This report documents the findings of a study into the experiences of Conservation Agriculture (CA) cotton on smallholder farms in Paraguay. This investigation was carried out between the months of August and October 2003, with an additional two visits on smallholders' farms in December 2003 and early February 2004. The regions visited are located in East-Paraguay, since CA cotton is grown there on small farms. The results are from in-depth interviews with smallholder farmers, extension agents and researchers from the Paraguayan Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG). This study was funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationas (FAO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Germany. Cotton is one of the most important and widely grown cash, both for sophisticated high input farmers and resource poor smallholder farmers in developing countries. It is grown in different ecological regions and farming systems. Under Conventional Tillage systems, particularly monocropping systems, the disturbance of soil has led to the destruction of soil structure and faster mineralization of soil organic matter leading to reduced soil fertility, soil loss and desertification in many developing countries. This is a severe problem, particularly in cotton, since it is an extremely income orientated crop and the lower productivity of the degraded soils leads to income problems for many smallholder farmers worldwide. Contrary to the problems caused by the Conventional Tillage systems, CA systems, CA systems seek and improved use soils and crops with reduced soil disturbance and the maintenance of crop residues on the soil surface in order to minimize damage to the environment. This is achieved through no mechanical soil disturbance or direct seeding, crop rotation, the use of green manure cover crops (gmcc) and a permanent soil cover. Undoubtedly CA cotton is the solution to the constraints of cotton production under conventional cultivation as mentioned above; nevertheless, the experience of CA cotton is still limited and, in most cases, reduced to medium and large scale mechanized farming systems, mainly from Australia and the USA. Many of these examples come from farming systems that do not always included all of the CA principles in their systems, occasionally using seeds treated with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt-cotton). No experience on smallholder farmers' cotton under CA was identified prior to starting the field work for this report.

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