genetic information, and global trade. These methods are widespread in developed nations and increasingly prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables available in supermarkets are produced in this way.
Intensive crop farming is a modern industrialized form of crop farming. Intensive crop farming's methods include innovation in agricultural machinery, farming methods, genetic engineering technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets for consumption, patent protection of genetic information, and global trade. These methods are widespread in developed nations.
Chloris gayana is a species of grass known by the common name Rhodes grass. It is native to Africa but it can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical world as a naturalized species.
Convertible husbandry, also known as alternate husbandry or up-and-down husbandry, is a method of farming whereby strips of arable farmland were temporarily converted into grass pasture, known as leys. These remained under grass for up to 10 years before being ploughed under again, while some eventually became permanent pasturage. It was a process used during the 16th century through the 19th century by "which a higher proportion of land was used to support increasing numbers of livestock in many parts of England." Its adoption was an important component of the British Agricultural Revolution.
Chamaecrista rotundifolia, the round-leaf cassia, also known as pasto rastiero, roundleaf sensitive pea, and Wynn cassia, is a short-lived perennial or self-generating annual plant in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It originated in North America, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, and Tropical South America but is grown in other parts of the world today. It grows in dry soils and areas of low rainfall, as well as in low-fertility and acidic soils with high levels of solubilized aluminum. It can also reduce erosion and runoff over time. These factors make it a potential asset to farmers in the African Subtropics and elsewhere where soil quality is a barrier to farming. It serves as a source of feed for livestock and acts as a green fertilizer, raising soil quality and nutrient content which can improve yields. These combined benefits make round-leaf cassia a potential solution to many problems faced by poor farmers and their communities.
Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.
This glossary of agriculture is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in agriculture, its sub-disciplines, and related fields, including horticulture, animal husbandry, agribusiness, and agricultural policy. For other glossaries relevant to agricultural science, see Glossary of biology, Glossary of ecology, Glossary of environmental science, and Glossary of botanical terms.
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