Integrated Natural Resources Management in Rainfed Agricultural Systems in Morocco (INRM)

In Morocco, arable lands are undergoing alarming rates of degradation, either due to inappropriate soil and vegetation uses or to weather impacts (drought and erosion). Conservation agriculture, which is an important component of an overall durable agricultural system, is mainly based on restricting soil manipulation with tillage and livestock and covering soils with vegetative mulches. Along this line, researchers at INRA initiated in early 1980s a water conservation research program based on No-tillage in semi arid Morocco. Results from this research showed the superiority of no-tillage system over other traditional and conventional tillage practices and no-tillage system could halt or reverse decreased production and land degradation.

Integrated natural resources management (INRM) has emerged as a necessary approach to support disseminating No till as an energy efficient and sustainable soil and crop management practices/production systems in dryland agriculture in Morocco. The approach is based on the integration of new advanced tools from different disciplines and new conceptual and overarching framework to cope with the complexity of real-life conservation agriculture problems.