Show simple item record

FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorRuiz Espinosa, Laura
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-15T01:46:34Z
dc.date.available2022-07-15T01:46:34Z
dc.date.issued2022en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2123/29252
dc.description.abstractThe Conservation Agriculture Appraisal Index (CAAI) is a theoretical framework that was developed as a benchmarking tool to quantify, at the farm level, the concomitant utilization of the conservation agriculture (CA) principles: 1) minimum soil disturbance (MSD), 2) permanent soil cover (PSC), and 3) diversified crop rotations (DCR), plus the additional principle of controlled-traffic (CTF) farming which includes permanent-raise beds on small to medium farms in irrigated systems. The degree of adoption of CA has been widely studied, however estimates are questionable as different units of measurement were used. This prompted the development of CAAI as an integrated scoring system to account for CA adoption by farm area and cropping season. CAAI was validated on 100 farms in four regions: two in Australia and two in Mexico, to assess the degree of CA adoption. It was found that minimum soil disturbance accounted for most of the variance in CAAI scores. Significant regional differences were found and CA per se was higher in Australia, compared to Mexico where partial and periodic adoption was more prevalent. The drivers of adoption were then examined by comparing CAAI scores with the use of key inputs such as glyphosate, paraquat, N, P and in water use efficiency (WUE) for wheat. Significantly greater use of glyphosate and paraquat were observed in the two Australian dryland regions with higher CA adoption. There were no statistically significant differences between N and P with CAAI, although greater amounts of these fertilizers were applied in Mexico compared to Australia. Likewise, WUE did not differ significantly with CAAI score but by region. Finally, using the data of 114 farmers a social network analysis identified that early adopters, agronomists, research, and government institutions are actors that influenced knowledge sharing of CA principles in the studied regions. More heterophilic networks were observed in regions with both summer and winter crops.en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.subjectconservation agricultureen_AU
dc.subjectadoptionen_AU
dc.subjectframeworken_AU
dc.subjectnetworken_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectMexicoen_AU
dc.titleAssessment of the adoption and utilization of conservation agriculture in wheat growing regions of Australia and Mexico using the agricultural innovation system frameworken_AU
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.thesisDoctor of Philosophyen_AU
dc.rights.otherThe author retains copyright of this thesis. It may only be used for the purposes of research and study. It must not be used for any other purposes and may not be transmitted or shared with others without prior permission.en_AU
usyd.facultySeS faculties schools::Faculty of Science::School of Life and Environmental Sciencesen_AU
usyd.departmentSydney Institute of Agriculture and Plant Breeding Instituteen_AU
usyd.degreeDoctor of Philosophy Ph.D.en_AU
usyd.awardinginstThe University of Sydneyen_AU
usyd.advisorTrethowan, Richard


Show simple item record

Associated file/s

Associated collections

Show simple item record

There are no previous versions of the item available.