The combination of crop protection products and biotech crops has significantly helped advance conservation agriculture as a means of restoring and protecting soil and limiting erosion.
It is estimated that conservation agriculture can reduce soil erosion by 50 to 98 percent while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent through reduced oxidation of soil organic
A case study done in Uganda found that weeding absorbed over 50% of smallholder farmers’ production costs.
It also occurs at times when the demand for labour is quite high and needed for many farm activities.
Crop protection products such as herbicides and the adoption of best practices can help reduce this burden.
In the Ugandan case study,
Innovative solutions can also help protect biodiversity – for example in the UK, farmers were encouraged to leave small plots of bare soil in their growing crops for skylarks to nest.
The results were very positive: in fields where skylark plots had been made, skylark fledglings increased by 49% .
No-till also helps protect food sources for
