Clarion Call to Conservation in Mexico

Farmers in Michoacán state, south-central Mexico, are moving toward conservation agriculture.

Joining the growing number of farmers worldwide squeezed by rising input costs,
low grain prices, and degrading resources, farmers in Michoacán state, south-central Mexico, are moving toward conservation agriculture, assisted by researchers like Rebeca González Íñiguez. The northern section of the state is part of Mexico’s El Bajío—a large region with rich soils, good rains, and extensive irrigation, but mounting problems relating, among other things, to improper use of agrochemicals and water. Michoacán farmers enjoy relatively large holdings—as big as 200 hectares— and practice an intensive rotation centered on irrigated wheat or barley in dry winter months and rainfed, summer maize or sorghum.

A cereal scientist at the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research, González helped introduce the farmers to cropping on raised beds, a practice many are using to improve irrigation efficiency. “In 1994, we organized a visit by farmers to the CIMMYT research station at Ciudad Obregón, in northern Mexico, to learn about bed planting and better ways of managing irrigation,” she says. “The furrows on either side of the beds speed up irrigation and channel the water so there are no flooded or dry spots in the field.” González also brought them a bed shaping implement provided originally by CIMMYT wheat agronomist Ken Sayre, who encourages and supports González and the Michoacán farmers.

Soon after, to gain time and thus be able to sow more productive, longer-season maize hybrids, most of the farmers began seeding maize directly into residues with no tillage after wheat or barley harvest. “They picked this up from peers in another area of El Bajío, and besides allowing earlier sowing it has saved them the cost of plowing,” says González. From there, it was a short leap to experimenting with year'round zero-tillage on permanent raised beds. Local farmer Moisés Orozco Velázquez began testing the approach with his brothers on part of their 100-hectare holdings in 2004, mainly to lower expenses. At first he didn’t like some of the new ideas—like slashing fertilizer use—suggested by a brother studying agronomy. But he acceded and was happily surprised at the results. “We cut our costs in half with savings in fertilizer, tillage operations, and field-hands, and our crop looks as good as or better than that of our neighbors, who used traditional tillage and lots more fertilizer,” says Orozco. “We also had some heavy rains this year, and in lower-lying spots where we’d normally lose part of the crop to waterlogging, the infiltration was excellent.” Now he and the family plan to apply a suite of resource-conserving practices, including year-round zero-tillage, on all their land.

Like other farmers adopting the new practices, Orozco is still struggling with diverse issues, including optimal seeding and fertilizer rates and, above all, managing residues as plentiful as 15 tons per hectare each year. “We’ve found that if we spray urea on it, by sowing time the straw has begun to decompose,” Orozco says. They also bundle and sell some straw for forage, but still have problems getting seeders to chop through residue and put seed in contact with the soil. González says this points up a major issue to solve: “The future of conservation agriculture in the region depends on farmers’ access to effective, affordable machinery.” Sayre and his associates are working on relevant designs that Mexican machine manufacturers can eventually build and market.

For more information contact Ken Sayre (k.sayre@cgiar.org) or Hans Joachim Braun (h.braun@cgiar.org)